Larry Keener, CFS, PA will receive Food Safety Magazine's Distinguished Service Award for 2026. The award will be presented at the 2026 Food Safety Summit, taking place May 11–14 in Rosemont, Illinois. 

Mr. Keener was nominated and selected as the recipient of the award by the food safety community for his unwavering commitment to food safety and his innovative leadership, which have made a significant and lasting impact on the global food industry.

Mr. Keener is an internationally regarded microbiologist and process authority. His areas of expertise range from applied food microbiology to the development and application of novel preservation technologies including high-pressure processing, microwave, pulsed-electric field, high-powered ultrasound, atmospheric plasma, and low-energy electron beam technology.

For the past 50 years, he has collaborated with food safety scientists on all aspects of food science, and he is a tireless advocate for process validation and hygienic design. Mr. Keener has also worked with the international regulatory community to bring novel processing and preservation methods to commercial application. He has worked with the food industry's leading companies, independent research organizations, and government organizations in the U.S. and around the world to bolster their food safety initiatives. He has also written several chapters and numerous papers on various topics related to food safety.

Mr. Keener is a 2013 Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a Certified Food Scientist (International Food Science Certification Commission), and a 2018 recipient of an International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) lifetime achievement award for his work in microbiology and food safety. He is a past president of IFT's Nonthermal Processing Division and a two-term past president of Tuskegee University's Food and Nutrition Sciences Advisory Board. He is also the past co-chair and founding member of the Global Harmonization Initiative (GHI) and a 2022 inductee to the George Washington Carver Society.

Since 1996, Mr. Keener is President and CEO of International Product Safety Consultants, a global leader in providing food safety and food technology solutions to the food processing industry for a broad client base of Fortune 500 food companies, academic research institutes, and government agencies. He is also a longtime member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Food Safety Magazine and a member of the Educational Advisory Board of the 2026 Food Safety Summit.

Past recipients of the Food Safety Magazine Distinguished Service Award include (in alphabetical order by last name): Reginald Bennett, M.Sc., Dane Bernard, M.Sc., Larry Beuchat, Ph.D., Robert L. Buchanan, Ph.D., Frank Busta, Ph.D., John N. Butts, Ph.D., Joseph Corby, Darin Detwiler, Ph.D., Kathleen Glass, Ph.D., Keith Ito, Allen Katsuyama, Connie Kirby, M.Sc., John W. Larkin, Ph.D., Huub Lelieveld, Barbara Masters, D.V.M., Ann Marie McNamara, Ph.D., Theodora Morille, M.Sc., William Sperber, Ph.D., Joe Stout, R.S., Michael R. Taylor, J.D., Steve Taylor, Ph.D., David Theno, Ph.D., Bruce Tompkin, Ph.D., and Don L. Zink, Ph.D.