Multiple research projects across three cooperating universities are demonstrating progress that is enabling American producers, processors and consumers to maintain a safe food supply. The Food Safety Consortium summarized that work in its recently completed annual report for the 2005-06 fiscal year.
The FSC is a federally funded alliance of food safety researchers at the University of Arkansas, Iowa State University and Kansas State University. It supervises numerous research projects in different academic departments at each university that examine specific animal product food safety problems. The three universities? research covers different areas of meats: Arkansas emphasizes poultry research, Iowa State concentrates on pork research and Kansas State works with beef.
?Foodborne illnesses due to meat and poultry foods are decreasing, according to Centers for Disease Control statistics,? explained Michael Johnson, an Arkansas food science professor who recently completed several years of service as the FSC?s faculty program director at the UA. ?We in the academic arena, partnering with food processors, distributors and retailers, will continue to work on further improving the safety of our food supply.?
Research personnel from the three universities presented summaries of their work at a symposium and annual meeting in October hosted by the UA that also included guest speakers from other universities and industry discussing current issues in food safety.
Arkansas? research projects covered a wide span of work, which Johnson summarized as illustrating three general truths.
?Pathogenic bacteria can be killed and controlled,? Johnson explained. ?However, if the physical and chemical methods of destruction are inadequate to kill all the cells, the surviving bacterial pathogens have evolved several mechanisms by which they can persist in both the pre- and post-harvest arenas. The need for good detection methods for pathogens to confirm adequate destruction and control will remain with us as long as these pathogens persist in our biosphere.?
Detection methods being researched at Arkansas include development of an immunosensor to rapidly detect Listeria monocytogenes in poultry. Yanbin Li, a poultry science research investigator, is pursuing that project, which is reducing the time it takes to find small levels of pathogens on poultry carcasses.
Iowa State also supported several research projects for the FSC. ?The research projects encompassed many aspects of food safety as it is currently viewed, from the farm to the consumer,? said Jim Dickson, an ISU animal science professor and FSC program director.
One example cited by Dickson was work by Qijing Zhang examining Campylobacter?s resistance to antimicrobials in swine. Dickson said Zhang?s findings plus ongoing studies ?reveal new information on the epidemiology of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter in swine, which will be useful for reducing the occurrence and transmission of antibiotic-resistant foodborne pathogens.?
Curtis Kastner, FSC program director at Kansas State and director of the KSU Food Science Institute, said his university?s mission continues to focus on detection and elimination of microbial hazards that contaminate food.
?That research has also most recently resulted in significant information and technology transfer relative to risk assessment, economic, policy, and trade information and has laid the foundation for reaping additional insights in those areas,? Kastner said. ?Furthermore, our food safety work has prepared us to address food security issues that may be the result of bioterrorism and/or natural disasters.? Kastner emphasized the FSC?s current work in food defense research with the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center at KSU.
During a symposium at its October annual meeting in Fayetteville, Ark., the FSC hosted several outside speakers who reviewed emerging issues in food safety that will likely become areas of future research interest. Topics covered included consumer attitudes, retail issues, legal regulations and defense against bioterrorism.
During the conference, Joan Menke-Schaenzer, Wal-Mart Stores vice president for food safety and security, recounted Wal-Mart?s rapid response to remove fresh and frozen packaged spinach from store shelves shortly after several states reported an outbreak of E. coli foodborne illnesses from fresh spinach.
Jenna Anding of the Texas Cooperative Extension Service told the conference her agency is training restaurant personnel across the state to become certified food managers so their establishments can better guard against risk factors that lead to food safety problems.
Doug Powell, an FSC researcher at Kansas State University who is scientific director of the Food Safety Network web site, emphasized that food safety communication depends upon institutions providing rapid, relevant, reliable and repeated information. ?It?s about advancing the culture of safe food, from farm to fork,? Powell said.