Ohio University alum R. Dale Morton ’81 receives the 2016 Grocery Manufacturers Association Food Safety Award at the International Association for Food Protection’s Annual Meeting in August.
Dale Morton
Previously Senior Director of Global Food Safety for PepsiCo Inc., Morton is now president of Morton Food Safety Associates LLC, providing expertise in food safety and risk management to corporate food producers.
Morton earned a B.S. in Plant Biology from the College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio University.
“Through his considerable work and accomplishments in the field of food safety, Dale Morton has made a tremendous contribution to enhancing the safety of our food supply,” said Dr. Leon Bruner, GMA’s Chief Science Officer in a news release announcing the award. “Not only did he oversee food safety for the second largest food and beverage manufacturer in the world, but he also strove to advance food safety for our industry as a whole by sharing his extensive experience and expertise with all stakeholders.”
The GMA Food Safety Award honors those individuals or organizations who have demonstrated a longstanding commitment to improving the safety of food. The recipient of this award must possess at least 10 years of service in the food safety arena and have successfully demonstrated sustained contributions in research, education and information transfer. In addition, the recipient must display innovative and effective strategies to promote a safer food supply while solving significant food safety problems.
Before his retirement, Morton successfully developed and managed programs designed to ensure food safety for all products produced globally for PepsiCo. Morton was instrumental in creating the Executive Product Integrity Council, composed of PepsiCo cross-functional leaders dedicated to promoting product integrity and a food safety culture. He was the leader of the PepsiCo Food Safety Forum and developed standard and measurable food safety programs at all PepsiCo manufacturing facilities across the globe.
Morton successfully laid a foundation which has benefited the food and beverage industry as a whole, through partnerships, presentations and best practice sharing. He has continuously sought to educate others and share lessons learned. Morton is a recognized process authority and in this role has developed qualification criteria for many thermal process and aseptic technologies.
About Dale Morton
“Dale is a food safety professional with over 35 years of corporate food safety program development experience. He formerly was the Senior Director of Global Food Safety at PepsiCo,” says the Morton Food Safety Associates website. “Dale successfully developed and oversaw programs designed to ensure food safety for all products produced globally for the second largest food company PepsiCo, an $80 billion company. He was responsible for crisis management, food safety systems, food defense, food safety by design and process technology. While at PepsiCo, Dale developed standardized global platforms for crisis management, HACCP, allergens, supplier quality, environmental pathogen control, pest management, aseptic, sanitation, Food Safety Modernization Act, GFSI and traceability. He was on the Board of Directors for AIB International and the Food Research Institute before retiring from PepsiCo. Dale has a B.S. degree in Agriculture from Ohio University and a M.S. degree in Food Microbiology from University of Maryland. He started his career at the National Food Processors Association in the Microbiology and Thermal Processing area and then worked for Armour – Dial before moving to PepsiCo. Dale is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists, International Association of Food Protection and Institute for Thermal Processing Specialists.”
About the Grocery Manufacturers Association
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) represents the world’s leading food, beverage and consumer products companies. The association promotes sound public policy, champions initiatives that increase productivity and growth and helps to protect the safety and security of the food supply through scientific excellence. The GMA board of directors is composed of chief executive officers from the association’s member companies. The $2.1 trillion food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry employs 14 million workers, and contributes over $1 trillion in added value to the nation’s economy.
Comments