Daniel Karp, Ph.D., with the University of California-Davis, is examining the prevalence of different wild bird species in agriculture and whether they carry and transmit foodborne pathogens. Karp is also developing a photographic guide to help growers identify birds and the potential food safety risks they may pose.
The project
Continue Reading Researchers look at pathogen risks from wild birds
Scientists from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service have begun to uncover details underlying a pattern of seasonal E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks linked to bagged romaine lettuce.
“That E. coli O157:H7 infection outbreaks connected to romaine are more frequently associated with lettuce commercially grown and harvested at the end of the
Continue Reading Researchers find link between timing of harvests and E. coli in romaine lettuce
Food safety practices evolve as new technology and knowledge of the pathogens that spread foodborne illnesses becomes available.
In recent years, researchers have increasingly focused efforts on biofilm and its ability to thrive in nature and in food production and processing facilities. Biofilm is formed by a pathogen
Continue Reading Research expands ability to detect, kill harmful biofilms
It’s one thing for someone working in the produce industry to attend a conference with all sorts of regulators and scientists talking about food safety. But it’s quite another thing for those folks to be asked what their greatest challenges are when it comes to managing food safety.
But that’s
Continue Reading USDA wants to hear produce industry’s voice in anonymous food safety survey
Microbes battling microbes. This type of warfare is happening all around us — and even inside of us — every day. And as in every battle, there are good microbes and bad microbes, depending on what you want the outcome to be. 
Tiny bacteriophages attack larger
Continue Reading Oyster research could lead to food safety strategies
The increasing global attention to the threat of antibiotic resistance has spurred research and development of antimicrobial alternatives. Once such alternative is bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria. There are thousands of different types and they are so abundant in the environment – an estimated 1030
Continue Reading Bacteriophages: An Old Antibiotic Alternative Becomes New Again
Hyun Lillehoj, Ph.D., has won an “Oscar of government service” for her work in food safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In her 30 years with USDA, Lillehoj has studied the immune systems of chickens and turkeys and worked to reduce and treat parasitic and bacterial poultry diseases. Lillehoj,
Continue Reading USDA Scientist Wins ‘Sammie’ Award for Food Safety Work
Scientists at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Western Regional Research Center in Albany, CA, have come up with a less-expensive way to detect biologically active Shiga toxin, a product of pathogenic Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7. 
It is estimated that E. coli O157:H7 causes 73,000 cases of food poisoning and more than
Continue Reading USDA Researchers Develop Camera System to Detect Active Shiga Toxin
Chlorine dioxide gas may be an effective tool for combating Salmonella on sprouts, according to a new study. Researchers at Rutgers University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have found that chlorine dioxide gas is more effective at killing Salmonella on bean sprouts than chlorine wash
Continue Reading Study: Chlorine Dioxide Gas Offers Hope for Sprout Sanitation
Government agencies in charge of monitoring food for pesticide residues must step up their testing programs, said the Government Accountability Office in a new report. While data collected by these agencies has shown low levels of pesticide residue violations in the past few years, shortcomings in sampling methods mean some
Continue Reading GAO Finds Fault With Government Tests for Pesticide Residues
