JBS S.A. appoints Alfred “Al” Almanza as Global Head of Food Safety and Quality Assurance. Almanza will join the JBS Global leadership team, reporting directly to JBS Global President of Operations Gilberto Tomazoni.

Based in Greeley, Colo., he will lead the company’s global food safety efforts, ensuring that JBS operations around the world implement the highest food safety, quality control and risk management systems, while expanding access to global export markets. JBS is the worldwide leader in protein exports, serving more than 300,000 customers in more than 150 nations. 

Prior to joining JBS, Almanza spent nearly 40 years with the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. He began his career with USDA as a food safety inspector in a small plant in Dalhart, Texas, eventually rising from this entry-level position to serve as deputy undersecretary for Food Safety under Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack, from September 2014 to December 2016. For the past 10 years, he has served as the administrator of FSIS, leading USDA’s science-based food safety modernization efforts, regulatory strategies and public health efforts to prevent foodborne illness.

Almanza is globally recognized as an expert on food safety, risk management, the development of modern inspection systems and international sanitary standards that govern market access for meat and poultry products. During his time at FSIS, he held several leadership positions, including Labor Management specialist, district manager of the agency’s Dallas District Office, and ultimately administrator of FSIS, where he led a team of more than 7,000 FSIS field employees.