FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 2, 2007
Contact: Amy Philpott (202) 303-3425, aphilpott@unitedfresh.org

Washington, DC (July 2, 2007) - United Fresh Produce Association (United Fresh) announced today that Dr. David Gombas has been promoted to Senior Vice President for Food Safety and Technology, leading all association activities and member services in the scientific and technical areas.

Dr. Gombas will fill the position formerly held by Dr. Jim Gorny, who is leaving the association to become Executive Director of the Postharvest Technology Research and Information Center at the University of California at Davis.

As United Fresh’s chief food safety officer, Gombas will oversee the development and implementation of food safety, quality assurance, supply chain technology and food security programs on behalf of the association members. He will also play a key role in advocating the membership’s interests before all relevant health and safety regulatory officials, the Administration, and the Congress.

“Working with both Jim and Dave on the same team has been one of the most rewarding experiences of the merger of UFFVA and IFPA,” said United Fresh President Tom Stenzel. “It’s rare to find an individual with both the technical scientific expertise and the people skills that are so necessary in association management. We were so fortunate to have two such leaders coming from the merger last year, and now be so well prepared with Dave simply stepping forward without the association missing a beat,” Stenzel said. “We congratulate Jim and look forward to working with him at UC-Davis, and are also thrilled to have David’s leadership at this important time in serving our produce industry.”

Dr. Gombas was formerly Vice President of Scientific and Technical Affairs for United Fresh, providing expertise in food microbiology, food security and regulatory affairs, working closely with federal agencies and Congress over the past year. He joined United Fresh during the merger of IFPA and UFFVA, having previously served as Vice President of Technical Services at IFPA since 2005.

Prior to joining IFPA, he was with the National Food Processors Association (NFPA), where he served as Vice President of NFPA’s laboratories for microbiology, chemistry and processing research and technical assistance in Washington D.C. Prior to working at NFPA, Dr. Gombas served in the Microbiology and Food Safety departments at Campbell Soup Company and Kraft Foods. In 1993, he was Research Professor of Food Safety at the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to develop HACCP training courses for FDA investigators. Dr. Gombas received his Ph.D. in food microbiology at University of Massachusetts, and an M.S. and B.S in food science from Rutgers University and MIT respectively.

Dr. Gombas will now immediately begin a hiring search for his successor on the food safety team. For more information about opportunities on United Fresh’s food safety team, please contact Dr. David Gombas at dgombas@unitedfresh.org, 202/303-3400.