This one-day introductory session is designed for industry newcomers and early-career professionals. This will be a fast-moving, comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of hygienic design and the elements that distinguish 3-A Sanitary Standards. Presentation topics will include: Elements of Hygienic Design, Standards and Regulation, Materials of Construction, Principles of Hygienic Equipment Design and Fabrication, Principles of Hygienic Facility Design, Cleaning and Sanitizing and Operations and Quality.

Microbial Food Safety Hazards, Dr. Linda Harris, University of California, Davis

Pathogen Control Strategies in Food Processing, Dave Kedzierski, Agri-Mark Inc./Cabot Creamery Coop

GFSI Benchmark Requirements and Risk Assessment, Rick Heiman, DFA, and Patrick Wouters, EHEDG

Personal Care Products: Where 3-A Fits into Hygienic Design Training, Mark Drake, L’Oreal

Monitoring Environmental Hazards Overlooked by Sanitation, Darrell Bigalke, QualiTru Sampling Systems

Additive Manufacturing in the Food Industry, Greg Paulsen, Xometry

Principles of Hygienic Design for Belting, Adam Bannerman, Intralox

Avoiding Pitfalls in Hygienic Design: An Auditor’s Perspective, Daniel Erickson, H. Wainess & Assoc. Inc.

Dr. Linda Harris, University of California, Davis, is a Specialist in Cooperative Extension, Chair of the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California Davis, and Co-PI for the Western Center for Food Safety. Her research program focuses on the microbial food safety of fresh fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, and other low moisture foods throughout the food chain. Dr. Harris is active with the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP). In 2013, she was elected to the IAFP Executive Board as Secretary and served as President of the association in 2016-2017. She was elected Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists (2018) and IAFP (2019). Dr. Harris has served two terms on the National Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Criteria for Foods, and worked as a subject matter expert at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition while on sabbatical leave in 2013-2014.

Dave Kedzierski, is Vice President, Food Safety & Regulatory Affairs at Agri-Mark, Inc./Cabot Creamery Coop in Burlington, Vermont. He served as Chair of 3-A SSI from 2016-2018. He has extensive progressive management experience in directing, leading, and managing food safety programs, compliance, quality systems, supplier FSQA programs, and third-party auditing to include credentials as a certified SQF Practitioner. He also has an extensive multiple plant perspective with multiple organizations in the dairy industry.

Rick Heiman is Director of Corporate Hygiene for DFA. He earned a BS in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Missouri and has completed post-graduate education in low acid canned foods, aseptic processing, and advanced statistics from North Carolina State University and the University of Arkansas. Rick is an appointed member of the GFSI hygienic design working group for global benchmarking standards, serves on the Board of Directors for 3-A SSI, and is an appointed liaison between 3-A SSI and the European Hygiene Engineering Design Group (EHEDG).  In addition, Rick regularly delivers hygienic design education for other institutions such as FARRP and IAFP.

Patrick Wouters is Global Hygienic Design Leader at Cargill and Vice president of EHEDG. He began his career in Dairy industry manufacturing fresh milk products, and worked for 22 years at Unilever in various R&D and Supply Chain roles as a microbiologist, hygienic process engineer, and quality manager.

Mark Drake is a Quality professional with 24 years of experience across multiple industries of pharmaceutical, food and cosmetics, and personal care. During this time he worked in multiple areas, including Quality Engineering, Laboratory Management, Quality Management, Project Management as well as roles in plant and corporate for Sanitation and Hygiene. Mark is currently the AVP of Quality and Hygiene for the Americas Zone for L’Oreal.

Darrell Bigalke is the Chairman of the Board/Owner & Founder at QualiTru Sampling Systems.

Greg Paulsen leads the Applications Engineering team at Xometry, an on-demand custom manufacturing service for additive manufacturing (3D printing), CNC machining, and injection molding. He handles special case projects that require attention on material selection, design-for-manufacturing, or technical engineering resources. Greg also plays a vital role in vetting new technologies, finishes, and materials to add to Xometry's manufacturing portfolio. Greg’s background is in product development using rapid prototyping, focusing on the various applications of industrial 3D printing and advanced manufacturing.

Adam Bannerman, a graduate of Louisiana State University (BSME, MBA), has worked for Intralox for 15 years. Adam has focused on the food industry for most of his career. After spending three years as application engineer, troubleshooting and training customers across hundreds of production facilities, he moved to new product development. Adam has been leading food industry-focused new product development for the past eight years. Adam works closely with Intralox’s Commercial Food Sanitation (CFS) company to design and release hygienic solutions to the market each year. He, along with a team of specialists, focuses on plastics materials research to discover material technology that will solve industry challenges in the dynamic environments of food production. Adam is also a member of the Plastics Industry Association through Intralox.

Daniel Erickson has worn many hats in his career in the Dairy Industry. Raised on a small family farm near the West Central Minnesota Community of Starbuck, he served four years in the US Air Force as a Missile Maintenance Technician in North Dakota. He returned to Minnesota to take a job as a Milk Hauler/Sampler for a local trucking company and Milk Cooperative. He received an appointment as Dairy Inspector 1 for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture in 1984 in Stearns Co., the biggest dairy county in the US at the time. He was appointed to the position of Interstate Milk Shipper Rating/Sampling Surveillance Officer and Dairy Plant Inspector in 1986 and served in those positions until 2003 when he accepted the position of Food Safety Auditor at Harold Wainess & Associates. HWA provides PMO Grade A Dairy Inspection and Single Service Container and Closure Fabricator Certifications in 30 countries around the world. Dan, with his business partner Ken Anderson, were in the first group of 3-A Certified Conformance Evaluators vetted by 3-A SSI. They continue to perform 3-A Third Party Verification Audits and manage certificate updates for numerous 3-A Authorized Symbol Holders.

Don’t miss this exciting program and expert speakers for the 3-A SSI 2021 Education Program. Registration is open now at $199 for the two-day program. Register today at www.3-a.org. 

Sponsored Link opportunities are also available. Sponsorship provides a great opportunity to show support for the educational mission of 3-A SSI through recognition at the Annual Meeting events, exposure on the 3-A SSI website throughout the year, and worldwide outreach via the 3-A SSI quarterly e-newsletter Sanitary Design Connections. For sponsorship details, contact Michael Drumm at 3-A SSI.

Today, literally hundreds of marketers offer food processing equipment online and many advertisements state claims such as ‘meets 3A’, ‘conforms to 3A standards’, or the equipment may even include ‘3A’ in a model name or designation. Such references suggest the equipment meets the criteria for 3-A Symbol authorization. You can easily verify whether the supplier is an authorized 3-A Symbol holder, just go to this link and search the current list of authorized 3-A Symbol holders  (by company name, equipment type, or authorization number). Otherwise, the buyer is solely responsible for verifying whether the equipment meets the desired sanitary design and fabrication criteria, see link below.

3-A SSI provides a special Buyer Beware list as a service to identify any entities known to infringe on the registered marks of 3-A SSI, including the 3-A Symbol and 3A word mark. See the updated list at https://www.3-a.org/Knowledge-Center/Buyer-Beware-False-or-Misleading-Claims. If a company you know is shown on this list, we strongly encourage them to remove the infringement and notify 3-A SSI promptly in writing. Unless we receive other information, the Buyer Beware list will be considered current and accurate for the pursuit of further action by trade authorities or customers.

The ANSI Executive Standards Council officially approved new Operating Procedures for the Development of American National Standards by 3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. The new procedures are now available on the 3-A SSI website at Operating Procedures for the Development of American National Standards.

As the title suggests, these procedures pertain solely to the development of candidate American National Standards. To date, 3-A SSI maintains only one ANS, 3-A Sanitary Standard for General Requirements, 00-01. The development of all other 3-A SSI documents will continue to follow the same procedures that have been followed for many years.

3-A SSI invites applications for the 2021 Student Participation Award, which is intended to help motivated, career-oriented students participate in the annual education program of 3-A SSI and gain valuable insights on hygienic equipment design. The program enables dedicated students with a record of achievement to gain comprehensive first-hand knowledge about hygienic design for food processing equipment and systems. The entire program will be held in a virtual format on May 17-18, 2021.

The 3-A SSI Student Participation Award provides an opportunity for qualified full-time students enrolled in a relevant field of study to present a poster and participate in the two-day education program on May 17-18. Participation in the program will also provide exposure to a wide and diverse professional audience of hygienic equipment fabricators, processors, and regulatory sanitarians from across the U.S. and around the world.

Candidates for the 2021 awards must be enrolled full-time in a food technology, food science, dairy science, or other closely related programs (undergraduate or graduate level) at a college or university in the U.S. or Canada. Candidates must demonstrate a career interest and commitment to food safety and quality. Award recipients will be selected on the basis of a personal essay and a letter of recommendation from a faculty member or department head. See award details and a link to the application form at 3-A SSI Invites Applications for 2021 Student Participation Awards. The application deadline is March 26, 2021.

The Leadership Service Award is presented to an individual or group who demonstrates a record of significant contribution to 3-A SSI voluntary standards development and who has demonstrated outstanding service in enabling 3-A SSI to attain its objectives.  Accomplishments may include leading a major new activity, reducing the cycle time of development, revitalizing a ‘dormant’ activity, or other outstanding services.

The 3-A SSI Advancement Award honors outstanding accomplishments performed by any individual or group on behalf of 3-A SSI, such as advancing the use or industry recognition of 3-A Sanitary Standards or 3-A Accepted Practices.

The Next Generation Award honors an individual who has been engaged in 3-A SSI standards development activities for less than five years and has demonstrated leadership, dedication, and significant contributions to the development of 3-A Sanitary Standards or 3-A Accepted Practices. 

Act now if you wish to nominate a deserving volunteer! The nomination form is available at 2021 Volunteer Service Award Nomination Form. The close date for 2021 nominations is April 2, 2021. Awards will be announced during the 3-A SSI Annual Meeting to be conducted in a virtual format on Wednesday, May 19.

Names of previous award winners are maintained on the 3-A SSI website at https://www.3-a.org/About/Honors-and-Awards.

3-A SSI maintains a comprehensive status report covering all current document development activities. You may download a copy of the latest Status of 3-A Sanitary Standards and 3-A Accepted Practices Activities at the link Work-in-Progress Status Report Chart (Jan. 12, 2021). For more details on work in progress, contact the Working Group Chair or Eric Schweitzer 3-A SSI at [email protected].

Equipment Fabricators capitalize on the added assurance that conveys to buyers with the 3-A Symbol or a 3-A SSI certificate, leading to a competitive advantage and better profits.

Processors gain confidence that the equipment they buy meets the highest standards in hygienic design, streamlining equipment selection, maintenance, and inspections.

Regulatory Sanitarians benefit from a higher level of confidence in the hygienic design and performance of the equipment they inspect.

The RPSCQC certificate is available to manufacturers of replacement parts or system components. The RPSCQC is beneficial to certificate holders and customers because it affirms that such parts or system components are compatible with the design criteria found in the relevant 3-A Sanitary Standard(s). The RPSCQC is an effective way to enhance the confidence of customers who demand the highest level of consumer confidence in the safety of foods produced with hygienic equipment.

A copy of the certificate of conformance is posted on the 3-A SSI website to show independent verification of hygienic design criteria for your parts or components. See details on the RPSCQC Program on the 3-A website

Get your Sponsored Link for 2021 NOW to increase your company’s recognition and take advantage of direct $$$ benefits for the upcoming Annual Meeting & Education program. Sponsorship provides a great opportunity to show support for the educational mission of 3-A SSI throughout the year. As a sponsor, your company will receive a Sponsored Link placed prominently on the 3-A SSI website. And you will receive up to three complimentary registrations for the 3-A SSI Annual Meeting and Education program in May. For sponsorship details, see http://www.3-a.org/Get-a-Sponsored-Link or contact Michael Drumm at [email protected] or 703-790-0295 Ext. 2 today.