Regulatory and toxicology expert Brent Kobielush joins TAG

The Acheson Group (TAG), a food safety and public health consultancy, names Dr. Brent Kobielush as director of food safety.

Dr. Kobielush comes to TAG from Cargill, where he served as director, U.S. Regulatory Affairs, providing leadership and technical regulatory direction to ensure the company’s products and processes were compliant with all applicable US FDA food laws/regulations, and leading the rollout of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) across 500+ facilities across the globe.

Dr. Kobielush brings to TAG an extensive expertise in regulatory toxicology in human and animal foods and foreign supplier verification. As a virtual company, TAG’s experts are located across North America and serve companies around the world; Dr. Kobielush will be located in Minneapolis, Minn.

“We are excited to have Dr. Kobielush join TAG’s team of experts,” said David Acheson, president and CEO, TAG. “His strong industry background, commitment and regulatory and toxicology expertise will help to further expand TAG’s offerings and services in these areas. We look forward to Brent’s engagement with TAG clients and the 20-plus members of TAG’s food safety and public health team.”

Prior to his six years at Cargill, Dr. Kobielush was the manager of toxicology for General Mills where he was responsible for assuring the chemical composition of all General Mills’ products met applicable product safety and regulatory standards. He received his B.S. from Bethel University (St. Paul, Minn.) in chemistry and M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (Rochester, N.Y.) in Toxicology.

Dr. Kobielush is a member of many professional organizations including the Society of Toxicology (SOT), the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP). He is a governor-appointed member of the Minnesota Food Safety and Defense Task Force (MNFSDT). He has served as the secretary of the Toxicology and Safety Evaluation Division at IFT; president of the Northland Regional Chapter and Food Safety Specialty Section at SOT; chair of the Food and Chemical Safety (FCS) Committee at the International Life Sciences Institute of North America (ILSI NA); chair for the Chemical Management and Regulatory Inspection and Compliance Committees at the Grocery Manufacturer’s Association (GMA); and a member of the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition’s (JIFSAN) Advisory Council at the University of Maryland. He also spent 12 years serving as a board member for the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP) at the University of Nebraska.