Jean Baker has joined Icon Foods as quality control/research and development manager. In her new role, she will be building Icon Food Science, a program designed to help food and beverage manufacturers reformulate products for clean-label sugar reduction.

“We are thrilled to have Jean join our team,” said Thom King, president and CEO of Icon Food Science and Icon Foods. “Jean’s background in nutrition and food science and passion for quality make her a valuable asset as we continue to develop and launch new products focused on clean-label sugar reduction.”

Prior to joining Icon Foods, Jean worked as quality assurance documentation coordinator for Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods, a producer of natural, certified organic and gluten-free milled grain products. In her role, she was in charge of reviewing and tracking food safety, quality and certification documentation to qualify new and maintain existing suppliers. Jean also served as product information specialist and as customer service/recipe specialist for Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods where she handled customer relations and worked with marketing and sales to maintain proper nutrition and allergen product information.

Jean’s passion for safety and quality control began in Portland where she served as a firefighter for the Statesboro Fire Department after graduating from Georgia Southern University with a bachelor of science degree in nutrition and food science. Jean is also an alumna of Phi Upsilon Omicron, a scholastic honor society that recognizes academic achievement among students in the field of family and consumer science. In her spare time, Jean likes to explore her love for candy by sampling and writing about different varieties of confections.