FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marti Hogan
(202) 220-3535
martihogan@idfa.org
(Washington, D.C. – February 2, 2016) The National Cheese Institute has 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 during a special ceremony at the International Dairy Foods Association's Dairy Forum 2017 in Orlando, Fla.
The NCI Laureate Award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the development and growth of the cheese industry. A panel of industry professionals chooses a winner each year based on the person's long-term contributions to the industry.
“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.”
Glass has been globally recognized for her work on Clostridium botulinum, Escherichia coli 0157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes in relation to dairy and other ready-to-eat food products. She has designed and conducted numerous complex studies to resolve dairy industry problems dealing with a variety of foodborne pathogens.
Her expertise in designing and conducting challenge studies has made her one of the most respected experts in this area in the United States and abroad. Her research on inhibiting C. botulinum in shelf-stable pasteurized process cheese and related products received worldwide recognition. It served as the basis for developing the Better Process Cheese School at the University of Wisconsin Food Research Institute, as well as IDFA’s Better Process Cheese School, which will be offered April 2-3 in Chicago as a pre-conference workshop at ProFood Tech. Glass will be the principal instructor.
Other cheese industry pioneers who have won the NCI Laureate Award include Gary Vanic, Fritz Leeman, Bob Bush, Larry Jensen, Lou Gentine, Mark Johnson, Jerome Schuman, Larry Ferguson, John Jeter, Mark Davis, Wes Allen, Elmer Marth, Max Gonzenbach, Rudy Nef, Betsy Holden, Don Storhoff, Lester Kielsmeier, Hans Epprecht, Norm Olson, Dave Nusbaum, John Nelson, Harold Steinke, Raymond Goldbach, Jack Budahn and Vince Zehren.
NCI will issue a call for nominations for the 2018 NCI Laureate Award this summer.
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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of nearly 525 companies within a $125-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 nearly 200 dairy processing members run nearly 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States. Visit IDFA at www.idfa.org.