GlobalGAP has announced the election of Jorge Hernandez to its board.

Hernandez brings a wealth of food safety experience, having worked both in the public and private sector in the US.

In welcoming Jorge Hernandez to the board, Nigel Garbutt, chairman of GlobalGAP, said: "I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Stephen for his very significant contribution to GlobalGAP over many years and particularly as a board member for the last three years."

Hernandez is senior vice-president for food safety and quality assurance for US Foodservice, based in Chicago, and has responsibility for a Farm to Fork approach to ensure compliance with all food safety regulatory standards.

Her has also been vice-president for food safety & risk management for the National Restaurant Association and has worked for the Illinois department of public health.

He is a registered sanitarian, a past FDA standardization officer, a member of the Center for Diseases Control-Environmental Health Committee, the Global Food Safety Initiative- Technical Committee, the American National Standards Institute- Accreditation Committee, the Conference for Food Protection, the National Restaurant Association Quality Assurance Executives Study Group and serves as a board member of the Produce Marketing Association.