Pilkington named Food and Drug Protection Division director

Audrey Pilkington of Raleigh recently was named director of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Food and Drug Protection Division.

Pilkington graduated from N.C. State University with a degree in food science. She worked as a chemist for four years with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources after college, then worked in the private food manufacturing industry for 21 years in quality control/quality assurance roles.

She joined NCDA&CS in 2005 as a quality systems manager, and then was promoted to assistant director of laboratory services in 2009. In this position, she led the lab system to achieving dual ISO 17025 accreditations for both the chemistry and microbiology laboratories of the Food and Drug Protection Division. She works closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on policy issues, food recalls and other issues.

“I’m very pleased to name Audrey as director of the Food and Drug Protection Division,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “She has proved herself to be an effective leader, and she knows the many issues that the Food and Drug Protection Division faces with implementation of new rules coming up as a result of the federal Food Safety Modernization Act.”

Pilkington has served as the interim division director for the past eight months. As director, Pilkington will oversee the 140 employees in the division. The division has five main sections: food program, feed program, dairy program, drug program and the laboratory.