University Park, Pennsylvania — Catherine Nettles Cutter, Pennsylvania Extension Assistant Director of the Food Safety and Quality Program, she received the prestigious Fellow Award from the International Food Protection Association for her outstanding contribution to food safety.
This award recognizes professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the Association and its affiliates over a long period of time. As a non-profit organization, the association is focused on advancing food safety around the world by providing a forum for food safety professionals to exchange information on protecting the food supply. Cutter will receive the award, including the plaque, at the association’s annual meeting in July.
“This is a very well-deserved honor based on her dedication and documented success in advocacy, teaching and research focused on food safety,” said Robert F. Roberts, Secretary of Pennsylvania State University. Stated. Department of Food Science.
In addition to his extension responsibilities, Cutter is also a professor of food science at Penn State University. Faculty of Agriculture. She has developed and taught several graduate and undergraduate level courses in food science and food safety.
As a co-author of over 80 abstracts and over 150 publications, Mr. Cutter’s research focuses on a variety of critical food safety issues. She has investigated the prevalence and incidence of pathogens in food, validated methodologies and assays for sampling and detection of foodborne pathogens, and developed effective control measures and interventions to reduce pathogens in food. We are working on development.
In addition to research, Mr. Cutter leads the Pennsylvania State International Food Safety Initiative to improve food safety practices among food handlers in Armenia, Ukraine, Latin America and Africa.
Mr. Cutter has mentored quite a few students, including 6 postdocs and 23 graduate students.
“An important aspect of my job is training the next generation of food safety professionals, including graduate students and extension educators,” Cutter said. “Developing them into leaders is essential to maintaining momentum in this space. We are already seeing a shift in food safety culture, but there is a long way to go. We have to adapt, change and improve what we are doing.”
In his role as a Food Safety Extension Specialist, Mr. Cutter has designed and delivered food safety workshops and short courses for industry professionals. As the food safety and quality extension program leader, Ms. Cutter oversees her more than 20 extension educators responsible for implementing food safety programs throughout Pennsylvania.
Cutter received his Ph.D. from Clemson University and began his career at the National Carnivore Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska. Appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, she served two terms on the National Advisory Board on Meat and Poultry Inspection under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Since 1987, Cutter has been a member of the International Food Protection Association and has participated in several professional development groups. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Food Protection and since 2013 she is the scientific editor of Food Protection Trends.
“For more than 35 years since I was a graduate student, I have been motivated to do what I do because it makes a difference,” Cutter said. “Our work at Extension helps businesses address regulatory issues, identify problems, improve food safety to prevent people from getting sick, and maintain a viable food supply. The approach is crucial to national and international food security and it is what drives us to keep improving. to keep it.”