WASHINGTON – After a career with the US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) dating back to 1978, Alfred Almanza, who currently serves as the administrator with the Food Safety and Inspection Service, is retiring. Almanza, whose roles at the agency included meat inspector, deputy undersecretary and most recently administrator, announced his retirement on July 13, 2017.
According to a statement from the USDA, “Acting Deputy Undersecretary and FSIS Administrator Al Almanza is retiring on July 31, capping a 39 year career with the agency. As he stated in his letter to employees, he is proud of the accomplishments to modernize food safety and he leaves knowing that the mission to protect public health will be in the good hands of the nearly 9,500 dedicated public servants of FSIS.”
“We wish Al Almanza the best in his retirement and applaud his decades of service to the agency,” said Barry Carpenter, North American Meat Institute president and CEO. “He has been a remarkable regulatory official whose dedication helped improve meat and poultry inspection and enhance meat and poultry safety. He has demonstrated a remarkable combination of both aspirational leadership and practicality and we thank him for all that he has done,” Carpenter said.
