A new food safety lab opened April 29 on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, NY, funded by a $250,000 pledge from the Rich Family Foundation. The foundation is affiliated with Rich Products Corp., a global food supplier based in Buffalo, NY. The idea behind the new 1,400-square-foot Rich’s Food Safety Lab is to partner with the university’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to use research and education to further the development of a safe and sustainable global food supply, according to a news release. “The Rich’s Food Safety Lab is a state-of-the-art platform to support groundbreaking food safety research at Cornell University,” Bob Rich Jr., chairman of both the foundation and the company, said in the release. “In addition, the lab will serve as a training facility for the next generation of highly qualified food safety professionals, who will lead our industry, share their expertise, and collaborate with manufacturers such as Rich’s and also with our customers, to protect the safety and availability of the global food supply.”
The lab will leverage the expertise, knowledge and latest technology generated by Cornell’s lab in the company’s business around the world, according to the release. Through ongoing education and training, Rich’s will also continue to share critical food storage, handling and preparation skills with its customers.
The lab will be used by a number of different faculty members and research groups and will allow Cornell to continue as the global leader in the use of systems approaches for assuring food safety. Designed to facilitate collaborative efforts among researchers from all areas of the university’s Department of Food Science, the lab will provide a unique environment for fostering interdisciplinary approaches to ensuring a safe global food supply.
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