Wednesday, August 25, 2010, 1:00PM CST
Gary R. Acuff has been a member of the Animal Science faculty at Texas A&M University for 30 years, and in 2001 was designated a Texas AgriLife Research Faculty Fellow for research leadership. Dr. Acuff was President of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) from 2007-2008. Dr. Acuff obtained his B.S. in biology from Abilene Christian University in 1980 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in food science and technology, specializing in food microbiology, from Texas A&M University in 1982 and 1985, respectively. His research has focused on improving the microbiological quality and safety of red meat in all areas of production and utilization. Additional research interests have included characterizing the presence of Campylobacter jejuni in turkey processing and improving the shelf-life of Texas Gulf shrimp. Dr. Acuff has authored or co-authored over 80 research publications in scientific journals and 10 chapters in various references and textbooks. Dr. Acuff has served as the Head of the Department of Animal Science at Texas A&M University since 2005.
For the last 25 years Tim Biela has been actively involved in Food Safety Technology and Quality Systems in the food industry. He has been an active member of the Beef Industry for over 18 years, making presentations at Technical and Professional Seminars and Workshops both nationally and internationally. He is co author of several noted publications concerning the control of pathogens in beef processing operations. Brown is currently Executive Vice President for Food Safety and Quality Assurance at AFA Foods which is the largest independent U.S. producer of ground beef for the commercial fast food, casual dining restaurant category and retail groceries. AFA Foods has been producing ground beef for 35 years and producing for the Jack in the Box Restaurant chain since their outbreak in 1993. They utilize an extensive comprehensive Food Safety System which has been in place since 1992. This comprehensive program includes testing of finished ground beef products for E. coli O157:H7 using extremely sensitive microbiological assays; e. g. PCR/DNA.
Ted Brown is a graduate of Kansas State University where he earned his Master’s degree in animal science. He has worked with the Cargill organization since June of 1999. Prior to this, Brown served as Laboratory Supervisor for The Department of Defense Fort Sam Houston. Before joining The DOD, he worked for several years as Laboratory Supervisor with FoodLabs, a third party testing lab in Manhattan KS. Throughout his career, he has actively been involved in food testing and solving food safety issues. Brown is also an active participant on the American Meat Institute scientific affairs committee and a member of the International Association for Food Protection.
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