United Fresh Hires Jennifer McEntire as VP, Food Safety & Tech

United Fresh Produce Association has named Jennifer McEntire, Ph.D., its VP, food safety and technology, succeeding Dr. David Gombas, who retired from the Washington, D.C.-based association June 1 after 11 years leading its food safety program. McEntire will join United Fresh in July.

 “For the past 20 years, United Fresh has been committed to the highest level of scientific leadership in food safety, and Jennifer is the ideal person to take our member food safety programs and advocacy to government and the regulatory community to the next level,” said United Fresh President and CEO Tom Stenzel.

“Jennifer is an expertly trained scientist, with specific expertise in microbiology and food safety,” added Stenzel. “She’s an experienced association professional with skills nurtured in industry, academia and regulatory circles that are critical to our business, and she’s a respected scientific leader among her peers in the food industry, academia and the regulatory community.”

McEntire’s most recent role was VP for science operations at the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Previously, she was was chief science officer at The Acheson Group consultancy, where she helped build the organization with former FDA associate commissioner David Acheson, and senior staff scientist at the Institute of Food Technologists. She was also a visiting scientist at the Food and Drug Administration, an intern at the National Food Processors Association, and a USDA National Needs Fellow in Food Safety at Rutgers University.

The recipient of numerous honors and awards, McEntire currently serves on the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance Steering Committee. She is a lead instructor for the Preventive Controls for Human Food course and a frequent speaker at academic, government and industry events.