About
Mark Haas is a food scientist and process authority with 35 years in food and beverage manufacturing and more than 500 brands formulated.
He is founder and CEO of The Helmsman Group, a Portland based food science, process engineering and regulatory consulting firm, and co-founder of RegulateCPG, an AI-powered compliance infrastructure platform for the food and beverage industry.
He is listed in the AFDO Food Processing Authorities Directory, one of approximately 100 process authorities in the directory and one of seven listed with aseptic process validation specialization. The directory is a listing rather than an endorsement or credential, and it can be verified directly.
He serves on the Food Northwest Education and Research Institute board as its Idaho delegate, engaging with the Idaho legislature on food related matters. He splits his time between Portland, Oregon and Boise, Idaho, and operates a pilot plant in Portland.
Process authority practice
Process authority work covers scheduled processes and thermal process validation under 21 CFR Part 113 for low acid canned foods, Part 114 for acidified foods and Part 117 for preventive controls, with a specialization in aseptic process validation. A process authority establishes and documents that a given process reliably achieves the required lethality for a given product in a given system, and that the documentation will survive regulatory and legal scrutiny.
That last part is where most of the exposure sits. A process can be sound and the filing still indefensible.
The pilot plant
The practice runs an active aseptic pilot plant in Portland built around a Sidel Aseptic Lab Unit, permitted through TTB and the state of Oregon for beverage and carbonation work.
This is the part that separates the work from most process authority practice. The usual engagement is done entirely on paper: a manufacturer describes a process, an authority models the lethality and issues a letter. Nobody runs the product. Here the trial can be run, the thermal data captured and the schedule validated in the same facility, which closes the gap between what a process should do in a model and what it demonstrably does in a filler. It also means a formulation can be proven before capital is committed to a production line, rather than after.
Pilot plant capabilities at The Helmsman Group
Credentials
- Thermal processing
- Better Process Control School. The qualification FDA requires for supervisors of thermal processing, acidification and container closure operations in low acid canned and acidified food plants
- Preventive controls
- Preventive Controls Qualified Individual under FSMA. The role responsible for preparing and overseeing a facility's food safety plan
- Hazard analysis
- HACCP certified, and Seafood HACCP certified under 21 CFR Part 123
- Acidified foods
- Acidified foods school. Process control for acidified and low acid foods under Part 114
- Education
- BS, Chemical Oceanography, University of Washington. Supply chain operations, Broad School of Business, Michigan State. Supply chain management, Weber State
- Listing
- AFDO Food Processing Authorities Directory, aseptic process validation specialization. Verify
What the writing is about
The newsletter takes a position on contested subjects in food and beverage regulation. Plaintiff litigation theories and class action exposure. UDAP and state consumer protection claims. Front of pack claim substantiation. Ultra processed food classification. Ingredient reformulation and additive replacement. It is written for operators, founders and investors who need to know where the risk actually is rather than where it is reported to be.
Every position is supported with primary sources, and every conclusion states what evidence would change it.
Technology
RegulateCPG builds compliance infrastructure for food and beverage manufacturers and brands, reasoning across the regulatory floor, the body of food science knowledge, company and brand policy and live plant data. The work is done in partnership with NVIDIA, Microsoft and AWS.
Operating history
Twenty years running plants and P&Ls before the advisory practice. Plant director of Kellogg's Eggo facility in San Jose and head of operations for Kashi. Cost of goods across Annie's portfolio through a period of twenty percent annual growth. Los Angeles metro general manager at Hain-Celestial. Founder and CEO of Bridgetown Bakery, built from nothing to $85 million and sold to private equity. Interim COO of Cup4Cup under chairman Thomas Keller. Capital projects from Trident Seafoods in Alaska to the Portland aseptic beverage and carbonation pilot plant, permitted through TTB and the state. On the Northwest Food Processors ERI board since 2011. Fluent in Spanish and German.
Contact
Three doors
Routing beats a general inbox. Pick the one that matches what you need.
Process authority work
Thermal process validation, aseptic filings, scheduled processes and regulatory review.
The Helmsman Group