Darrell Bigalke, founder of QualiTru Sampling Systems and a dairy microbiologist and entrepreneur who has dedicated four decades to ensuring food safety via the development of inline aseptic sampling systems for the dairy and liquid food industries, has been honored with the Darrell Bigalke Food Safety & Food Quality Award.

This annual dairy science scholarship, intended to help the next generation of students from University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine or College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences further pursue key issues in dairy science and food quality and safety, was announced today.

"The College of Veterinary Medicine is very grateful to QualiTru Sampling Systems for sponsoring this award, which will contribute greatly to the training of a veterinary student with a strong interest in dairy population medicine," said Sandra Godden, DVM, DVSc, Professor and Interim Associate Dean of Graduate Programs at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota, referencing the first recipient who will be chosen for the scholarship in 2023.

"This award extends Darrell Bigalke's legacy in pioneering sampling tools that have helped dairy producers better manage their herds and allowed for enhanced efficiency for monitoring milk quality and composition. As a result, dairy farmers have experienced not only enhanced animal health, well-being and performance, but greater profitability and sustainability in their milking operations," Dr. Godden added.

Bigalke, an alumnus of the University of Minnesota (class of 1974), holds a master's degree in Food Science with an emphasis in Dairy Microbiology. His master's thesis, entitled Relationship Between Conditions of Production and Handling of Raw Milk on the Farm and Bacteriological Quality, reveals how closely his study of dairy science and food safety issues have aligned with his career.

"Through his pioneering work, Darrell has personally helped millions of people avoid serious food poisoning risks by equipping hundreds of commercial dairies and dairy processors with the ability to perform inline aseptic sampling. The data provided by these systems enables organizations to detect contamination issues so they can effectively stop potentially affected products from entering the food distribution system," said Ian Davis, QualiTru's CEO.