Subject Matter Experts
Regulatory Team
Clay Detlefsen
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Counsel
A 19-year veteran of IDFA, Clay Detlefsen has primary responsibility for issues related to sustainability, bioterrorism and food defense and supports IDFA staff on food safety issues. He is engaged in numerous homeland security activities and is co-chair of the Food and Agricultural Sector Coordinating Council (FASCC), a presidentially mandated partnership between government and private sector. He also is working with the Department of Homeland Security to improve its biannual Bioterrorism Risk Assessment where it applies to food.
Detlefsen has contributed to four National Infrastructure Advisory Council reports submitted to the White House on matters ranging from cooperation between the private sector and the intelligence community to pandemic flu preparation. He also is working with other industry colleagues to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the dairy industry and serves as a member of the Dairy Management Inc. Carbon Council.
Cary P. Frye
Vice President, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs
With more than 20 years of experience in dairy product processing and quality assurance, Cary Frye represents member companies on product safety, food labeling and standards of identity, ingredient technologies, and nutrition and health issues. She coordinates the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) Medical Advisory Board and is responsible for the technical development and regulatory oversight of nutritional marketing programs and processor materials that incorporate breaking medical and nutritional research.
A member of the International Dairy Federation, Frye chairs the IDF Standing Committee on Food Labeling and Terminology. She has been active in international standards, advising U.S. delegations on Codex standards and as the head delegate for IDF at the Codex Committee on Food Labeling. She also serves as a member of the Global Dairy Platform's Communication and Scientific Advisory Board.
Her work has been published in professional journals and textbooks, including "Dairy Processing and Quality Assurance" and "Manufacturing Yogurt and Fermented Milks," published by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
Allen Sayler
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and International Standards
Sayler has extensive knowledge and experience in dairy production, dairy processing, state and federal dairy regulations, dairy product sampling and testing, water and wastewater treatment, and drug residue screening programs.
Sayler is a nationally recognized expert and published author on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems, frequently working with state dairy regulators, Food and Drug Administration food safety staff, U.S. Department of Agriculture Dairy Grading & Standards staff and the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) regarding development of specific HACCP and general dairy regulations.
At IDFA, Sayler is responsible for leading the association's HACCP, aseptic, Codex, SQF & BRC Third Party Certification System training, 3-A and ISO activities, as well as monitoring international regulatory issues and representing IDFA members on NCIMS, the International Dairy Federation and various Codex Alimentarius Commission committees. Before joining IDFA in 1997, Sayler was a dairy product marketing specialist with USDA’s Dairy Programs Standardization Branch.
Prior to that, Sayler worked four years with the FDA's Milk Safety Branch and 10 years with the North Dakota Department of Agriculture as Assistant Dairy Commissioner. He grew up on a dairy farm in central North Dakota, with an educational background in biology, microbiology and studies in civil engineering.
Economic and Legislative Team
Ruth Saunders
Vice President, Policy and Legislative Affairs
Ruth Saunders is responsible for managing IDFA's government affairs and strategic communications with Capitol Hill and the administration. She joined IDFA in 2006 as senior director of policy communications and has gained increasing responsibility in setting IDFA's legislative agenda, as well as building relationships with policy makers and industry partners.
Saunders came to IDFA from the Office of Management and Budget, where she served as a senior program examiner responsible for budgets and regulations of many U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, including dairy. Before that, Saunders worked on Capitol Hill as a staff member for the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture. She also has prior experience in marketing research and nutrition education.
Saunders graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.S. degree in community nutrition at the University of California-Davis and holds an M.S. degree in agriculture economics from Cornell University.
Robert Dean Yonkers, Ph.D.
Vice President and Chief Economist
Bob Yonkers oversees the research and analysis of the economic impact of marketing conditions, government regulations and alternative policies on the U.S. and international dairy industries. Before joining IDFA in 1998, Yonkers was a tenured faculty member at The Pennsylvania State University, where he conducted research and developed educational programs on the profitability and economic sustainability of the state's milk producing, marketing and processing sectors.
Yonkers serves on the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Animals and Animal Products, an advisory body that provides information and advice to U.S. cabinet officials. An active member of the International Dairy Federation's Standing Committee on Dairy Policies and Economics, he was elected chairman in 2009.
Yonkers also serves on the Agricultural Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Board of Directors for the Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics; and the Board of Directors of the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association.
