Food Safety Employees Honored By Secretary Veneman
Congressional and Public Affairs
(202) 720-9113
Amanda Eamich
WASHINGTON, June 25, 2004 – More than 100 Food Safety and Inspection Service
(FSIS) employees were honored today by Agriculture Secretary Ann M.Veneman for their
exceptional performance in promoting food safety and protecting public health during the
58th annual U.S. Department of Agriculture's Honor Awards Ceremony.
William C. Smith, Jr., assistant administrator, Office of Field Operations, received the
Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service. Smith is being honored for his exemplary
leadership of headquarters and field personnel. He was instrumental for the successful
implementation of the Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System
and improvement of the Performance Based Inspection System.
The Canadian Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Response Team, consisting of FSIS
and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service employees, was recognized for their
response to the BSE occurrence in Canada and for successfully protecting U.S. livestock
and international trade from foreign animal disease.
Five FSIS staff teams were nominated by FSIS and were honored for their distinguished
work and service. A sixth team, that included FSIS employees was nominated by a group of
federal agencies that collaborated on the investigation and prosecution of a Chicago-area
business for violating food safety laws. Multiple group awards were given to recognize
team efforts that resulted in improved food safety education, the effective and efficient
operation of an organization and for promotion of public health through improved food
safety practices.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman presented the awards at the Ronald Reagan International
Trade Center in Washington, D.C.
The USDA Food Safety Mobile Team, a group of 19 Washington, D.C.-based employees, was
honored for researching and launching the Food Safety Mobile, a 35-foot mobile teaching
tool which has brought important food safety information directly to U.S. consumers in an
innovate and creative manner. The Mobile has traveled to schools fairs and other events
in communities large and small, reaching millions of Americans with important food safety
messages. This new form of "mobile marketing" contributed greatly to FSIS' goal of
protecting public health by informing consumers about their role in keeping food safe.
The Memorandum of Agreement Development and Implementation Team, a group of 13 employees
based in Washington, D.C., were recognized for their efforts to further FSIS' public
health mission. The group was honored for developing and implementing a groundbreaking
agreement between the Public Health Service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services and FSIS to facilitate the placement of additional Commissioned Corps Officers at
the Agency.
The Labor-Management Agreement Implementation Team, a group of 11 FSIS employees from
Washington, D.C., was honored for the improvement in the quality and integrity of the
labor-management relations program. The group's actions supported the President's
Management Agenda and Civil Rights and helped produce a more employee-friendly agreement
that promotes employee self-sufficiency.
The Food Safety Regulatory Essentials Team of 26 FSIS employees based in Washington,
D.C., Texas and Neb. were honored for their exceptional efforts in developing an
innovative training program for FSIS inspection personnel. The training program will
strengthen FSIS' verification activities, which helps the agency ensure that meat, poultry
and egg products are produced in a safe and wholesome manner.
A group of 25 FSIS employees from across the nation, comprising the Food Safety Incident
Response Team, was honored for improving the safety of the U.S. food supply by utilizing
ground-breaking scientific criteria, innovative enforcement strategies, and interagency
cooperation. The team's work prevented the distribution of about 27 million pounds of
potentially contaminated food products.
