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John G. Surak, PhD Surak and Associates   Education Work experience Expertise Professional activities and affiliations Contact details

John Surak is principal of Surak and Associates, a full service food safety and quality consulting service. He works with the food processing industry in developing food safety and quality management systems, designing and implementing process control systems, and implementing Six Sigma and business analytics systems.

Recent publications on the Web:

• Food Safety and Risk Assessment.   Click here to read the article
• Supply chain management and the purchase of ground beef.   Click here to read the article
  or, view the video on YouTube.
• Supply chain food safety.   Click here to read the article
• Process audit.   Click here to read the article
• ISO 22000.   Click here to read the article
• Validation of food safety controls.   Click here to read the article
• GFSI and food safety standards.   Click here to read the article

John received his BS in food science, MS in food science, and PhD in food science and veterinary science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.

John holds certifications from the American Society of Quality in Quality Engineering, Quality Management, Quality Auditing, and HACCP Auditing and a certification from the International HACCP Alliance in HACCP Train-the-Trainer.

John has more than 30 years of experience. He works with industry and governmental agencies in applying the principles of quality and food safety management. In addition, he held industrial positions including managing nutritional process and product development for Wyeth Laboratories and serving as vice president of quality and food safety for the Brooks Food Group. John is a professor emeritus of applied economics and statistics at Clemson University.

John provides technical assistance to food processing executives, food processors, and entrepreneurs in the area of food quality and safety. He delivers quality management and food safety management programs including: sanitary and phyto-sanitary requirements, export-import requirements, ISO 9001, ISO 22000 and HACCP to professionals in developing and emerging economies including: Egypt, Peru, Malaysia, Argentina, Equator, Guatemala, Dubai, Pakistan, Canada, Europe, Mexico and China. John leads the US delegation to Working Group 8 of ISO Technical Committee 34. This technical committee developed ISO 22000, which defines the requirements for a food safety management system.

John works with a broad range of food processors including nutritional foods, dairy, meat, poultry, eggs, frozen and refrigerated entrees, baking and milling, low acid and high acid packaged foods, confectionary, and food service.

He translates statistical and other technical concepts into terms that are understood at all levels of the organization - from the executive suites to the plant floor. His dynamic workshops are customized to meet company specific training needs.

Core areas

• HACCP and risk analysis and preventive controls
• ISO 9001 based quality management systems
• ISO 22000 based food safety management systems
• Validation studies
• QA verification and monitoring procedures
• Six sigma
• Process control and improvement systems including SPC
• Root cause analysis
• Business analytic systems
• Statistical analysis of data and data mining
• Statistically valid sampling procedures
• Automated data collection systems
• Documentation systems and automated documentation systems
• Supply chain management systems
• Regulatory compliance
• Training and short courses in quality and food safety

John is active in both the Institute of Food Technologists and the American Society of Quality. He served in multiple leadership roles at section, division and national levels. He has published over 140 papers, given over 275 presentations and taught over 110 short courses in the areas of statistical process control, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000, auditing, quality assurance, and better process control school.

He leads the United States delegation to ISO Technical Committee 34 Subcommittee17 meetings.  This ISO Subcommittee is responsible for writing and managing the ISO 22000 family of standards.  As part of these responsibilities, John serves on an expert panel that develops official interpretations on the ISO 22000 standards.

John served four years on the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality award and was co-founder of the South Carolina Governor's Quality Award. He was the first person to be elected a fellow in both the Institute of Food Technologists, and the American Society of Quality. John is a recipient of the Reinventing Government Award from Vice President Al Gore, USDA Honor Award from USDA Secretary Dan Glickman, and the Milliken Medal of Quality from SC Governor Mark Sanford.