Food safety scientist receives prestigious award

The Frozen Food Foundation, in conjunction with the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), presented Dr. Claire Zoellner, Food Safety Scientist at iFoodDecisionSciences, Inc., with the eleventh annual Frozen Food Foundation Freezing Research Award during IAFP's 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting today.

Dr. Zoellner's innovative research helped advance the safety of frozen foods by addressing the risk of Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) contamination through the development of an agent-based computer model (EnABLe) that demonstrates how Lm can be introduced into and transferred around a frozen food facility.

It's my pleasure to recognize Dr. Zoellner's unique and innovative research contributions that will help the frozen food industry to assure the microbial safety of frozen foods. It is with the help of Dr. Zoellner's research that Listeria can be traced in ways that haven't been done before, allowing frozen food manufacturers to make science-based decisions when managing food safety risks in a complex environment.

Dr. Donna Garren, Executive Vice President, Frozen Food Foundation, American Frozen Food Institute

The award, which recognizes individuals or organizations whose research contributes to the continued enhancement of food quality and safety through freezing, was presented to Dr. Zoellner during the IAFP 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting held October 26-28, 2020.

IAFP has long presented awards to members of the food industry for their work to enhance food safety. The Frozen Food Foundation Freezing Research Award is the only award presented at the IAFP Annual Meeting specifically for frozen food-related research.

Dr. Zoellner holds a B.S. in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from Cornell University. As the recipient of the 2020 Frozen Food Foundation Freezing Research Award, she received a $2,000 honorarium and a commemorative plaque.