CPS Awards Ten Grants for Research
Davis, California
The Center for Produce Safety at the University of California, Davis has recently announced ten new grant awards for research projects in specific areas of food safety practices for fruit, vegetable and tree nut production, harvest and post-harvest handeling.
The research is geared to provide the produce industry with research data that can be used at all levels of the supply chain.
“The research being conducted at CPS is applicable to all points of the supply chain – farmers, shippers, handlers and consumers. CPS’s collaboration with its Partners in Research demonstrates what is possible when we work together to share knowledge to help keep fresh produce safe,” says Stephen Patricio, CPS Advisory Board Chairman. “I encourage industry stakeholders to fund the Center for Produce Safety research program to continue filling knowledge gaps.”
CPS Partners in Research include the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the Washington State Department of Agriculture, the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board, the California Leafy Greens Research Board, CPS Campaign for Research and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission.
“CPS has expanded upon basic core research areas from the farm through processing and up the supply chain through distribution. Working with stakeholders, key knowledge gaps in food safety were identified, and CPS anticipates these new research projects will provide depth from which those stakeholders can develop science-based food safety programs,” says Dr. Robert Whitaker, CPS Technical Committee chairman.
The awards were made possible by funds provided by PIR members and contributors to the CPS Campaign for Research.
According to the press release, the recipients are as followed:
Assessment of sanitation techniques for tree fruit storage bins. Karen Killinger, Washington State University
Rapid assessment of oxidative stress induced in microbes to evaluate efficacy of sanitizers in wash water. Nitin Nitin, University of California, Davis
Practical validation of surface pasteurization of netted melons. Trevor Suslow, University of California, Davis
Avirulent Salmonella strains and their use to model behavior of the pathogen in water, composts, in and on vegetables. Max Teplitski, University of Florida
Die-off rates of human pathogens in manure amended soil under natural climatic conditions using novel sentinel chamber system. Keith Warriner, University of Guelph
Genomic elucidation of the physiological state of enteric pathogens on pre-harvest lettuce. Martin Wiedmann, Cornell University
Science-based evaluation of risks associated with wildlife exposure for contamination of irrigation water by Salmonella. Anita Wright, University of Florida
Evaluation of the level of white-tailed deer fecal colonization by E. coli O157:H7 and the ecological role of dung beetles with the pathogen in produce farms. Vivian Wu, University of Maine
Novel coating systems with sustained release of food antimicrobials to improve safety of cantaloupe. Qixin Zhong, University of Tennessee
Center for Produce Saftey
