3-A SSI Accredits Richard Bond as Certified Conformance Evaluator

Bond Adds Decades of Hygienic Design Experience to 3-A SSI Third Party Verification Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Washington, DC – August 26, 2026 – 3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3-A SSI) today announced that Richard (Rick) Bond has earned the Certified Conformance Evaluator (CCE) accreditation. Bond retired in July 2026 from Anderson Instrument Co. in Fultonville, New York, after 47 years with the company. He most recently served as Product Improvement Engineering Manager. He now offers CCE services, along with engineering consulting and design support, through his company, R+D Unlimited LLC, based in Pattersonville, New York.

“Third Party Verifications, conducted exclusively by our accredited Certified Conformance Evaluators, are essential to meet growing demand for the 3-A Symbol,” says Meri Beth Wojtaszek, Executive Director of 3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. “More end users are specifying 3-A certified equipment, and that's leading more manufacturers to pursue certification. Rick Bond's decades of hygienic design experience make him an outstanding addition to our roster of CCEs.”

Bond's nearly five-decade career at Anderson Instrument touched almost every stage of hygienic equipment manufacturing. He started as a machinist in 1979 and, over the years, worked as a machine shop supervisor, mechanical engineering technician, product development engineer, staff engineer and engineering manager before taking on product improvement leadership for the company's global team. Along the way, he earned five U.S. patents for hygienic sensor and seal designs, including what he believes was the industry's first electronic pasteurization control system to win FDA approval. He has also actively supported the ASME Bioprocessing Equipment (BPE) Standards Committee for more than 20 years, including as a founding member of its Instrumentation subcommittee, where he helped write the pressure and temperature sensor section and contributed to the development of other sections of the standard.

Bond explains that his interest in the CCE role grew out of years spent working alongside 3-A evaluators as an engineering representative during Anderson Instrument's own conformance reviews. “It always intrigued me, the hygienic design and trying to figure out how to make things work better and still maintain that level of hygienic concern,” he recalls.

“It's not just about making the products,” Bond adds. “It's about making sure that the consumer at the end is going to be safe. I think it takes more than one person to say yes, this is absolutely safe. You need checks and balances.”

The CCE credential requires candidates to meet strict education and experience requirements, pass a comprehensive written examination and complete specialized training. CCEs conduct Third Party Verification (TPV) inspections that equipment manufacturers must obtain to use the recognized 3-A Symbol, which demonstrates conformance to 3-A Sanitary Standards. Since the TPV program was launched in 2003, 3-A SSI CCEs have completed thousands of inspections at fabrication facilities across the United States and in more than 46 other countries, helping to ensure that equipment used in food and beverage processing meets critical safety standards.

About 3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc.

3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc. (3-A SSI) is a nonprofit organization that develops and maintains standards for the design and fabrication of equipment and systems used to process food and beverage products in a sanitary manner. The mission of 3-A SSI is to enhance product safety for consumers around the world by developing standards and education materials that promote hygienic equipment design and practices. For more information, visit www.3-a.org.