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.

IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group is pleased to welcome Dodi Hanes as Director of Technical Services.

Ms Hanes brings over 25 years of experience in quality systems, regulatory affairs, and technical services across the food, beverage, and medical device industries.

Prior to joining IEH, Ms. Hanes was at Merieux NutriSciences, where she drove business development, managed regulatory compliance for food and dietary supplements, and led global expert services teams focused on quality systems development. She has also held leadership roles at major manufacturers including Cott Beverages and Ethox Corporation, where she managed technical services, supplier compliance, and quality systems.

Her experience includes FDA and CFIA labeling compliance, development and maintenance of product technical specifications, coordination of supplier and co-manufacturer approvals, and implementation of change control and risk assessment processes for new ingredients and formulations.

Ms. Hanes has led onsite audits of co-manufacturers, third-party logistics providers (3PLs), and suppliers, and overseen third-party certifications including Organic, Kosher, and Non-GMO.

IEH congratulates Dr. Don Zink on receiving the Dr. Marvin A. Tung Achievement Award from the Institute for Thermal Processing Specialists.

The award honors academic, regulatory, or industrial achievement in the areas of preservation and packaging of foods and recognizes individuals whose work advances the science and practice of thermal processing.

Dr. Zink has contributed extensively to food safety science and regulatory policy, helping strengthen science-based approaches to food safety and food processing.

IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group is pleased to welcome Dr. Catharine Carlin as a Vice President of Technical Services.

Dr. Carlin holds a B.S. in Biology from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in Food Science from Cornell University. Her doctoral research focused on atypical and difficult-to-detect strains of Salmonella and Listeria and their implications for the food industry.
Dr. Carlin is a subject matter expert in numerous bacterial pathogens relevant to food safety, including the Bacillus cereus sensu lato group, Cronobacter, Clostridium botulinum, Escherichia coli EHEC, Listeria, and Salmonella.

With more than 20 years of experience in food safety and microbiology, her work has encompassed method development and validation, laboratory management, microbiology technical support, auditing, traceback investigations, root cause analysis, and the development and implementation of product, raw material, and environmental monitoring programs. Her experience also includes process improvement initiatives and regulatory compliance programs. Dr. Carlin holds certifications in HACCP and Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI).

Dr. Carlin currently serves as Co-Chair of the AOAC Expert Review Panel for Microbiology Methods. She is also the convener of the ISO Working Group for Cronobacter detection, an expert member of the ISO Working Group for Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes detection, as well as a member of the MicroVal Technical Review Committee.

Dr. Carlin is also an instructor and content developer for the Meat Institute’s Advanced Listeria Workshop and Foundations of Listeria Control program. She is a frequent invited speaker at industry conferences including IAFP, AOAC, the European Union Reference Laboratory for Listeria monocytogenes (EURL for LM), and AFFI. She has also authored several peer-reviewed scientific publications focused on advancing food safety.

IEH Analytical Laboratories offers quantitative LC-MS/MS testing for cereulide, the emetic toxin produced by Bacillus cereus, to support infant formula safety and risk assessment.

Using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), IEH provides sensitive, selective detection of cereulide at trace levels in complex food matrices. These services support incident response, routine monitoring, and troubleshooting related to Bacillus cereus contamination in powdered or reconstituted infant formula and other baby foods.

For questions about cereulide testing or to discuss testing needs, please visit: https://www.iehinc.com/food-testing/food-microbiology/microbial-toxins-testing/

IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group is pleased to welcome Dr. Masoud Tourang as a Director of Technical Services.

Dr. Tourang earned a Ph.D. in Biological Systems Engineering from Washington State University and holds graduate degrees in Agricultural Biotechnology and Environmental Engineering. He brings technical expertise in bioprocessing, microbial fermentation, downstream purification, and GMP-aligned laboratory operations, with experience across food, biotechnology, and life sciences applications.

Prior to joining IEH, Dr. Tourang served as an Associate Scientist at Inventprise, where he supported fermentation, purification, and scale-up activities for polysaccharide- and protein-based vaccine components. His work included process optimization, SOP development, and documentation supporting manufacturing operations.

Dr. Tourang’s research experience includes metabolic engineering, bioprocess scale-up, and sustainable biomanufacturing using microbial and algal platforms. He has contributed to multiple peer-reviewed publications in bioprocess engineering, fermentation, and applied microbiology.

At IEH, Dr. Tourang collaborates on laboratory operations, process troubleshooting, equipment setup, and technical documentation, supporting reliable, compliant, and efficient research and technical services.

IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group is pleased to welcome QualySense to its growing network of companies, strengthening our inspection and analytical capabilities in agricultural quality assessment.

Based in Switzerland, QualySense develops AI-powered inspection systems for agricultural products and is the creator of QSorter®, an advanced inspection platform designed for detailed bean-by-bean analysis of grains, seeds, beans, coffee, peanuts, and soybeans. The system evaluates key physical and biochemical attributes, including moisture, protein, lipids, size, color, and defect classification, and delivers standardized reporting with seamless cloud-based data access.

Together, IEH and QualySense support food safety and product quality across the supply chain, providing analytical and technology-enabled inspection solutions to agricultural producers, breeders, and processors worldwide.

To learn more about QualySense and the QSorter® platform, please visit: https://www.qualysense.com.

IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group is pleased to welcome Mr. Thomas Fleming as Vice President of Technical Services.

Mr. Fleming earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Purdue University and brings more than 25 years of leadership experience across the food, infant formula, dietary supplement, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries. He offers extensive technical and regulatory expertise in infant formula manufacturing, spray drying, acidified and low-acid liquid formulations, batch and continuous retort processing, and aseptic technologies.

Prior to joining IEH, Mr. Fleming held senior technical and quality leadership roles at Reckitt Nutrition, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Abbott Laboratories, and Zentis Food Solutions. He is recognized for developing quality and food safety leadership teams and for supporting the successful implementation of compliant quality systems within manufacturing environments.

Mr. Fleming is certified in HACCP, PCQI, Better Process Control School, and Aseptic Processing and Packaging. In his role at IEH, he supports clients by strengthening food safety programs and advancing sustainable manufacturing solutions across regulated industries.

Together with IEH, Brooks Applied Labs conducted a study evaluating the authenticity of commercial vanilla products using bulk carbon isotope analysis (EA-IRMS) and compound-specific isotope analysis (GC-C-IRMS).

Natural vanillin derived from vanilla beans is one of the most valuable flavor compounds globally and is often subject to adulteration with synthetic or non–bean-derived vanillin. Fifteen products labeled as containing natural vanillin were analyzed in this study. Several samples showed isotopic values inconsistent with vanilla-bean origin.

These results highlight the role of isotope ratio mass spectrometry in detecting economically motivated adulteration and verifying authenticity within the food and flavor industries.

Read the full white paper for methodology and data: https://brooksapplied.com/resources/whitepapers/detection-of-vanillin-adulteration/.