NSF Food Safety Award Honors Public Health Professional in Canada

October 06, 2022

The award is given to an individual who demonstrates leadership and commitment in the field of environmental health, with a focus on food safety.

The work of environmental public health professionals is critical in supporting human health. Each year, NSF sponsors the NSF Food Safety Award at the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI)’s annual national conference. The award is given to an individual who displays the highest levels of dedication, commitment, inspiration, and leadership in the field of environmental health, with a focus on food safety.

Lance Honish, Outbreak and Disease Control Coordinator for Environmental Public Health, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton Zone is the recipient of this year’s NSF Food Safety Award. He has made significant contributions to the profession and the promotion of food safety in Canada.

In his current role, Honish is heavily relied upon by public health management and the Medical Officers of Health for his expertise in the investigation of foodborne illness outbreaks. Not only is he a valued resource for industry and health care partners, but he is also an approachable resource for public health inspectors across the province.

Honish contributes to the profession as a guest lecturer at Concordia University of Edmonton and has participated as an examiner for the CIPHI Board of Certification and as editor for the CIPHI Alberta Branch newsletter.

He is also a primary and contributing author for several peer-reviewed published articles regarding foodborne illness outbreaks, allowing other professionals and the broader public access to the insights and learnings from outbreak investigations that were investigated in Alberta. Honish’s contributions to these investigations have led to practice and policy changes in food safety, both on a provincial and national level.

As Honish was unable to attend the event, two of his colleagues accepted the award on his behalf from Mahmoud Shoblaq, a fellow previous award recipient and technologist on NSF’s Food Safety Consulting, Training, and Technical Services team. The award included a prize of $1,000.