Remembering Reggie Bennett: FSM EAB Member, Distinguished Service Award Recipient, Impactful Food Safety Leader, and Friend
On July 28, 2023, Reginald (Reggie) W. Bennett, M.Sc., a longtime member of Food Safety Magazine’s (FSM’s)Editorial Advisory Board (EAB), a 2017 recipient of FSM’s Distinguished Service Award, and a renowned microbiologist for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), passed away. Mr. Bennett was a researcher, teacher, and consummate advocate of rapid methods and automation in microbiology.
During his long career at FDA, having joined the agency in 1960, Mr. Bennett served as Acting Chief of the Food and Cosmetic Microbiology Branch, Chief of the Microbial Methods Development Branch, and Senior Policy Analyst at the Office of Regulatory Science. He specialized in research on enterotoxin-producing bacteria Staphylococcusaureus and Bacilluscereus, and developed a method to detect heat-altered staphylococcal enterotoxin to help ensure the safety of canned foods.