Press Releases

The National Cheese Institute bestowed its highest honor, the NCI Laureate Award, on Kathleen Glass, Ph. D., a senior scientist and associate director at the Food Research Institute of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. NCI Chairman Ron Dunford, who is president, Schreiber US, Schreiber Foods, Inc., presented the award to Glass this week at Dairy Forum. “Her research focuses on improving food safety by eliminating or controlling the growth of pathogenic bacteria,” said Dunford. “The findings of her work have influenced changes to the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance and are used by product developers and food safety professionals in the cheese and broader dairy industries.”

The U.S. dairy industry this week continued to push back against Canada’s protectionist policies that are effectively blocking American dairy imports into the country in violation of international agreements. A group of 17 dairy companies representing dairy farmers and processors from coast to coast asked governors in 25 states to urge Canadian policymakers to uphold existing trade commitments with the United States and halt the imminent implementation of a national strategy that would unfairly subsidize Canadian dairy products in its domestic and global markets.

IDFA is now accepting applications for the 13th annual Dairy Industry Safety Recognition Awards, a program that honors facilities and trucking operations for outstanding worker safety performance. “We are pleased that we now are able to recognize IDFA members that have implemented proactive safety programs to prevent illness and injuries from occurring in the workplace and that have outstanding safety statistics to verify the programs are working,” said Emily Lyons, IDFA director of regulatory affairs and counsel.

Opportunities for finding innovative business solutions have expanded for IDFA members and others planning to attend ProFood Tech, April 4–6, in Chicago. Registration will also include admission to the ProMat and Automate events being held April 3–6 at McCormick Place. ProMat is the premier material handling expo focusing on manufacturing and supply chain solutions, and Automate, North America’s largest automation show, will feature innovations and technologies in automation, including robotics, vision and imaging, motion control and more.

Five-time National Football League (NFL) MVP Peyton Manning will give the keynote speech at the first ever ProFood Tech Conference Program, led by IDFA, one of the three trade show leaders powering ProFood Tech, April 4-6, 2017 in Chicago, along with PACK EXPO and Anuga.“NFL great Peyton Manning will share real world leadership tips and how you can become a winner too by learning to adapt to changing circumstances,” said Neil Moran, IDFA senior vice president. “Manning combines his trademark humor and real life stories to challenge audiences to reach higher than they ever thought possible.”

Jer-Lindy Farms LLC of Brooten, Minn., has been selected as the 2017 Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year by IDFA and Dairy Herd Management magazine, which co-sponsor the award. “We’re pleased to honor Jer-Lindy Farms with this award for two reasons,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO. “The owners found innovative ways to expand and keep younger family members engaged in the operations. They also have initiated several sustainability efforts to boost efficiency and profits while continuing to be good stewards of the land and the animals.”

U.S. dairy organizations and the state departments of agriculture across the country today told President-elect Donald Trump that Canada’s existing and soon-to-be-expanded protectionist policies are intentionally designed to block imports from the United States. These policies are in direct violation of Canada’s trade commitments under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization, said IDFA, NMPF, NASDA and USDEC in a letter urging the president-elect and his key cabinet members to take immediate action.

IDFA has promoted Heather Soubra to the newly created position of chief of staff, effective immediately. In this position, Soubra will manage the office of Michael Dykes, D.V.M., IDFA president and CEO, while working closely with the association’s leadership team to help implement the president’s 100-day plan for enhancing and expanding member services and collaborating with other stakeholders in the dairy industry.

A new congressional effort to prod federal regulators to crack down on the inappropriate labeling of products designed to imitate milk drew support today from IDFA and the National Milk Producers Federation, which thanked lawmakers for speaking out on the issue. In a letter written by Reps. Mike Simpson (R-ID) and Peter Welch (D-VT), and cosigned by a bipartisan coalition of 32 other members of the House, lawmakers urge U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf to more aggressively police the improper use of dairy terms, which are used on the labels of many products that have no real dairy ingredients.

Surrendering to a European Union (EU) seizure of common food names would cost the U.S. dairy industry billions of dollars, slash domestic cheese consumption and increase prices for consumers, according to an analysis released today by Informa Economics IEG. “Under Europe’s GI policies, U.S. manufacturers would face a choice of abandoning markets for cheeses like feta and parmesan or selling them under names like ‘crumbly white cheese’ or ‘hard grated cheese,’” said Connie Tipton, president and CEO of IDFA, which represents dairy processors domestically and internationally. “It’s not hard to imagine the problems those name changes would create and this report finally quantifies those impacts.”

Dairy organizations in the United States, Australia, the European Union, Mexico and New Zealand today issued a joint letter to their respective trade and agriculture officials, expressing indignation about Canada’s recent actions to deepen its already prohibitive restrictions on dairy trade. The groups said Canada’s increasingly protectionist policies violate “international trade obligations, hold out the prospect of trade diversion with attendant global price-depressing impacts and are in conflict with the principles of free markets and fair and transparent trade.”

IDFA has selected Michael D. Dykes, D.V.M., to replace Connie Tipton, president and CEO of IDFA. Dykes has spent his professional career leading and executing agricultural government affairs policies and strategies. He will work in transition with Tipton beginning in October and will assume the CEO role in January 2017. “Michael’s policy experience combined with his food and animal science background could not be a better fit for IDFA,” said Jeff Kaneb, executive vice president of HP Hood LLC and chairman of IDFA’s transition committee. “He brings energy, enthusiasm and a track record of success to IDFA.”

IDFA recently announced the names of 137 dairy company operations that will receive IDFA Dairy Industry Safety Recognition Awards and Achievement Certificates this year. This is the 13th year that IDFA has sponsored the program, which highlights the outstanding worker safety records of U.S. dairy companies. “We’re excited that the number of award-winning companies jumped by nearly 30 names this year. It’s clear that dairy foods companies continue to make workplace safety a top priority in all of their operations,” said Emily Lyons, IDFA director of regulatory affairs and counsel.

President Barack Obama signed the GMO disclosure bill, giving consumers access to more product information and protecting the food supply system from a patchwork of varying state labeling laws for foods made with genetically modified, or GMO, ingredients. “We are grateful to President Obama for swiftly signing into law a bill that is vital for consumers and food manufacturers,” said Clay Hough, IDFA senior group vice president and legal counsel. “The new federal law explicitly preempts state GMO labeling laws, including Vermont’s, and will bring much-needed consistency to the marketplace.”

The International Dairy Foods Association commended Congress for taking quick action to pass S. 764, the bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), that will provide a national food disclosure standard for labeling foods made with genetically modified, or GMO, ingredients. The bill, passed last Thursday by the Senate, was taken up and passed today by the House of Representatives. The bill now will be sent to President Obama for his signature.