Regulator Keynote: Meeting USDA Regulatory Requirements in Your Operation’s Processes

  • How should you prepare and respond to Food Safety Assessments and Notices of Intended Enforcement?
  • Understanding what USDA inspections are looking for when you conduct your own internal inspections
  • Offering key steps and best practices to improve your validation programs to align with USDA expectations
  • Illustrating what the extra mile looks like when we talk about commitment to public health, eliminating foodborne illnesses from the supply chain, and conducting effective product recalls

Carmen Rottenberg
Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Food Safety
USDA FSIS

Carmen Rottenberg was appointed Acting Deputy Under Secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office for Food Safety in August 2017. In this position, Ms. Rottenberg oversees development, implementation and enforcement of all of FSIS’ regulations, policies and programs. This appointment follows nearly six years in leadership roles in the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS’) Office of the Administrator, including serving as the Chief of Staff, the Chief Operating Officer and, most recently, the Deputy Administrator.

In those leadership roles, Ms. Rottenberg executed a budget of over $1 billion, prioritizing resources and resolving disputes, advancing the Agency’s vision and goals, and leading innovative solutions to challenges in FSIS. She has spearheaded strategic planning at FSIS and implemented numerous initiatives to strategically move the agency forward. She implemented two major reorganizations leading to a more streamlined, efficient Agency better positioned to carry out its food safety mission. Through her leadership and oversight, an early governance process matured into an established systematic approach to agency decision-making, resulting in more deliberative, science-based decisions that consider enterprise-wide risks and benefits. Ms. Rottenberg’s vision led to the very successful i-Impact initiative which has increased the awareness of and engagement in FSIS’ public health mission by the more than 9,000 employees throughout the Agency.

Ms. Rottenberg joined FSIS as an Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist in 2007, and went on to become the Deputy Director of the Civil Rights Staff. Conducting training and working with FSIS employees from every program area and location while in those positions provided Ms. Rottenberg with a broad Agency perspective.

Ms. Rottenberg began her federal government career in the Federal Trade Commission’s Office of General Counsel, and prior to joining FSIS, Ms. Rottenberg was a law clerk at a small law firm in Fairfax, VA. Ms. Rottenberg holds a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from Hope College in Holland, MI and a JD degree from American University’s Washington College of Law.