By Esther Haviland
J.R. Foster, a December 2022 graduate of the Master of Science in Food Safety degree program, is the 2022 recipient of the Edward & Mary Mather Outstanding Food Safety Student Award (Mather Award).
I’m truly grateful for this honor. The master’s program helped me better understand the science behind food safety and expanded my critical thinking. This program accelerated my career advancement opportunities, and I now belong to a community of MSU food safety professionals, which is my biggest win.
— J.R. Foster
The Mather Award recognizes one student who excelled in designing and implementing their final food safety project. This non-thesis applied project encourages students to connect their project topic with a food safety element or concern they face in their current job.
“I’m truly grateful for this honor,” says Foster. “The master’s program helped me better understand the science behind food safety and expanded my critical thinking. This program accelerated my career advancement opportunities, and I now belong to a community of MSU food safety professionals, which is my biggest win.”
Foster’s consultative report, titled Cost-Benefit Analysis on Utilizing Top Ice as a Cooling Method for Produce Within the Supply Chain, investigates the cost and food safety benefits of cooling raw agriculture commodities (RAC) during transportation. Many RAC suppliers use ice as a cooling method, mainly because of its low cost. However, when water is introduced, the risk of pathogen transfer to the product becomes greater. Foster reviewed company documents and current scientific literature related to cooling methods and pathogen reduction to assess the effectiveness of top ice cooling. Based on his findings, Foster suggests standardizing the product specifications and replacing ice with other forms of preservation to maximize quality and freshness, which could save a company thousands of dollars annually.
“The produce industry as a whole has changed dramatically in some ways, but has remained relatively stagnant in others,” says Foster. “I saw the potential to limit food safety risk and increase company and growers’ profits by performing some evaluation, standardization, and aligning expectations for growers that would provide the best quality for produce types that need ice and eliminating from those that don’t. It just seemed like a win-win for everyone involved.”
Foster is a food safety manager for the Texas-based H-E-B Grocery Company. He has been with the company for 14 years and manages H-E-B’s Temple and Houston warehouses and transportation facilities to ensure a safe food system. Some of his other responsibilities include maintaining Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards, reviewing and evaluating the company’s Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan, and ensuring compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
To learn more about the Master of Science in Food Safety degree program, visit foodsafety.msu.edu. 