AFIA Publishes Biosecurity Guide
A new guide intended to raise the level of awareness of biosecurity issues facing animal agriculture is available from the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA). The Guide to Biosecurity Awareness is being widely distributed to feed industry firms, agriculture groups, and other interested parties via e-mail, fax, and traditional mail.
The guide offers a concise set of suggestions covering several different areas of industry operations. These include facility security, ingredient integrity, product integrity, distribution, product recall, housekeeping, personnel, and more.
The guide was produced with the participation of the Animal Health Institute (AHI), the Food and Drug Administration/Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), and the National Renderers Association (NRA). Representatives from those organizations served on a special biosecurity task force and made significant contributions to the document’s development. Representatives included CVM biosecurity representative Isabelle Arrington, NRA President Tom Cook, and AHI General Counsel Kent McClure.
Complimentary copies of the new guide are available from AFIA at (703) 524-0810, or on Render’s Web site at www.rendermagazine.com (under the "Biosecurity Guide" button).
AFOA Selects New Officers
The American Fats and Oils Association (AFOA) elected new officers for 2002 at their annual meeting in October. David Italiaander, Alcan Rubber and Chemical, Inc., was installed as president; Walter Karpinski, Francis-Mustoe and Co., as first vice president; Nicholas B. Sander, American Commodities Brokerage Co., as second vice president; Ralph Joel, Solmar-Universal Tanker Chartering, Inc., as treasurer; and Robert Desnoyers, Sanimal Inc., as secretary.
The following directors were elected at the meeting for a three-year term ending 2004: Scott Bunz, Con Agra Trade Group; Richard L. Hegenberger, Gersony-Strauss Company, Inc.; Eric H. Jackson, The Scoular Company; Mitchell Kilanowski, Darling International, Inc.; David Moore, Cargill, Inc., Tallow Dept.; Liam Rogers, Hudson Tank Terminals Corporation; and Mark Woessner, Stolt-Neilsen Transportation Group.
AOCS Selects Top Official
The Governing Board of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) has selected Jean Wills, Ed.D., to replace James Lyon as executive vice president of the organization when Lyon retires on June 1, 2002.
Wills joined AOCS in 1988 as the society’s first education director. She served in that capacity until 1997 when she became associate executive vice president with responsibility for the coordination of the professional programs. Prior to joining AOCS, Wills developed and managed education and certification programs for associations in Chicago.
Lyon has served AOCS as executive director and executive vice president since 1971. The executive vice president is the chief staff officer for the organization.
AOCS provides a global forum for the exchange of ideas, information, and experience among individuals in more than 100 nations who share a professional interest in fats, oils, and related materials.
Andreoli Celebrates Half-Century in Business
On November 19, 1951, Jim Andreoli joined Baker Commodities in Los Angeles, CA. To celebrate 50 years of dedication and leadership to his company and the industry, over 300 employees, friends, and family members held a surprise reception and dinner in his honor.
Andreoli, president of Baker Commodities and a member of the executive committee of the National Renderers Association, was recognized by several speakers for his integrity, generosity, leadership, and commitment to the industry, his company, and its employees.
Canadian Renderer HACCP Certified
Rothsay, an independent operating company of Maple Leaf Foods, Inc., received Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification from Certich on January 9, 2002 for its Dundas, ON, Canada rendering facility. According to the company, Rothsay is the first independent renderer in North America to achieve this standard.
The HACCP system at Rothsay’s Dundas plant involves a series of control procedures at critical points during the rendering process.
The Dundas facility is the first plant to achieve HACCP certification. The remaining three production facilities are expected to receive certification by the end of the year.
Celis Elected AMENA Director
Alberto Celis, National Renderers Association director, Latin America, was elected vice president of the Mexican Animal Nutritionist Specialist Association (AMENA) at the group’s 10th annual convention in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in November. Celis will serve in the position for the next two years, at which time he could be elevated to president of AMENA.
Daminco Reorganizes
Daminco, Inc., reorganized its North American operations in January to consolidate its Daminco and SoyLife businesses.
Daminco U.S. moved its West Seneca, NY, headquarters to Minneapolis, MN, and kept manufacturing centralized at the company’s food facility in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Daminco retained its established warehouses throughout the United States in Buffalo, NY, Minneapolis, MN, Baltimore, MD, and San Francisco, CA.
Danish Renderers Merge
Last October, daka a.m.b.a, a Denmark-based renderer that controlled 84 percent of the Danish rendering market, purchased its rival, the Kambas Group, another Denmark renderer that held the remaining market share. Company officials estimated the merger will produce a considerable synergistic effect estimated at approximately $4.2 million U.S. per year.
“Meat meal plants face huge legislative changes, and merging the two companies will reduce the need for investments required to meet changing demands,” said the chairmen of the two companies, Per Frandsen, daka, and Niels Kofoed, Kambas, both farmers. “The new company will be in a better position to develop the new technologies that will be required within this sector in the future.”
A total of 330 staff are employed in Denmark and the merger is not expected to have any effect on the number of staff in employment terms. Daka’s headquarters will be moved from Losning, Denmark, to Ringsted. Kambas and daka have a total of five plants in Denmark, three in Sweden, and a plant in Poland. The Denmark plants process a total of 750,000 tons of animal by-products every year.
EPA Releases New Data on Proposed CAFO Regulations
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released new data and information designed to assist in developing final regulations for concentrated animal feed operations (CAFOs). The 188-page document is the result of information provided by industry groups, the public, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
EPA is considering using this new information to refine the cost and economics model, benefits analysis, proposed permit regulations, and proposed technology requirements. The document is available on the Internet at www.epa.gov/npdes/afo.
Griffin Industries Awarded
Griffin Industries, Inc., was presented the Kentucky Industry of the Year Award in November. The awards are cosponsored by Ashland, Inc., and Associated Industries of Kentucky (AIK).
To be chosen for the award, companies must demonstrate entrepreneurial spirit, community leadership, and policy contributions made by Kentucky industry to the economic success of the commonwealth. Griffin Industries, one of 2,750 AIK members, won the large industry category (companies with 100-plus employees). A panel of judges representing businesses, educational institutions, and trade associations selected the winners.
Headquartered in Cold Spring, KY, Griffin Industries is a recycler of meat and bakery by-products into fats and proteins available to the animal feed and pet food industries.
Franco Named to Committee
Dr. Don Franco, National Renderers Association vice president of Scientific Services, has been appointed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases Advisory Committee.
The committee collectively provides valuable information on methods, techniques, and policies directed at preventing the introduction of foreign diseases without imposing impractical restrictions. The committee advises the secretary of agriculture on the practicality of and industry support for the programs and evaluates disease control programs. Franco will serve for a two-year term.
McDonald’s Contributes to BSE Research
The McDonald’s Corporation awarded a $500,000 challenge grant to the National Cattlemen’s Foundation for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) research. Cattlemen across the United States answered the challenge with a $600,000 investment of their own through a $1-per-head checkoff pledged to the BSE research effort.
“Food safety is everyone’s business,” said Ken Koziol, assistant vice president of McDonald’s World-Wide Quality Assurance. “We have the world’s safest food supply here in the U.S. and these grants are designed to help keep it that way.”
The foundation is an independent charitable research and education organization. It is the primary contractor with the Cattlemen’s Beef Board for checkoff-funded research conducted on its behalf by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).
Lamb Market Survey Released
A new strategic market assessment sponsored by the National Meat Association (NMA), North American Meat Processors Association, Meat and Livestock Australia, and Meat New Zealand explores “Keys to Building the Lamb Market in the United States.”
Discoveries of the survey indicate that keys to increasing U.S. lamb consumption include higher visibility for lamb as a main dish option for casual meals and elegant dining, and efforts to ensure that lamb is available in the store when consumers shop for food. For more information on the survey, contact NMA at (510) 763-1533, or (202) 667-2108.
Summit Trailer Changes Hands
The owner of Summit Trailer Sales, Inc., Charles “Charlie” T. Pishock Sr., sold the company to his son, Charles “Chuck” T. Pishock Jr., in November.
The senior Pishock founded Summit Trailer in 1970. He began manufacturing dump trailers in a small 25,000 sq. ft. facility in Summit Station, PA. Today the company is a manufacturer for both aluminum and steel dump trailers, as well as transfer trailers, utilizing over 100,000 sq. ft. of production space.
Schroeder Leaving NCBA
Chuck Schroeder, chief executive officer of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), is resigning, effective March 1, 2002. He has accepted a position as executive director of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, OK.
“It’s with mixed emotions that I’m leaving NCBA,” Schroeder said. “I have truly enjoyed working with the NCBA staff and producer leadership. I’m excited about the new opportunity with the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.”
Schroeder joined NCBA in November 1995 as the organization’s first chief executive officer. During his tenure, he completed the merger of the National Live Stock and Meat Board and the National Cattlemen’s Association and assisted in the development of a plan and strategy to stabilize and increase beef demand, after a twenty-year slide. He also relocated all the NCBA functions, except public policy and the culinary center, in a new office in Denver, CO.
Terry Stokes, NCBA executive vice president and chief financial officer, has been named interim chief executive officer while a search committee seeks a permanent officer as soon as possible.
February 2002 Render