IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group is pleased to welcome Joseph Obregon as a Director of Technical Services.

Bringing more than 19 years of experience in food and beverage manufacturing, sanitation, food safety, aseptic processing, and technical consulting, Mr. Obregon has held leadership and technical roles supporting dairy, beverage, and aseptic manufacturing operations. His expertise includes CIP systems, UHT and HTST processing, process validation, equipment commissioning, and sanitation program development.

Throughout his career, Mr. Obregon has worked closely with manufacturing facilities and equipment partners across the U.S. and internationally to troubleshoot complex processing and sanitation challenges, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen food safety programs.

Mr. Obregon has also contributed to industry training and education through the development and delivery of aseptic processing and sanitation training. He currently serves as a committee member with the Institute for Thermal Processing Specialists.

His extensive experience in aseptic processing, sanitation, food safety, and process validation will further strengthen IEH’s technical expertise in supporting clients across the food and beverage industry.

IEH Analytical Labs provides comprehensive analytical and technical services to support juice quality, authenticity, food safety, and regulatory compliance.

Analytical capabilities include physicochemical quality testing, microbiological testing, nutritional and compositional analysis, authenticity and adulteration testing, contaminant and residue testing, sensory and shelf-life studies, and Process Authority services.

From routine quality control and finished-product testing to detecting added water or sugar syrups, investigating contaminants, and validating processes, IEH supports juice producers, processors, importers, retailers, and brand owners across the supply chain.

For questions about juice testing or to discuss testing needs, please visit: https://www.juicetestinglaboratories.com/

IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group is pleased to welcome Tekran Instruments Corporation to our growing network of companies.

Tekran is a leading manufacturer of ultra-trace mercury analysis systems used in environmental, industrial, and research applications. Founded in 1989, the Toronto-based company designs and manufactures mercury monitoring instrumentation based on cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (CVAFS). These instruments support laboratory analysis, ambient air monitoring, point-source emissions testing, natural gas applications, and worker exposure monitoring, with detection limits at ultra-trace levels.

Tekran’s technology is widely recognized by industry, government, and research institutions for applications requiring high sensitivity, stability, and reliable mercury measurement.

To learn more about Tekran and its capabilities, please visit: https://www.tekran.com

IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group proudly welcomes Doug Craven as Vice President of Technical Services.

Mr. Craven brings 40 years of experience in production management, sanitation, food safety, and co-manufacturing. During his career with Hormel Foods, he held leadership roles including Corporate Manager of Sanitation, where he led food sanitation and safety auditing programs, and Assistant Director of Co-Manufacturing, where he managed quality and food safety across co-manufacturing partnerships.

Mr. Craven holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He has also served on numerous industry boards and task forces, including the North American Meat Institute’s Listeria Workshop and the Equipment Design Task Force.

Mr. Craven’s extensive experience in sanitation, food safety, and co-manufacturing further strengthens IEH’s technical expertise in supporting clients across the food industry.

IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group proudly welcomes Mark Carter as Vice President of Technical Services.

With nearly four decades of experience in food safety, applied microbiology, laboratory operations, and life science business leadership, Mr. Carter brings exceptional scientific and executive expertise to our team. Prior to joining IEH, he served as Senior Global Software Product Manager at Hygiena, leading worldwide software product strategy for food safety data and diagnostics. Throughout his career, he has also held executive leadership positions at Matrix Sciences, QC Laboratories, Silliker Group Corporation (now Mérieux NutriSciences), and founded MC Squared (MC²), a consulting firm supporting food manufacturers, diagnostic developers, and emerging technology companies.

Mr. Carter has made significant contributions to the food safety community as a past President of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), a Lead Instructor for the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance (FSPCA), and a member of the AOAC Expert Review Panel for Food and Environmental Methods.

Leveraging his extensive experience, he will provide strategic guidance to IEH’s consulting services, helping clients strengthen science-based food safety programs and meet the highest standards of food safety and regulatory compliance.

Published in the Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, the study evaluated IEH Multiplex PCR Assays for the detection of Salmonella spp. and Cronobacter sakazakii on stainless steel and sealed concrete surfaces compared with FDA-BAM reference methods.

The findings featured comparable performance with a significantly shorter turnaround time, demonstrating the potential of multiplex PCR methods to support faster pathogen detection in environmental samples.

Read the full study:
https://academic.oup.com/jaoac/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jaoacint/qsag062/8732423?redirectedFrom=fulltext

We are pleased to announce the publication of our study “Detection and characterization of Clostridium botulinum isolated from powdered infant formula” in Frontiers in Microbiology.

As part of an investigation into a multistate outbreak of infant botulism, IEH laboratories detected and isolated the microorganism from various samples including un-opened powdered infant formula cans. A tiered analytical approach was used combining pre-enrichment and highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction application which allowed for extremely low levels of C. botulinum in the samples to be recovered, isolated and characterized using whole genome sequencing. The findings of this study serve to improve current control measures for C. botulinum in the infant formula industry.

IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group congratulates Dr. Mohammad Koohmaraie on being selected as the recipient of the 2026 R.C. Pollock Award by the American Meat Science Association (AMSA).

Presented in recognition of outstanding contributions to teaching, extension, research, and service, the award honors individuals whose work has made a lasting impact on the meat industry. Dr. Koohmaraie was recognized for his contributions to meat quality, food safety, and industry education.

IEH Analytical Laboratories now offers comprehensive honey testing lab services to support authenticity verification, quality assessment, and regulatory compliance.

Analytical capabilities include physicochemical parameters such as hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), moisture, and electrical conductivity, along with sugar profiling by HPLC to identify atypical compositions associated with adulteration. Stable isotope ratio analysis is used to detect C3 and C4 sugar addition.

Additional services include multi-residue screening for pesticides, veterinary drugs, and environmental contaminants using LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS methods. Microbiological testing is also available as required.

These services support producers, importers, and retailers in addressing increasing regulatory and commercial scrutiny related to honey authenticity and labeling.

For questions about honey testing or to discuss testing needs, please visit: https://www.honeytestinglaboratories.com/.

IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group proudly welcomes Richard Paul Platzgummer as Senior Director of Technical Services.

Mr. Platzgummer brings more than 20 years of experience in QHSE, food safety, and sanitation, supporting sanitation troubleshooting, cleaning validation (clean-in-place and dry cleaning), allergen validation, environmental monitoring, microbiological risk mitigation, and regulatory compliance in USDA- and FDA/FSMA-regulated environments and GFSI-certified facilities. His background includes corporate and plant leadership roles with Gowan Company, Kerry Americas, and ConAgra Foods. He also has direct sanitation management experience in USDA-regulated food processing facilities through his work with DCS Sanitation Management, now Packers Sanitation Services, where he was directly involved in sanitation management within USDA-regulated food processing environments.

Mr. Platzgummer holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a B.A. in International Relations and maintains professional credentials, including Six Sigma Black Belt, SQF Practitioner, HACCP, and ISO practitioner certifications. He is fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

Mr. Platzgummer’s extensive expertise in sanitation, microbiological risk mitigation, and regulatory compliance further strengthens IEH’s technical capabilities in supporting clients across complex food safety environments.