The standards it sets are primarily designed to reassure consumers about how food is produced on the farm by minimizing detrimental environmental impacts of farming operations, reducing the use of chemical inputs and ensuring a responsible approach to worker health and safety as well as animal welfare.
Hernandez, based in USF’s Rosemont headquarters, has responsibility for a “farm to fork” approach to ensure compliance with all food safety regulatory standards. He previously served as vice president for food safety and risk management at the National Restaurant Association and has worked for the Illinois Department of Public Health. He is a registered sanitarian, a past FDA standardization officer, a member of the Center for Diseases Control-Environmental Health Committee, the Global Food Safety Initiative- Technical Committee, the American National Standards Institute- Accreditation Committee, the Conference for Food Protection, the National Restaurant Association Quality Assurance Executives Study Group and serves as a board member of the Produce Marketing Association.
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