Food Protection Trends - May/June 2022 - 247

BEYOND the BIO
When Benesh returned to 3M from her
maternity leave, she felt a change was in order.
She returned to the Petrifilm group, but this
time in a technical service role, which acts
as a liaison between the lab, marketing, and
the customer. Benesh had always enjoyed
her interactions with customers and had the
technical know-how to explain the product,
how it worked, and troubleshoot issues. She
was assigned to provide technical support
to the Asia-Pacific region, covering the area
from Japan to New Zealand and everything
in between.
" I really enjoyed this role, but it was hard to
leave my young family for two to three weeks
at a time to travel the region, " Benesh said.
" Back then, there was limited dial-up internet,
no personal phones, and land-line costs were
expensive, so you were really not connected to
family when you were out of the country " .
Benesh rose through the ranks in the
technical service field, moving from the
U.S., to Global then International Technical
Services Manager over the period of 10 years.
At that point, explained Benesh, 3M acquired
a new company that had locations several areas
of the globe.
" I was asked if I wanted to take on a
Regulatory role with this new venture, so
I did, " Benesh said. " An acquisition meant
getting all these products that were new to
3M, aligned with 3M requirements. I led a
small team that went to each location to work
with our new colleagues to review product
claims and ensure we had sufficient data to
support these claims before we could brand
them as 3M. "
Benesh explained that the role of regulatory
affairs for test kit manufacturers differs
somewhat from the role of regulatory affairs
within food companies. Both roles require
assuring the products their companies
produce meet regulatory requirements, but a
food company's product is food, whereas 3M's
products are methods that are used to test that
food. Food producers and regulators require
methods that have been validated, so one
of the responsibilities of her regulatory role
is to organize third party studies to validate
these methods and gain method approvals
/certifications through recognized global
certification bodies.
Today, Benesh is actively involved
in a number of professional food safety
and standards organizations, such as
the International Association for Food
Protection where she is the current chair
of the International Food Protection Issues
Professional Development Group; AOAC
International, where she is a Fellow, and was
President of the organization from 2017-18;
she is a member of the MicroVal Certification
General Committee; and for the last 10 years
has been a member of the U.S. Technical
Advisory Group to ISO TC34/SC9 where she
was a co-leader of the group that drafted the
standard ISO 16140-3:2021 on the verification
of validated microbiology methods.
" An overall goal in my career has always
been to continue to learn and to collaborate
with others, " Benesh said. " I have enjoyed
meeting the people I've worked with and the
variety of global jobs I've had over 40 years.
It has led to really good friendships all over
the globe, and it's rewarding to feel that I
have been a contributor with all these people
towards global methods standardization in the
area of food microbiology. "
As someone who has worked her way up
from the (invention) bench, Benesh said
involvement in professional organizations can
provide you with new learning and thinking,
as well as connections to new people in similar
fields of work.
" To get the most out of professional
organizations and really the workplace in
general, don't just " attend " - participate!
Commit to being a part of an organization or
a project - show up and speak up. We can all
learn more, regardless of where we're at in our
careers. I have learned so much by working
with different people and hearing their points
of view - and it's always nice to see how many
of the same values we all share, regardless of
culture or career field. We all eat and we all
want our food to be safe. "
Benesh's career has taken her around
the globe and back again to her home in
Minnesota, where she raised two boys, Nick
and Jake. In 2010, her son Jake was hit on his
motorcycle and killed by an impaired driver.
Benesh befriended the driver (concerned how
he would live with this for the rest of his life)
which led to her becoming an active volunteer
with a local chapter of Restorative Justice
International (RJI). She now speaks once a
month to people who have been stopped and
charged with impaired driving (drugs, alcohol,
texting) and court-ordered to attend an RJI
session where she tells her story in the hope
that after hearing it, the offenders will make a
better choice in the future before driving.
" The last time my son Nick came to
visit me, we stayed up late and shared our
memories of Jake for several hours, " Benesh
said. " Nick has a daughter who is seven and
she is so much like Jake - a little crazy and very
joyful. And she loves to hear us say that she is
like Jake. We see a lot of him in her and that
makes it feel like a little bit of Jake came back
and is still with us. "
WHAT'S BEEN ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING EXPERIENCES OF YOUR CAREER?
A: I was working at a local hospital at the time 3M offered me a job, managing the blood bank
for extra money. One day, an emergency came in, needing a blood draw. No one had time
to run and do it, but I put things in the incubator and said I could go. I got to the room and
found four or five guys with British accents standing around a man in his striped, flannel
pajamas on the hospital bed. I was in a hurry, so I didn't pay them much attention, just drew
the blood and ran back to the lab. I joked with my co-workers when I got back to the lab,
that with the British accents, it was probably some rock star. As it turned out, it was Eric
Clapton! I was in a hurry and didn't really look at his face - just his veins!
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO AFTER WORK?
A: I had both of my knees replaced during COVID and when things opened up again, to
stay active, I started taking (adult) tap dancing lessons. Now, every Monday evening, I go
to my class, which is called " Tappy Hour. " It's good for my knees and I also get to meet
some fun people.
I also like to sing jazz and have taken workshops in different locations in the U.S. and
in 2018, I even took vacation to attend two workshops in Australia. As I get closer to
retirement, I'd like to find a small jazz trio to sing with. My father passed away at 97, and
my aunt (his sister) just turned 99 and started teaching yoga, so with that longevity in my
family, theoretically I could still have another 30-year career as a jazz singer!
DO YOU LIKE TO TRAVEL?
A: Yes! I've been very fortunate to able to travel to many places in the world for my job with
3M. In May, I have a vacation planned to the Galapagos Islands. And with my new knees,
I'm now ready to climb to the top of several volcanos while I am there!
May/June Food Protection Trends 247

Food Protection Trends - May/June 2022

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