FOOD SAFETY
MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
Division of University Relations
403 Olds Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1047
MEDIA CONTACT:
Sue Nichols
University Relations
(517) 355-2281
The mission of the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center at Michigan State University is to conduct research that will increase understanding of chemical and microbial hazards in foods and to use this knowledge to develop a safer food supply, well-founded public policy and a greater public understanding of food safety issues.
As the nation struggles with its current crises in food safety and consumer confidence, MSU experts are ready to discuss safety across the food chain - from farm to family.
Please contact the experts individually, the center at (517) 432-3100 or Sue Nichols, Research Communications Coordinator, (517) 355-2281 or [email protected].
About antibiotic resistance
Even as antibiotics have gained new power in the marketplace - from plant and animal production units to hospital wards - it's also becoming obvious that the cure may indeed be creating bigger problems, especially in the food system. Ed Mather, deputy director of the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center at Michigan State University, says that the old system of throwing new, ever-more specific antibiotics at new strains of pathogens no longer is working. "There is a global realization that throwing new antibiotics at the rapidly developing strains of emerging pathogens as we have done so well for over 45 years isn't working," Mather said. "We are losing the race to keep a fence around bad bugs."
In an environment that may contain 100 strains of microorganisms - be it a bathroom sink, an animal feed lot or a daycare center with an outbreak of diarrhea - an antibiotic may kill 99 of them. It's the single resistant pathogen that is left without competition. It multiplies and dominates the environment. Mather points out that not enough is known about comparative risk. In June, MSU hosted the nation's first national conference on risk analysis. "There is inadequate scientific understanding about how new resistant strains of microorganisms share their unique characteristics, how they migrate through our food systems and how they move through our global food supply," Mather said. "Our ability to control bad bugs with traditional antibiotic therapy in both animal and humans is one of many concerns to research scientists at the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center."
Contact: Edward C. Mather, deputy director, National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, (517) 432-3100. E-mail: [email protected].
About HAACP
In many ways, HAACP is the answer to the impossible task of having an inspector in a lab coat overseeing every bite of food as it makes its way to the dining table.
But the concept of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points - pronounced by its acronym as "hasip" - is as complex as the food system whose hazards it seeks to control. It's wide-scale application is new - and it's too early to declare a verdict on whether HAACP works.
"HAACP is a way of thinking, and given the amount of time since it has been implemented there's been precious little time for evolution," said Les Bourquin, a food safety specialist in Michigan State University's National Food Safety and Toxicology Center. "It's difficult to know what to measure to tell if it's working. You cannot look at foodborne illness statistics and tell if HAACP works because there are a lot of different things that influence those numbers."
HAACP, Bourquin explains, takes some of the responsibility out of hands of USDA inspectors and puts it in hands of food processors. They devise the plan and have to be responsible for it to be implemented. Potential breakdown points: The plan might not be sufficient; workers might not implement it properly or unexpected events may occur.
Bourquin says a good indicator of HAACP success is the emergence and industry adoption of new food safety technologies.
Contact: Les Bourquin, assistant professor of food science and human nutrition, (517) 353-9664. E-mail: [email protected].
About Listeria
While listeria is a microbe that has been on the food safety radar screen for nearly 20 years, the current outbreak underscores the ongoing need to understand the hardy bacteria, according to an MSU food safety expert.
Elliot Ryser, an assistant professor of food science and human nutrition, points out that listeria is able to multiply quickly even at cold temperatures and survives long bouts in the freezer - making it difficult to control in household refrigerators.
The trick to conquering the bug in processed food, Ryser hopes, may lie in research he's conducting to create an edible film from whey protein concentrates which contains antimicrobial agents that zap foodborne pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Listeria. The goal is to create a hotdog casing out of the substance.
"We're working to make this film able to deactivate a pathogen on the surface so it's safer in the refrigerator," Ryser said. "It would be an effective way to eliminate post-processing contamination - something like a bug zapper."
Contact: Elliot Ryser, assistant professor of food science and human nutrition and animal science, (517) 353-9734. E-mail: [email protected].
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