| CSU Meat Scientist Receives $2M Grant for Food Safety |
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Dr. John Sofos, Professor of Meat Microbiology and Food Safety with the CSU Department of Animal Sciences, recently received a $2 million grant to investigate how Listeria monocytogenes, which causes the disease listeriosis, moves and can be controlled through the food processing and service links of the food production chain. Listeria causes an estimated 499 deaths in the US annually including abortions and even birth defects and stillbirths. The pathogen is widely spread in the environment and it may be introduced in foods through contact with the soil, water, sewage and natural vegetation; it kills 20-30% of the people it infects. The focus of the grant will be to first understand how Listeria is spread in food processing and retail or foodservice environments, and then to create methods to prevent contamination or to control growth in meat products. Finally, the project will seek to inform packing plants and the general public about how to prevent listeriosis outbreaks. The project will run for four years in collaboration with scientists from Cornell University, the University of Nebraska, Ohio State University, and Kansas State University. Collaborators from CSU include Dr. Pat Kendall of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, and Dr. John Scanga from the Department of Animal Sciences. The project is funded by the National Integrated Food Safety Initiative of the Cooperative State Research, Education and extension Service of USDA. |