AAFCO 2003 Publication Due Out
The 2003 Official Publication of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) is due for release in January 2003. The reference manual is essential for anyone involved in the feed industry. The manual contains up-to-date information on model laws and regulations for commercial feed, pet food, and recycled animal waste; feed control contact information in each state, Canada, and Costa Rica; government contact personnel; approved feed ingredients and their definitions; regulatory requirements for distributing feed products in each state; medicated feed labeling guide; enzyme marketing coordination document; analytical methods and analytical variations; AAFCO committee members; proceedings of the most recent AAFCO annual meeting; canine and feline nutrient profiles and protocols; new feed labeling format for nutritional indicators; and forms used for tonnage reporting, pet food affidavits, and medicated feed mill inspections.
The publication is available to AFFCO members for $40, non-members for $50, and international orders are $65. To obtain an order form, log onto AAFCO’s Web site at www.aafco.org, or call Sharon Senesac at (765) 385-1029.
AMI and OSHA Establish Alliance
The American Meat Institute (AMI) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have established a cooperative alliance dedicated to worker safety enhancements throughout the meat industry.
Under the alliance, AMI and OSHA will use their collective expertise to foster a culture of illness and injury prevention in meat plants. Specifically, the two will promote safe and healthful working conditions for meat industry employees focusing primarily on ergonomic programs.
This alliance is not the first time AMI and OSHA have teamed up to improve worker safety in the meat industry. In 1990, the two jointly developed the Ergonomics Program Management Guidelines for Meat Packing Plants. Widespread use of these guidelines contributed to a 40 percent decline in worker illness and injury in the last decade.
AMI Elects Officers; Hires VP International Trade
The American Meat Institute (AMI) elected six officers for 2002-2003. Elected to the chairmanship was Richard (Rick) G. Searer, group vice president, Kraft Foods North America, and president, Oscar Mayer Foods, Madison, WI. Serving as vice chairman will be Stewart K. Owens, president and chief operating officer, Bob Evans Farms, Inc., Columbus, OH. William A. Buckner, corporate vice president, Cargill, Inc., and president, Excel Corporation, Wichita, KS, will serve as AMI’s treasurer, and Robert “Bo” Manly, president and chief executive officer (CEO) for farm and processing plant operations, Premium Standard Farms, Kansas City, MO, will serve as secretary. Phil Clemens, president and CEO, Hatfield, Inc., Hatfield, PA, and AMI’s 2001 chairman, becomes immediate past chairman. J. Patrick Boyle was reelected by the AMI membership to serve a 14th year as the group’s president and CEO.
AMI has appointed John J. Reddington as vice president of international trade. Reddington is a 23-year veteran of the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) who has served in posts worldwide. In his last position with FAS, Reddington served as the director of the dairy, livestock, and poultry division.
Cargill to Expand Feed Business
Cargill Animal Nutrition will invest $5 million to construct a bulk animal feed plant in conjunction with its existing pre-mix facility in Roaring Spring, PA. The plant is being built to keep pace with the continued growth of the company’s dairy business in the central Pennsylvania market.
The bulk feed plant will have an annual capacity of 75,000 tons and require between three to five new production employees. Total employment currently is 17. Construction should be completed by July 2003.
Cargill purchased the existing pre-mix plant from Young’s, Inc., in 1980. Cargill Animal Nutrition also serves the Pennsylvania market through a plant in Lebanon, PA, which opened in 1996.
Crown Hires Biodiesel Leader
Crown Iron Works Company, a manufacturer of oilseed processing systems, hired Larry Sullivan as biodiesel product manager in August 2002, shortly after Crown’s announcement of the company’s new self-contained continuous and batch biodiesel (methyl ester) processing systems.
Sullivan was most recently with Cortec Corporation and has 17 years oil refining technology experience. He served on the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Program Committee, where he currently serves as a technical editor.
Dupps Forms New Drying Division
The Dupps Company has formed a new operating division devoted to process drying systems and equipment. The Thermal Technology Division will serve the protein recycling, food, manufactured wood products, pulp and paper, and other industries with state-of-the-art dryer engineering, manufacturing, installation, and service capability.
The new division will contain Productization, Inc., a Kansas-based firm acquired by Dupps in 1999. Richard L. Chaney, Productization’s director of marketing with over 30 years of experience in dehydration applications, will oversee the division’s daily business activities. Existing Productization facilities will be consolidated at the Dupps corporate headquarters in Germantown, OH.
Daminco Changes Name
In September 2000, Daminco, Inc., was acquired by the Royal Schouten Group, which is headquartered in Giessen, The Netherlands. On June 1, 2002, the worldwide food and health ingredients activities of the global organization merged into a new company, Acatris. The company specializes in food, nutritional, pharmaceutical, and personal care ingredients.
European Distributors Appointed
New distributors have been appointed to represent Dupps process equipment and parts in Europe.
Mavitec B.V. is now the exclusive European distributor for process machinery equipment parts fabricated by the Dupps Company. Mavitec is directed by Maco van Heumen, a former manager at Dupps. Similarly, proprietary process machinery and equipment manufactured by Dupps is now represented by HeVeHe B.V., managed by Henk van Heumen, also a former company manager. Both are located in The Netherlands.
Meat New Zealand Chief Steps Down; Others Appointed
Meat New Zealand (MNZ) Chief Executive Officer Neil Taylor has announced that he will step down from his present position in April 2003 after 33 years with the group. He said he wishes to pursue other industry and personal interests.
Gerry Thompson and Bill Joyce have been appointed to two senior positions within MNZ. Thompson, who is currently trade policy general manager in the group’s Wellington, NZ, head office, has been appointed general manager for Europe, based in Brussels, Belgium. His appointment is effective January 2003.
Joyce was named market services general manager and is based in Wellington. He assumed his position in October.
Industry Leader Passes
Ed Wieland, former president and chief executive officer of Central Bi-Products, Redwood Falls, MN, passed away November 29, 2002. He also served as National Renderers Association president in 1987-1988.
Wieland joined Central Bi-Products in 1966, becoming general manager in 1978 and president and chief executive office in 1981 until his retirement in 1987. He is survived by his wife, Joan, four children, and numerous other family members.
Jacobsen Bulletin Expands Coverage to Australia
The Jacobsen Publishing Company has expanded its market coverage to include Australia and New Zealand. The Jacobsen International Bulletin is a weekly publication that provides in-depth analysis, commentary, and price discovery for animal by-products in oceanic markets.
Each week, analysts talk with buyers, sellers, and traders “down under,” as well as U.S. exporters, to get a feel for existing market conditions and the outlook for the future. Bill Spooncer, Food Science Australia, contributed insight into the development of the new bulletin.
MLA Appoints Managing Director
Mark Spurr has been appointed the new managing director for Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA). He is replacing Richard Brooks, who left after nearly five years at the helm. Spurr has an extensive international background in the food industry, most recently with Goodman Fielder Ingredients, a global gelatin and ingredients business.
NCC Leaders Take Office
Elton H. Maddox, president and chief executive officer (CEO), Wayne Farms LLC, Oakwood, GA, has taken office as chairman of the National Chicken Council (NCC). Paul Carter, president and CEO, Foster Farms, Livingston, CA, became vice chairman of NCC, and Greg W. Lee, co-chief operating officer and group president, food service and international, Tyson Foods, Springdale, AR, became secretary-treasurer.
New Turkey Federation President
Dr. Alice Johnson, a veterinarian with extensive experience in food safety, has been named president of the National Turkey Federation (NTF). Johnson was NTF’s vice president for regulatory and scientific affairs from 1997 to 2001. She was serving as vice president for food safety at the National Food Processors Association prior to her appointment. Previously, Johnson served as director of scientific and technical affairs at the American Meat Institute and before that, she was with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Perdue Farms Cited for Violations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has cited Perdue Farms, Inc., for water pollution violations at Perdue’s poultry processing and rendering plants in Accomac, VA.
The EPA compliance order cites Perdue for violations of ammonia effluent limits, inadequate maintenance and operation of its wastewater treatment plant, and failure to properly notify the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) about the discharge, bypass, and physical changes at the plant.
Under a Clean Water Act permit, Perdue is authorized to discharge treated wastewater into Parker Creek, a waterway emptying into Metompkin Bay. The permit sets monitoring levels and requires Perdue to treat wastewater prior to discharge so that pollution does not exceed specified levels. Perdue exceeded effluent limits for ammonia on numerous occasions this summer, reportedly due to improperly operated and maintained treatment equipment. Perdue’s monitoring reports showed ammonia levels up to 30 times the permitted value. Last year, DEQ assessed a $20,000 penalty against Perdue for similar ammonia effluent violations occurring in 2000.
To prevent further violations, the company diverted the wastewater discharge to a holding pond and stopped the flow to Parker Creek. In early September 2002, the capacity of the storage pond became filled and partially treated wastewater was released from the wastewater treatment plant to Parker Creek. The release occurred for nearly 30 hours, of which half of that time was unmonitored. The monitored portion of the release indicated high levels of ammonia and suspended solids.
In an August 28, 2002, inspection, EPA and DEQ discovered that Perdue was running out of storage capacity in its holding pond, yet was still in full-production mode. At that time, the EPA inspector directed the company to take measures to prevent a discharge in violation of its permit.
Swift Australia Opens Plant
Australian Meat Holdings Pty., Ltd., a unit of U.S. beef and pork concern Swift and Company, has opened a $22 million (Australian) beef by-products processing facility at its Dinmore, Queensland, slaughterhouse.
The new facility replaced an outdated rendering operation at the Dinmore plant, which operates 11 killing shifts a week, slaughtering 1,600 animals a shift.
VP Named at American Proteins
Bob Smith has been promoted to the newly created position of vice president of manufacturing at American Proteins, Cumming, GA. Smith joined the company in 1995 as head of its menhaden rendering operations in Virginia, bringing years of previous fish rendering experience.
Vetere Joins APPMA
Robert L. Vetere has joined the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) as executive vice president. Before joining the association, Vetere served as senior vice president, administration, general counsel, and secretary at Oil-Dri Corporation of America.
December 2002 Render