From an early age Brian Kraus, Director of Food Safety & Regulatory Compliance for Wells Enterprises Inc., received some excellent advice from his dearly departed father, “Whatever you choose to do in life do it well.”

Brian, an MSFS alumnus, received the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) Food Safety Leadership Award in January.

“It was a very humbling experience – food safety has been a career passion for many years.  I look at my responsibility as a food safety professional to keep our nation’s food chain safe,” said Brian. “Certainly, receiving the award validates the efforts I have put forth. It was great to receive the recognition for those food safety efforts by my peers, however, I have a great team here at Wells that believes in the importance of an established Food Safety Culture.”

The IDFA, in Washington D.C., represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing, marketing industries and suppliers.  The Food Safety Leadership award is presented to an individual, group or organization demonstrating outstanding leadership in enhancing food safety within the dairy products industry across the U.S.

Brian manages the food safety of manufacturing packaged and novelty ice cream products for Blue Bunny. He earned his BS in Microbiology from Iowa State and his Online MS in Food Safety from MSU in May of 2017.  Brian, like many of the MSFS students, had the experience and mentors that helped fuel his love for food safety but felt he needed to update his knowledge within the ever-changing food safety industry.

“Receiving my MS in Food Safety from the highly regarded institution of Michigan State University has helped me gain the respect of the leadership of our company,” said Brian.  “Enhancing my knowledge in food safety through the masters program has afforded me opportunities to become more active in our industry as well within FDA in food safety topics.”

Brian will continue to enhance the food safety system at Wells and will remain active in educating other dairy industry members in food safety and what it takes to build a robust food safety system. “It’s important to help them understand we owe it to our consumers,” said Brian. 

“Like many of our MS students, Brian’s dedication to food safety deserves to be commended,” said Dr. Melinda Wilkins, Director of the MSU Online Food Safety Program.  “This award is a great reflection of Brian’s efforts and we use our student’s success as a gauge of how well our program is meeting the needs of our students. We strive to educate leaders, such as Brian, and help cultivate their commitment to food safety.”

Brian’s experience and education have helped him grow and succeed in his profession.  “All the course work within the masters program is certainly applicable to support the development of robust food safety systems and you won’t find a bigger supporter of the MSFS Degree program [than me].  It challenged me to become a better food safety professional.”

To read more on IDFA and Brian receiving the Food Safety Leadership Award visit, http://www.idfa.org/about-idfa/awards-recognition/food-safety-leadership-award.

Congratulations to Brian on his accomplishment!