ATLANTA – USPOULTRY “collared” Mike Robach, former vice president, Corporate Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory for Cargill, with the poultry industry’s most prestigious honor, Industry Workhorse of the Year during the 2019 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta.

Recipients of the Workhorse of the Year award demonstrate dedicated service and valuable leadership given to USPOULTRY and poultry industry. Bernard Leonard, former group vice president of Foodservice Poultry and Prepared Food for Tyson Foods, past USPOULTRY chairman and current USPOULTRY Foundation director, presented Robach with the ceremonial horse collar and a commemorative plaque. Leonard was the 2018 Industry Workhorse of the Year.

“Mike is one of those individuals, through his volunteerism, who has had not only a tremendous impact on USPOULTRY and our Foundation, but the industry as a whole,” said John Starkey, president of USPOULTRY. “He changed our industry. Needless to say, we are most grateful to him.”

Robach is a past chairman of the board of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), past president for Safe Supply of Affordable Food Everywhere (SSAFE), a past member of the Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Council Executive Committee for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and a current member of the USPOULTRY Foundation’s Research Advisory Committee.

He is also a past member of the North American Meat Institute, the National Turkey Federation, the International Association of Food Protection, the Institute of Food Technologists, and the American Society for Microbiology.

Robach has worked with the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on global animal health and food safety standards. He also has worked closely with the US Dept. of Agriculture and US Food and Drug Administration regarding food safety policy, HACCP and regulatory reform based on science. From 1995 through 2000, Robach was a member of the National Advisory Committee for Microbiological Criteria in Foods.

Robach is a graduate of Michigan State Univ. and Virginia Tech. He started his career with Monsanto before joining Conti Group’s meat and poultry businesses to lead technical services for the company. Robach joined Cargill in January 2004 to lead the company’s corporate food safety and regulatory affairs programs.