Food Safety Help May Be on the Way for Specialty Crop Operators (Fruit Growers News)

Food Safety Help May Be on the Way for Specialty Crop Operators

Outbreaks of foodborne diseases threaten the daily lives of millions of Americans, resulting in recalls and sometimes loss of life. Providing an integrated food safety system for fresh fruits and vegetables that protects the food supply through production, harvest, and processing is the goal of a recently awarded multi-million project led by University of Florida professors.

The $7.265 million four-year grant awarded by the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), involves what the project’s lead scientist considers a “dream team” of food safety researchers from 10 universities across the country and the USDA Agricultural Research Service.

Michelle Danyluk, a UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences professor in the department of food science and human nutrition, leads the research, along with Keith Schneider and Arie Havelaar, both also with UF/IFAS. UF researchers Naim Montazeri, Matt Krug, KC Jeong and Rafael Munoz-Carpena are also involved with the project.

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