Faiola honored with national award for food safety innovation

Faiola honored with national award for food safety innovationFebruary 26, 2008Sara Millersemortim@syr.edu

Norm Faiola, associate dean and faculty member in the College of Human Ecology at Syracuse University, has been named by NSF International: The Public Health and Safety Company as a 2008 recipient of its fifth annual Food Safety Leadership Awards. NSF’s Food Safety Leadership Awards Program recognizes key individuals and organizations who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the foodservice industry.

Faiola will be honored March 19 at the Food Safety and Security Summit, which will take place in the Washington, D.C., Convention Center’s Vendor Track Theatre. As part of its ongoing commitment to help protect the public from food-borne illness, each year NSF recognizes groundbreaking food safety achievements. This year, NSF will present two awards for lifetime achievement, three in the education category and one each in the research advancement, equipment design and product development categories. An independent panel of food safety experts recognized recipients for their groundbreaking achievements and selected Faiola as an award recipient in the product development category.

Faiola, associate professor and former chair of the Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management, where he teaches and conducts research related to food safety and hospitality management operations, holds patents for several food safety-related devices. An expert in food safety, he has invented several important devices now widely used in the foodservice industry, including a rapid food chilling device, an automated stirring station, a wireless temperature monitoring system and a nailbrush that facilitates hand washing in commercial kitchens, which won a National Restaurant Association Kitchen Innovations Award in 2007. He works closely with several leading manufacturers of food safety and foodservice products to develop new and innovative solutions to address the ongoing challenges facing operators.

Faiola hold a bachelor’s degree and master’s of professional studies degree from Cornell University and a Ph.D from SU. He was honored with the CHRIE McCool Breakthrough Award from the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education in 2005 and SU’s Simons Award for Teaching Excellence in 1992.