FSM Marks the Passing of HACCP Pioneer Dr. William Sperber

Food Safety Magazine marks the recent passing of Dr. William (Bill) Sperber, a pioneering food safety scientist, a colleague of FSM, and a recipient of the Food Safety Magazine Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Sperber was a renowned food microbiologist who was recognized for his pioneering work at the Pillsbury Co. in the development of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) food safety program model. He was also appointed five times to the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF). During his career, Dr. Sperber worked for three major food companies—Best Foods, Pillsbury, and Cargill—and became a globally recognized expert in controlling the microbiological safety and quality of foods.

A former chair of the IFT Division of Food Microbiology and the Food Microbiology Research Conference, Dr. Sperber was appointed in 2000 to the FAO/WHO roster of experts for microbiological risk assessments. In 2001, the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) presented Dr. Sperber with the Harold Barnum Industry Award, and in 2002, the American Meat Institute Foundation presented him with its inaugural Scientific Achievement Award. In his retirement, Dr. Sperber served as a strategic advisor to Cargill's food safety program and remained involved in professional activities on a personal level, including the development of a textbook on food safety and HACCP.

We believe there is no better tribute to Dr. Sperber than to remember and build on his work. FSM interviewed Dr. Sperber in an early episode of the Food Safety Matters podcast, discussing his career, food safety before and after HACCP, and tactics for addressing Salmonella and Listeria. You can listen to that interview here.

Additionally, Dr. Sperber published several articles with Food Safety Magazine:

Good Consumer Practices Are Necessary to Further Improve Global Food Safety (April/May 2015)
Shifting the Emphasis from Product Testing to Process Testing (April/May 2010)
Happy 50th Birthday to HACCP: Retrospective and Prospective (December 2009/January 2010)
Advancing the Food Safety Agenda (June/July 2004).

Dr. Sperber will be missed by the industry, the food safety community, and his colleagues, as well as by his friends at Food Safety Magazine.

Adrienne Blume, M.A., is Editorial Director of Food Safety Magazine. She has 20+ years of experience in B2B technical media, including the food safety and quality assurance (FSQA) and energy technology sectors. She manages the editorial content for Food Safety Magazine, its monthly webinar program, and its podcast, Food Safety Matters, and also assists in planning the conference agenda for the annual Food Safety Summit. Adrienne holds an M.A. degree in English and Publishing from Rosemont College in Pennsylvania, as well as B.A. degrees in English and Anthropology from Webster University in Missouri. She can be contacted at BlumeA@bnpmedia.com.

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