IAFP Names Sodexo, Inc. as Recipient of the Prestigious Black Pearl Award

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Des Moines, Iowa - The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) selected Sodexo, Inc. as the 2014 recipient of the prestigious Black Pearl Award. Sponsored by the late Wilbur Feagan and F & H Food Equipment Company, the Black Pearl Award will be presented at IAFP’s Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana in August.

This honor is given annually to one company for its efforts in advancing food safety and quality through consumer programs, employee relations, educational activities, adherence to standards, and support of the goals and objectives of IAFP.

Sodexo, Inc., a leading provider of sustainable, integrated food and facility management operations, serves more than 15 million customers daily in North America. As the nation’s largest foodservice contract management provider with more than 133,000 employees staffing operations at 9,000 sites, Sodexo is committed to providing the highest standards of product quality, food safety and sanitation at thousands of locations in hospitals, senior living centers, schools, colleges, corporate offices and government buildings, as well as leisure facilities like zoos, museums and aquariums.

With the help of its Quality Assurance and Food Safety team, Sodexo develops guidelines and programs that enable the company to promote innovative food safety programs with supplier partners. Those practices and the resulting innovation are not only incorporated into Sodexo’s food safety management systems, they are also shared to benefit the food industry as a whole.

In 2013, Sodexo was named as “One of the World’s Most Admired Companies” by FORTUNE magazine and ranked for the ninth consecutive year as the “Global Sustainability Industry Leader” by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. In 2012, Sodexo was the first in its industry segment to achieve ISO 22000 certification for its food safety management system.

“According to the CDC, every year one in six Americans – 48 million people – get sick as a result of foodborne illness,” says George Chavel, President and CEO, Sodexo. “It’s important that our industry view food safety as more than a priority; it has to be a living value that does not shift with time. Sodexo’s commitment to excellence in quality assurance and food safety certainly follows that approach.”