David B. Schmidt

President and CEO, International Food Information Council

1100 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 430
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-296-6540
Email:

The Board of Directors of the International Food Information Council (IFIC) in Washington, DC elected David Schmidt as president & CEO effective January 1, 2006.  Previously, he held the positions of executive vice president, vice president and director and has been a frequent speaker on a wide range of food safety and nutrition issues. 

Prior to joining IFIC in 1993, Schmidt served as the first Bush Administration's director of external affairs for the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  There he addressed a number of controversial food safety and nutrition issues, and managed the inspection agency's media, legislative and consumer education programs.  Schmidt also gained a thorough understanding of the food industry in previous sales positions with leading food and beverage firms, Oscar Mayer Foods, Pepsi-Cola USA and Canada Dry Corporation.
In 1998, Schmidt was named as an adjunct fellow with the Georgetown Center for Food and Nutrition Policy in Washington, DC.  David also serves on the National Advisory board for the Center for Risk Communication Research at the University of Maryland and participated on the steering committee on Reinventing Agricultural Education for the Year 2020.  He also served the Town of Leesburg, Virginia from 2000-2004 as a Town Councilmember and currently volunteers as President of the Loudoun Leadership Council.

Schmidt holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee and has completed graduate business studies at the University of New Orleans.