040155 National Beef Appoints Food Safety Leader

Kansas City, MO - Continuing its efforts to lead the industry in food safety practices, National Beef Packing Co., LLC, announced today that Dr. Russell Cross will join the company as Executive Vice President, Food Safety/Government & Industry Affairs. In this role, Dr. Cross will be responsible for food safety and will serve as the company liaison and technical representative with industry, customer, trade and governmental representatives.

Cross comes to National Beef with over 35 years of experience in the food industry, holding numerous positions in government, academia and the private sector including: President, Cross & Associates; Vice President, DuPont Food Industry Solutions; Founding Director of Texas A&M's Institute of Food Science and Engineering; Founder and Executive Director of the International HACCP Alliance; Administrator of USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service under Presidents Bush and Clinton; Head of Texas A&M's Department of Animal Science and Meats & Muscle Biology Group; Leader of USDA's Meat Research Group at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center.

In addition, Cross holds a Ph.D. in Animal Science from Texas A&M University as well as Masters and Bachelors degrees from the University of Florida in Animal Science. He has published over 240 research journal articles and given more than 700 presentations to government, academic and industry groups. He currently sits on the board of the International Stockmen's Educational Foundation and is a former board member of both the American Meat Institute and the National Meat Association.

"We are excited to have Russell Cross join our team and look forward to his leadership in our continued efforts to lead the industry in food safety practices," said John R. Miller, CEO National Beef Packing Co.

National Beef Packing Company LLC is the nation's fourth largest beef processor. It is the largest beef processing company in the United States with a majority of its ownership held by beef producers. With sales exceeding $3 billion annually and 10 percent market share, National Beef processes and markets fresh beef, case-ready beef and beef by-products for domestic and international markets.

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