FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Marti Hogan
(202) 220-3535
mhogan@idfa.org

(Washington, D.C. – January 24, 2018) Brian Kraus, director of food safety and regulatory compliance with Wells Enterprises, Inc., received the International Dairy Foods Association’s Food Safety Leadership Award this week at Dairy Forum 2018 in Palm Desert, Calif. The award honors an individual, group or organization for demonstrating outstanding leadership in enhancing food safety within the dairy products industry, and Kraus has been a driving force for excellence in food safety for more than 30 years.

“I am honored to present this year’s award to a consummate food safety professional who is always willing to help out. He is well-known throughout the industry for his expertise and leadership,” said Alan Thomsen, president and CEO of Schoep’s Ice Cream Co., Inc., and IDFA board member, who presented the award. “Brian Kraus has devoted his career to finding the best ways for manufacturers and processors to keep food safe for consumers.”

During his tenure with Wells Enterprises, Kraus has built a strong food safety culture throughout the organization and has emerged as a leader for the broader dairy products industry. He has trained more than 60 Wells employees on effective preventive controls in ice cream production and serves as a subject matter expert and trainer in a number of dairy industry food safety programs. Kraus is engaged with the industry’s Listeria Research Consortium, a group working to find new and innovative solutions for the control of Listeria monocytogenes, and he is involved in research on the control of persistent Listeria in dairy processing environments.

In addition, Kraus has provided his company and the industry with a much-needed tool for verification and validation in allergen control programs.

Photos from the award presentation are available upon request. Contact Marti Hogan, IDFA director of communications, at mhogan@idfa.org.

Nominations for the 2019 Food Safety Leadership Award will open this summer.

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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, which employs nearly 1 million skilled individuals, generates more than $39 billion in direct wages and has an overall economic impact of more than $200 billion. IDFA is the umbrella organization for the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA).

Our members range from large multinational 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 and sold throughout the world. Our diverse membership includes numerous food retailers, suppliers and companies that offer infant formula and a wide variety of milk ingredients.