Vanguard for safe foods
Researchers explore avenues to safe food sources in U.S.
Oct. 4, 2006Contact Information:Dave Edmark, Communications Director, Food Safety Consortium
479-575-6940 | dedmark@uark.edu
By Fred Miller, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
479-575-5647 / fmiller@uark.edu
Dr. Steven Ricke, right, Donald "Buddy" Wray Chair in Food Safety and director of the Center for Food Safety, speaks with Dr. Byron Brehm-Stecher of Iowa State University during the Food Safety Consortium meeting in Fayetteville Oct. 2-3, 2006.Researchers from three universities presented their data and exchanged ideas and information during the annual meeting of the Food Safety Consortium, hosted Sunday through Tuesday by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. The consortium includes the U of A, Iowa State University and Kansas State University.
Congress established the consortium in 1988 with a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.
“I’m convinced that collaboration within and among our institutions gives the best bang for the buck for developing science and technology that provide safe food, and for transferring it to the food industries,” Milo Shult, U of A vice president for agriculture, told the assembled scientists and food industry representatives during the opening session.
“There is also great value in the partnership between research institutions and food industries that work together to supply American consumers with safe and nutritious foods,” Shult said.
Each university in the consortium is primarily performing research associated with a specific animal species: poultry at the University of Arkansas, pork at Iowa State, and beef at Kansas State.
Research projects are also coordinated with scientists at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children's Hospital.
Research and issues covered during the meeting included biological studies of foodborne pathogens, intervention strategies, technologies for rapid detection of pathogens and emerging issues in food safety.
Steven Ricke, director of the Center for Food Safety at the U of A, said it’s important to focus on the biology of foodborne pathogens. “If we know our enemy,” he said, “we can fight it.”
Ricke’s research is focused on being able to predict the behavior of illness-causing bacteria and stay a step ahead of their ability to do harm. “We have to start thinking about preventing those pathogens from ever getting established,” he said. “We have to create barriers.”
Such research strategies mark the aim of the Food Safety Consortium, said James Denton, retired head of the department of poultry science, speaking at the start of the meeting.
“Continuing research helps us better understand the pathogens themselves, how they work and survive,” Denton said. “Then we use what we know to look for novel interventions to protect the U.S. food supply.”
James Dickson of Iowa State University, who moderated the opening sessions, pointed out that many graduate students from the member institutions were also attending the meeting. He added, “Food Safety Consortium scientists are also teachers who are training the next generation of food safety professionals.”