Jon Porter - In Memoriam

The food industry and the world of food safety lost a great man and an even greater teacher. On Nov. 19, 2006, Jon Porter, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, died after a long battle with cancer. He was 69. He worked for more than 40 years in the food industry, becoming an expert in food safety and sanitation. Jon's knowledge and incredible desire to communicate all he knew in the realm of food sanitation and safety touched all of our lives every day. 

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Jon worked in all aspects of processing and sanitation. He developed education programs for Bonewitz Chemical, Henkel Food Division and Ecolab. His workshops included not only the basics of HACCP development, but also developing and maintaining the "precursory" programs, as Jon called them. Jon helped develop workshops in Argentina with the Food Science Department of Purdue University and the University of Arkansas. It was as part of this group that he became known as one of the "Four Wiseman."

Jon developed HACCP plans and worked with me (Debby Newlsow) for many years, sharing his knowledge of food safety and HACCP through my consulting firm. Along with workshops on HACCP, he led prerequisite programs on the chemistry of cleaning and sanitizing, current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs), problem solving and many more. Jon was adjunct professor in the Center of Excellence at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. 

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Jon experienced many challenges with his health in recent years, but he kept teaching and sharing his wealth of knowledge.  Jon had to give up his love of travel and teaching because the state of his health was taking its toll. His teaching touched so many over the years.