Remarks prepared for delivery by Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elsa A. Murano, at the 2004 Howard E. Bauman Award Ceremony, July 22, 2004, at FSIS´ Chicago District Office, Chicago, Ill..

Good afternoon everyone. I would like to thank you all for coming out today to recognize an extraordinary leader who has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to improving public health through enhanced food safety.

The fact that many of us take safe and convenient food for granted is a testament to the effectiveness of applying sound science and technology to food production. However, for many populations around the world, having access to a safe and abundant food supply is still a basic need that has not been fulfilled.

I also want to extend my sincere appreciation to our Chicago District Manager Mr. Richard Mackie, and his staff, and the staff from our Office of Public Affairs, Outreach and Education for setting up today´s ceremony where we will present the second Howard E. Bauman Award for significant achievements in food safety.

This award, as you know, is named for Dr. Howard E. Bauman, who is widely recognized for his pioneering efforts at the Pillsbury Company in developing the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point food safety system - or HACCP as we normally refer to it. Dr. Baumann was the first recipient of the award, and we were delighted and honored to have his family accept this symbol of his accomplishments posthumously.

As many of you know, HACCP is at the core of meat and poultry safety, as implemented by industry, and the inspection and verification activities that are performed by FSIS personnel every day in nearly 6,000 federal meat and poultry establishments across the United States. It has laid the foundation for the incredible successes in public health that we are seeing today. These are highlighted in the decreasing rates of foodborne illnesses reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the lower prevalence of pathogens in our regulatory sampling program, and in the fact that for the first time in years, we have interrupted the trend of recalling millions of pounds of meat and poultry products due to bacterial contamination. These are tremendous achievements, and it is the American consumer who benefits.

In order for HACCP to be fully effective, it must be flexible and based on sound science, as well as evolve with the latest science. Today´s award recipient, Dr. Dell Allen exemplifies these core characteristics. He is a man who has used his scientific training to guide his thinking, and who has allowed his approaches to evolve as the science of food safety itself has evolved.

Dr. Allen began his career in academia. However, he saw an opportunity to bring scientific education and innovation to food processing, so he decided to do something bold and packed up his bags and went to work where he could have a direct impact on food safety.

Dr. Allen joined Cargill in 1988 as director of quality and training. At that time, the position of Vice President of Food Safety was a new concept, and such positions were far and few between in the meat industry.

However, Dr. Allen used his flexibility and creative nature not only to make the transition from the academic sector to private industry, but he also created a role for himself in an industry not accustomed to having an executive dedicated to food safety.

His pioneering efforts culminated in his overseeing all aspects of food safety within the Cargill Meat Solutions Platform. In fact, during his long career, Dr. Allen´s innovations and leadership have contributed to many other companies also adopting his model, developing food safety positions that are firmly integrated into their leadership structures.

Dr. Allen´s legacy can be seen in all aspects of industry operations, from processing to employee training. He encouraged meat and poultry processors to adopt HACCP even before it was required by FSIS, and he worked tirelessly to help develop new pathogen intervention technologies.

In addition, Dr. Allen never gave up on his role as an educator. He taught food safety seminars to help his colleagues in the food industry understand the latest and best practices in meat safety. And he educated his employees and others throughout the industry as much as possible on understanding the role they play in ensuring that they do everything possible so we continue to have the safest meat and poultry supply in the world.

Dr. Allen also has displayed the uncanny ability to think outside the box. He was among the first to recognize that food safety could be improved if cattle were washed outside of their pens, and he led Excel´s efforts to co-develop a new hide washing system that replaced the practice of washing animals in their pens. Research has since shown that these new procedures are very effective in reducing the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 before slaughter.

It is this common sense approach to food safety that we honor today. Because of his innovations and contributions to the meat and poultry industry, the V.P. of Food Safety is an essential position “woven into the fabric” of most companies today. As a result, food produced from these plants are much safer to consume and more people have a greater appreciation of the roles they play in safe food production.

So today, as we reflect on Dr. Allen´s many accomplishments, let us show him our appreciation for his leadership and commitment to food safety and public health.

Please join me in a great round of applause as we present the second Bauman award to Dr. Dell Allen.