Food Protection Trends - January/February 2013 - (Page 42)

Name: Scott burnett Company: MOM brands® Location: Lakeville, MN IAFP Member: 14 years Getting Back to His Roots Every so often, Scott Burnett has to get back to his roots. That means leaving the corporate setting of MOM Brands in Minnesota for the outdoor setting of the Rocky Mountains in his home state of Montana. In late October, for example, he and his family headed west to spend some time at their cabin on the Rocky Mountain Front, south of Glacier Park. “Minnesota has a lot to offer, but there’s nothing quite like Montana,” says Scott, who admits that he yearned to be a forester as a youngster growing up in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. “I had no idea what foresters did, but I wanted to be one.” Lucky for consumers throughout the country, Scott decided on a career in food science. Today, as corporate manager of sanitation for MOM Brands, he plays a major role in assuring the safety of the food manufactured by the third largest producer of cold and hot cereals in the country. By the way, if you are wondering what MOM stands for, it’s the company’s oldest and most famous cereal brand — Malt-O-Meal. interested in the area of food science.” When Scott learned more about the job opportunities in that area of study, he was hooked. His new interest took him 2,000 miles away from the Rocky Mountains when he enrolled at the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety, where he earned his Ph.D. in food science. Although he still had hopes of finding his way back to the mountains, he took a detour and ended up in the land of 10,000 lakes when he landed a research and development job at Ecolab in St. Paul, Minn. “Now I was just 1,000 miles from the mountains, but at least I could get a taste of the wilderness by heading up north in Minnesota for outdoor recreation,” admits Scott, who enjoys fishing, hunting, camping and backpacking. His experience at Ecolab led to his current position at MOM Brands, where he oversees five cereal production facilities throughout the country. Keeping Up with the Changes in Food Safety “The food industry has changed dramatically since I started my career in 1998,” notes Scott. “Salmonella, for example, was not much of an issue in the dry food industry back in those days, and food safety people were just starting to talk about the importance of dry sanitation practices.” Scott is helping MOM Brands look for innovative ways to reduce labor and time while reducing the amount of water used for sanitation. “One thing, however, has not changed during my 15 years in food safety,” says Scott. “The value International Association for Food Protection brings to food safety professionals like me.” The Road to Minnesota The road from the mountains of the west to the plains of the Midwest started when Scott was an undergraduate student studying environmental microbiology at Montana State University. “I was a lab technician working with a team investigating E. coli detection in food products,” comments Scott. “That’s what really got me 42 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - January/February 2013

Food Protection Trends - January/February 2013
Contents
Food for Thought & Commentary
Secretary Election 2013
“Counter Top” Training Program
“...Listeria on Deli Slicers...”
Cooling of Foods in Retail Foodservice
Food Safety Knowledge, Beliefs and Behavior of Persons With Aids: A Multicenter Study
Beyond the Bio
Special Interest Paper
Legal Brief
PDG Highlight
Industry Products
Coming Events

Food Protection Trends - January/February 2013