Dr. Jennifer Cleveland McEntire is a food microbiologist with the Institute of Food Technologists. Founded in 1939, and with world headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, USA, the Institute of Food Technologist is a not-for-profit international scientific society with 22,000 members working in food science, technology and related professions in the industry, academia and government. As the society for food science and technology, IFT brings sound science to the public discussion of food issues.

Dr. McEntire received a degree in Food Science from the University of Delaware and conducted her doctoral work in the Department of Food Science at Rutgers University as a USDA National Needs Fellow in Food Safety. She has authored or co-authored several peer reviewed publications, as well as a book chapter on antimicrobial resistance of foodborne pathogens, and has presented her work nationally and internationally. At IFT, she manages government contract work in the areas of food defense, produce safety risk assessment, and rice fortification, and writes scientific reports on food safety related topics. She is IFT's liaison to the Partnership for Food Safety Education (www.fightbac.org). She actively promotes food science as a career, developing resources for students and teachers and outreach materials for IFT members.