Prior to his retirement from Smithfield Foods, Gene provided technical expertise and consultation to Smithfield Packaged Meats Division’s 38 meat and allied processing plants in the areas of HACCP plan development and validation, pathogen reduction efforts in sanitation, thermal processing and chilling, and product shelf-life extension. He was also Technical Director of the Corporate Microbiology Laboratory. Gene worked on the North American Meat Institute’s Listeria Control Working Group since its inception and has presented to several industry groups on this subject. Prior to joining Smithfield Foods, he developed new food packaging materials, designs, and an aseptic packaging system for International Paper. Currently he consults for IEH Inc. in food safety matters for a diverse client base and has authored many training materials for IEH Academy. He holds master and doctoral degrees in microbiology from Cornell University.