In early August, the International Association for Food Protection presented awards recognizing excellence in food safety to a variety of organizations and individuals. Seal Beach resident Dr. Darin Detwiler received the 2022 Ewen C.D. Todd Control of Foodborne Illness Award for “dedicated and exceptional contributions to the reduction of risks of foodborne illness.”
“It’s a great honor,” Detwiler said. “It’s also extremely humbling.”
Dr. Detwiler is a federal food safety and policy academic, advisor, advocate, and author. For nearly 30 years, after losing his son, Riley, to E.coli in 1993, he has played a unique role in controlling foodborne illness. The Secretary of Agriculture invited Detwiler’s collaboration on consumer education. He was twice appointed to the USDA’s National Advisory Board on Meat and Poultry Inspection, represented consumers as the Senior Policy Coordinator for the advocacy group STOP Foodborne Illness, served on Conference for Food Protection councils, and supported the FDA’s implementation of new policies.
Today, Detwiler is a Professor of food policy and corporate social responsibility whose students have gone on to leadership positions in industry and in state and federal agencies. Detwiler’s research and insights have appeared on television and in print, including his column in an industry publication and his book Food Safety: Past, Present, and Predictions. In addition to his current role as the Chair of the National Environmental Health Association’s Food Safety Program, his leadership capacities include numerous advisory and editorial boards as well as having long consulted on food safety issues with industry in the U.S. and abroad.
Detwiler is an active member of the Seal Beach Lions Club and the Los Angeles / Pasadena U.S. Submarine Veterans’ organization that meets in Seal Beach at the Naval Weapons Station.
