Partnership for Food Safety Education Board of Directors Elects New Chair and Vice Chair
The nonprofit Partnership for Food Safety Education (PFSE) held elections at its October Board of Directors Meeting, during which Dr. Barb Masters, VP of regulatory policy, food and agriculture with Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Foods Inc., was elected the new board chair. and Ashley Eisenbeiser, senior director of food and product safety programs at Arlington, Va.-based FMI – The Food Industry Association, was elected vice chair.
Masters, who succeeds Harold Chase of NSF, who was elected chair in 2022, has a proven track record in advancing food safety from farm to fork. She holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Mississippi State University and received a Food Animal Internship from Kansas State University. Masters has served on PFSE’s board since 2020.
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“With more people eating at home, combining their meals with prepared and fresh foods for convenience, it’s so important to work across sectors to support information disseminators with science-based resources so they can be effective at influencing food handling behaviors,” noted Masters. “I believe the Partnership is well positioned to provide such leadership.”
Eisenbeiser graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in food science and technology, and earned a master’s degree in food science and technology from the same institution. She has served on PFSE’s board since 2020. As a previous family and consumer sciences extension agent with Virginia Cooperative Extension, Eisenbeiser is particularly passionate about food safety education.
“We will continue leading the way in consumer food safety education, all with one goal: to serve our communities and reduce the risk of foodborne illness,” she said.
Thousands of community-based health, nutrition and food safety professionals rely on the Partnership for science-based resources and tools. Arlington, Va.-based PFSE holds educational webinars and events on such topics as the importance of food safety in nutrition and food safety for older adults. It’s also the creator and steward of the well-known Fight BAC! national food safety education campaign.
Additionally, the Partnership will host the Consumer Food Safety Education Conference (CFSEC) on March 13-14, 2025, at the Sysco headquarters in Houston. The CFSEC is the only conference in the United States dedicated exclusively to food safety education.
