Dale Morton to Receive 2016 GMA Food Safety Award
R. Dale Morton, formerly senior director of global food safety for PepsiCo Inc. and now president of Morton Food Safety Associates LLC (MFSA), will receive the 2016 Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) Food Safety Award at the International Association for Food Protection’s Annual Meeting in August.
“Through his considerable work and accomplishments in the field of food safety, Dale Morton has made a tremendous contribution to enhancing the safety of our food supply,” noted Leon Bruner, chief science officer at Washington, D.C.-based GMA. “Not only did he oversee food safety for the second-largest food and beverage manufacturer in the world, but he also strove to advance food safety for our industry as a whole by sharing his extensive experience and expertise with all stakeholders.”
The award honors individuals or organizations with a longstanding commitment to improving the safety of food. Recipients must possess a minimum of 10 years of service in the food safety arena and have contributed substantially to research, education and information transfer. Additionally, recipients must offer innovative and effective strategies to promote a safer food supply while addressing significant food safety problems.
Before his retirement from Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo, Morton developed and managed programs designed to ensure food safety for all products that the company manufactured globally. He was instrumental in creating Pepsico’s Executive Product Integrity Council, comprising cross-functional leaders dedicated to promoting product integrity and a food safety culture; led the PepsiCo Food Safety Forum; and developed standard and measurable food safety programs at all PepsiCo manufacturing facilities worldwide.
Morton has helped the food and beverage industry as a whole through partnerships, presentations and best practice sharing, and has continuously sought to educate others and share lessons learned. A recognized process authority, he has developed qualification criteria for many thermal process and aseptic technologies.