3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3-A SSI), a community of regulators working together to develop criteria for the hygienic design of food processing equipment, recently released its 2013 Annual Report. The organization also announced the recipients of its 2013 Volunteer Service Awards.

IDFA is one of the five founding members of the 3-A program, and Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president and 3-A board member, attended the 3-A SSI annual meeting last month in Milwaukee. The report notes that the program is posting record growth and expanding its reach to build new awareness of the organization’s programs and resources. Read the report here.

The Volunteer Service Awards recognize the dedication and commitment of individuals who contribute to the development of voluntary standards and the mission of 3-A SSI.  Nominations for the awards are made by fellow volunteers from the three stakeholder groups in 3-A SSI – regulatory sanitarians, fabricators and processors – among others.

Gabe Miller of Sani-Matic, Inc. received the Leadership Service Award for outstanding service to 3-A SSI voluntary standards development and significant contributions to the mission of 3-A SSI. Bryan Downer of Central States Industrial received the Next Generation Award for outstanding accomplishments by an individual who has been active in 3-A SSI for fewer than five years.

A third award was renamed to honor the distinguished service of a former award winner who passed away in March. In the future, the Richard K. Smith Advancement Award will recognize outstanding accomplishments by an individual or group on behalf of 3-A SSI.

Since 1956, the 3-A Symbol has been used to identify equipment that meets 3-A Sanitary Standards for design and fabrication. Voluntary use of the 3-A Symbol on dairy and food equipment assures dairy companies that equipment meets sanitary standards, provides accepted criteria to equipment manufacturers for sanitary design and establishes guidelines for uniform evaluation and compliance by sanitarians.

For more information, contact Hough at chough@idfa.org.