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Peggy Armstrong
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(Washington, D.C. - August 17, 2009) The International Dairy Foods Association has announced the names of 78 dairy company operations that will receive IDFA Dairy Industry Safety Recognition Awards and Achievement Certificates. This is the sixth year that IDFA has sponsored the program, which highlights the outstanding worker-safety records of U.S. dairy companies.

The operations for each nominated company were judged solely on specific data required by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on the facility's "Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses" report. This year's award decisions were based on data from OSHA reports for the 2008 calendar year.

The award program includes categories for both processing facilities and trucking operations in the dairy industry. In addition to the 20 processing category award winners, IDFA awarded Achievement Certificates to 22 processing operations for having no injury cases that resulted in lost time away from work. IDFA also recognized 36 trucking operations for having a Zero DART rate - zero cases with days away from work, restriction or job transfer in 2008.

"We know that dairy companies and their employees are eager to participate in this award program year after year. We believe this continued positive response demonstrates a foundational commitment to worker safety within the dairy industry," said Clay Detlefsen, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs. "We congratulate all of the participants on their hard work, dedication and outstanding achievement."

Processing facilities were judged in four product categories: natural and processed cheese; dry, condensed and evaporated products; ice cream and frozen desserts; and fluid milk. Within each product category, IDFA accepted nominations for small, medium and large facilities that achieved the best overall safety performance rates based on the OSHA data.

The 2009 winners will be featured in the Dairy Field Reports section of an upcoming issue of Dairy Foods magazine. IDFA will issue a call for nominations for the next Dairy Industry Safety Awards competition in early 2010.

2009 IDFA Plant Safety Category Award Winners

BGC Manufacturing, Dairy Plant ~ Tyler, TX
BGC Manufacturing, Ice Cream Plant ~ Tyler, TX
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Texas Operations ~ Houston, TX
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Laurel Operations Center ~ Laurel, MD
Dean Foods Company, Morningstar Foods ~ Sulphur Springs, TX
Dean Foods Company of California, Milk Plant ~ Buena Park, CA
Dean Foods Company of California, Ice Cream Plant ~ Buena Park, CA
Dean Foods Company, PET/Land-O-Sun Dairy ~ Baxley, GA
Foremost Farms USA ~ Clayton, WI
Foremost Farms USA ~ Wilson, WI
Foremost Farms USA ~ Sparta, WI
Kraft Foods N.A., Inc. ~ Tulare, CA
Hunter Farms/Harris Teeter ~ High Point, NC
National Dairy, Georgia Soft Serve Delights ~ Decatur, GA
O-AT-KA Milk Products Cooperative, Inc. ~ Batavia, NY
Pace Dairy Foods of Indiana ~ Crawfordsville, IN
Safeway Inc. ~ Phoenix Ice Cream Plant ~ Phoenix, AZ
Swiss Premium Dairy ~ Lebanon, PA
The Kroger Co., Heritage Farms Dairy ~ Murfreesboro, TN
The Kroger Co., Westover Dairy ~ Lynchburg, VA

2009 IDFA Plant Safety Award Winners - Zero Lost Workdays

Dean Foods Company, Whitewave Foods ~ Jacksonville, FL
Dean Foods Company, Morningstar Foods ~ Fullerton, CA
Dean Foods Company, Whitewave Foods ~ Bridgeton, NJ
Dean Foods Company, Morningstar Foods ~ Murray, KY
Dean Foods Company, Morningstar Foods ~ Frederick, MD
Dean Foods Company, Oak Farms Dairy ~ Waco, TX
Dean Foods Company, Meadow Gold Dairies ~ Salt Lake City, UT
Foremost Farms USA ~ Rothschild, WI
Foremost Farms USA ~ Appleton, WI
Foremost Farms USA ~ Marshfield, WI
Foremost Farms USA ~ Preston, MN
Foremost Farms USA ~ Waukon, IA
Foremost Farms USA ~ DePere, WI
HP Hood LLC ~ Portland, ME
HP Hood LLC ~ Barre, VT
HP Hood LLC, Penn Maid/Crowley Foods ~ Philadelphia, PA
Hunter Farms/Harris Teeter ~ High Point, NC
National Dairy, Dairy Fresh Corporation ~ Mobile, AL
National Dairy, Borden Milk Products ~ Austin, TX
Publix Super Markets, Inc. ~ Deerfield Beach, FL
Safeway Inc. ~ Denver Milk Plant ~ Denver, CO
Yarnell's Ice Cream Company ~ Searcy, AR

2009 IDFA Trucking Safety Award Winners - Zero DART Rate

Dean Foods Company ~ Houston, TX
Dean Foods Company, Meadow Gold Dairies ~ Great Falls, MT
Dean Foods Company, Meadow Gold Dairies ~ Rock Springs, WY
Dean Foods Company, Meadow Gold Dairies ~ Richfield, UT
Dean Foods Company, Meadow Gold Dairies ~ Price, UT
Dean Foods Company, Meadow Gold Dairies ~ Logan, UT
Dean Foods Company, Meadow Gold Dairies ~ Vernal, UT
Dean Foods Company, Meadow Gold Dairies ~ Rawlins, WY
Dean Foods Company, Oak Farms Dairy ~ Brenham, TX
Dean Foods Company, Oak Farms Dairy ~ Sweeny, TX
Dean Foods Company, PET/Land-O-Sun Dairy ~ Bluefield, VA
Dean Foods Company, PET/Land-O-Sun Dairy ~ Forest, VA
Dean Foods Company, PET/Land-O-Sun Dairy ~ Jacksonville, NC
Dean Foods Company, T.G. Lee Dairy ~ Orlando, FL
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Denver/Utah Small Format ~ Denver, CO
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Alaska Sales ~ Anchorage, AK
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Maryland Sales ~ Laurel, MD
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Chicago/Milwaukee UDS ~ Glendale Heights, IL
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Atlanta/Alabama Sales ~ Lawrenceville, GA
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Seattle/Portland Large Format Sales ~ Kent, WA
Heluva Good ~ Sodus, NY
HP Hood LLC, Kemps LLC ~ Eau Claire, WI
HP Hood LLC, Axelrod Foods ~ Paterson, NJ
HP Hood LLC, Kemps LLC ~ Brainerd, MN
HP Hood LLC, Kemps LLC ~ Harahan, LA
HP Hood LLC, Kemps LLC ~ York, PA
HP Hood LLC, Kemps LLC ~ La Crosse, WI
HP Hood LLC, Kemps LLC ~ Mason City, IA
HP Hood LLC, Kemps LLC ~ St. Cloud, MN
HP Hood LLC, Kemps LLC ~ Rochester, MN
HP Hood LLC, Kemps LLC ~ Merrill, WI
Roberts Dairy Company ~ Norfolk, NE
Roberts Dairy Company ~ Scottsbluff, NE
Roberts Dairy Company ~ North Platte, NE
Roberts Dairy Company ~ Lincoln, NE
Roberts Dairy Company ~ Grimes, IA

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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, DC, represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies representing a $110-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's 220 dairy processing members run more than 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85% of the milk, cultured products, cheese and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States. IDFA can be found online at www.idfa.org.