The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has updated its research priorities to make sure that food safety inspections align with existing and emerging risks to public health. That agency regulates meat, poultry, and egg products produced in the United States.
USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen said in a statement, “our goal is to effectively use science to understand foodborne illness and emerging trends. External research is critical to our public health mission and ultimately serves as another tool at our disposal to protect the food supply for over 300 million Americans.”
Suggestions for researchers pursuing grants from the USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health are identified as priorities in protecting public health. Government would like to see scientists studies issues such as identify emerging technologies for real-time testing for higher levels of contamination before slaughter, alternative approaches to E. coli 0157:H7 sampling, faster screening technology for pathogens, and factors that contribute to antibiotic resistant bacteria development. You can see the full list of research priorities at the FSIS site.
An internal Research Priorities Panel reviews priorities and identifies potential additions to the list every six months. The panel solicits input from stakeholders and programs, then votes on the updates to the list. Examples of current research include a $25 million grant from NIFA for researchers at 10 universities studying Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) bacteria.
Online constant potential bacteria growth probe…food monitoring a must..
Alex