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A new 3-A SSI award, the HyGEN Excellence Awards, will give the industry an opportunity to celebrate rising stars under 40.
The award is meant to provide career-defining recognition for young professionals who advance food safety through innovative hygienic design practices worldwide. These awards spotlight talented individuals whose work is already ensuring safer food systems globally. Recipients will be pioneering new approaches, implementing breakthrough solutions, and mentoring the next generation.
“The 2026 inaugural award recipients will make history as the first class to enter what is sure to become an elite network of food safety innovators and leaders,” says Meri Beth Wojtaszek, 3-A SSI Executive Director.
As many as 40 awards will be given annually across six professional categories:
3-A SSI will honor the 2026 class of HyGEN Excellence Awards recipients at the 3-A SSI Summit on Hygienic Design, May 4 to 7, 2026, at the Marriott Chicago O’Hare.
Do you know someone who deserves recognition? This is yourchance to nominate the innovators and leaders who will shape the future of our industry. (Yes, you can even nominate yourself!)
Nominations are open to professionals under 40 working across all sectors of food safety and hygienic design worldwide. The nomination process is open now. It closes February 27, 2026.
Thispost is the second in a series recognizing the inaugural class of 3-A SSI HyGENExcellence Award winners. Watch for profiles of the remaining HyGEN Class of2026 winners in the weeks ahead.
There's a generation of food safety knowledge about to walk out the door, one retirement at a time. That's the risk Benjamin O'Neil, a Food Safety Regulatory Officer at Tetra Pak, sees clearest for the industry.
Eric Schweitzer, Director, Standards and Certifications at 3-A SSI, will join two panels at the IAFP 2026 Annual Meeting.
The Kansas State University team earned first place with a two-pronged strategy to improve cleaning for equipment handling dry powder.
