New Food Safety Manager Will Lead LRQA Assurance Services in the Americas

HOUSTON--Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance, Inc. (LRQA), a market leader in the provision of Business Assurance services, announces the appointment of Vel Pillay, as Americas Food Safety Manager. Over half of the world's top consumer food companies currently choose LRQA for certification, and Pillay’s appointment will support LRQA’s dedication to food safety and help further refine its food-sector expertise and services.

Pillay, who holds extensive food-sector experience in Food Safety Management Systems, will have full responsibility for managing the food group across the Americas region. He joins LRQA’s existing global food-product manager, food-sector-specialist team, and over 400 global food-safety assessors who help food and beverage clients ensure consumer safety and reduce risk through rigorous evaluation and certification of their management systems and processes.

“The food sector and its consumer base are increasingly affected by food-safety concerns and incidents, and working to ensure that the expertise of our assessors and specialist teams complement the specific demands of the industry is our utmost priority,” comments Andrew Smith, Senior Vice President, Lloyd's Register Americas Management Systems. “Under Vel’s leadership, we are confident the increased skills and capabilities of our team will strengthen LRQA’s ability to support clients across the entire food-supply chain.”

LRQA’s team of experts has worked extensively across the food sector for over 20 years, assisting with the development, formalization, and improvement of standards and specifications, including the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and the ISO 22000 international food-safety standard. LRQA is an active member of the ISO 22000 Technical Committee, the European Accreditation Board’s Food Committee, and the Global Food Safety Initiative’s Technical Board.

Additional information on LRQA’s work within the food sector and the services it provides is available at www.lrqausa.com/food-beverage.htm and www.businessassurance.com/food.