A Kansas State University research team is using a United States Department of Agriculture Higher Education Challenge Grant to serve up improved food allergy education for future restaurant managers and staff.
In light of the recent Listeria outbreak associated with cantaloupe, it is more important than ever to choose your fresh fruits and vegetables carefully.
The Food and Drug Administration recently selected Auburn University as a national food safety training center and provided a $6.5 million grant to support the university's work to protect the food supply.
A sophisticated and innovative survey challenges the approach typically used to value the benefits of food safety regulations, detailing how much the public is willing to pay to reduce related risks.
The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) announced that it will lead two pilot programs for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designed to test and study various product tracing systems. The purpose of these pilots will be to identify methods to rapidly and effectively trace food products throughout the supply chain so that, during a food-related outbreak, products can be quickly identified and removed from the marketplace, which will ultimately help minimize the number of consumers affected by a contaminated product.
University of Iowa researchers have found high levels of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the deep sediments lining the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal (IHSC) in East Chicago, Ind. Scientists say the discovery is cause for concern because the IHSC is scheduled to be dredged in spring 2012 to maintain proper depth for ship traffic in this heavily industrialized area of southern Lake Michigan.
Christine Bruhn, PhD, director of the Center for Consumer Research at University of California-Davis, and a professor in the UC-Davis Department of Food Science and Safety, explains why foods are irradiated in this video from IFT.
Ever wonder what all those numbers mean on canned, boxed or packaged food products? This video from IFT features Richard Ross, CEO of Ross Consulting LLC, discussing shelf-life of food, proper storage, expiration dates, lot codes and what it all means for you and your family.
Back-to-school time is here and while many parents are concerned with packing healthy lunches for their kids, it’s also important to make sure the food they’re eating is safe to eat as well. This IFT audio news release provides helpful food safety lunch packing tips.
Many consumers want to buy organic produce because they’re concerned about pesticides. This audio interview with Dr. Carl Winter, a food toxicologist at the University of California-Davis and member of the Institute of Food Technologists, discusses myth vs. science when it comes to pesticides and produce.
With almost 100 million people in developing countries exposed to dangerously high levels of arsenic in their drinking water, and unable to afford complex purification technology, scientists today described a simple, inexpensive method for removing arsenic based on chopped up pieces of ordinary plastic beverage bottles coated with a nutrient found in many foods and dietary supplements.
The increasingly prevalent notion that expensive organic fruits and vegetables are safer because pesticides — used to protect traditional crops from insects, thus ensuring high crop yields and making them less expensive — are a risk for causing cancer has no good scientific support, an authority on the disease said here today. Such unfounded fears could have the unanticipated consequence of keeping healthful fruits and vegetables from those with low incomes.
A whopping 83 percent of Americans typically eat in their office or cubicle in an effort to save time and money, but not practicing proper food safety could end up costing them both.
Faculty experts from the University at Buffalo are available for commentary on a range of issues in the news, including the rise of “hackivism” (hacking and activism), violence in England, prevention of salmonella poisoning, and how to prevent teenage binge drinking.
Internationally renowned Loyola infectious disease expert gives tips and comment on the biggest recall action in US history. 36 million pounds of ground turkey - one of the most healthful forms of protein popular this grilling season - is contaminated with a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella.
Martin Wiedmann, food safety expert and associate professor of Food Science at Cornell University, describes steps that consumers can take to protect themselves against food poisoning in the wake of the current salmonella contamination of ground turkey.
A team led by the University of Maryland School of Medicine Institute for Genome Sciences unraveled the genomic code of the E. coli that caused the German outbreak that began in May.
Americans are used to drinking from the kitchen tap without fear of harm, even though water utilities might be vulnerable to terrorist attacks or natural contaminants. Now, thanks to CANARY Event Detection Software — an open-source software developed by Sandia National Laboratories in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — public water systems can be protected through enhanced detection of such threats.
A flurry of Internet sites are touting raw egg drinks, shakes and snacks as “primal and powerful," with no risk of salmonella, but a national food expert says otherwise.
With hurricane season under way, a new study by researchers at RTI International, Tennessee State University, and Jackson State Community College finds that most Americans are not prepared to ensure food safety during an extended.
Dr. Melvin Pascall, an associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at The Ohio State University, has spent the past 15 years working to improve food safety in areas ranging from packaging to food service cleaning practices. His research has been cited by the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and he has helped create national food industry dishware cleaning guidelines. He is currently conducting research to determine if the existing guidelines are enough to keep the public safe from cross contamination. With 20 million cases of acute gastroenteritis and 128,000 hospitalizations a year attributed to food-borne illness, Pascall is looking more closely at viruses as a potential culprit - and has quick tips for consumers about keeping their own kitchenware germ-free.
Not all consumers share the same attitudes toward animal cloning, but the latest research from Sean Fox, Kansas State University professor of agricultural economics, shows that Americans may be more accepting of consuming cloned animal products than Europeans.
Beer undergoes a lot research before the glass touches your lips, and one of the few Canadian scientists to pursue such research is Dalhousie professor Alex Speers.
With a PhD from the University of British Columbia in brewing science, Dr. Speers is only the second person in Canada to be recognized as a Fellow by the Institute of Brewing and Distilling.
Despite rigorous testing and assurances from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that seafood and other food products imported from Japan are safe for consumption, three in four Americans in a recent study said they were not ready to purchase food from Japan, according to research presented at a symposium at the 2011 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo®.
New regulations, improved surveillance and disease prevention strategies, particularly pertaining to produce, will likely emerge in the European Union and throughout the world following the recent deadly E.coli outbreak in Germany, said Professor Patrick Wall, the former chair of the European Food Safety Authority said at a press briefing Tuesday, at the 2011 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo.
When University of Maryland psychologist Andrea Chronis-Tuscano testified at an FDA hearing, it changed her mind about the risks of artificial food coloring for children, and drove her to rescan what she feeds her kids. There's still NO evidence to suggest a link with ADHD, she says, but new concerns about the dye’s wider safety for children.
Many products flagged as containing allergens may only contain very minute amounts of allergens that may not trigger a reaction in those with food allergies, and it may limit food choices for at-risk populations, according to a panel discussion of food allergy experts Sunday at the 2011 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo®.
Journalist Michael Specter and panelists representing the food industry tackled the complicated question of how to go about changing the image of food science in the marketplace during a provocative Keynote Session at the 2011 Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Expo®.
Feeding an estimated 9 billion people by the year 2050 will require a sustainable food system that makes the most of limited resources while protecting the world’s fragile ecosystem, according a symposium at the 2011 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo®.
Scientists say Gulf of Mexico seafood is safe but Americans remain deeply suspicious about the Gulf's fish, shrimp and crabs because of the BP oil spill, a panel of seafood specialists said Sunday at the 2011 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting and Food Expo®.
A potential life-saving treatment for severe E. coli food poisoning outbreaks – developed more than a decade ago – hasn’t gone forward into clinical trials because of lack of commercial interest.
The following faculty members from The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences are available to provide expert commentary on the outbreak of E. Coli in Europe.
For consumers in the United States concerned by the outbreak of E. coli in Europe, the American College of Gastroenterology offers background information on foodborne illness, tips for food safety, and expert insight from its resources on digestive health on what to do in the case of foodborne illness.
Today, at an event hosted by the GW School of Public Health and Health Services, the Food and Drug Administration’s Deputy Commissioner for Foods, Mike Taylor, delivered a speech that focused on prevention as a core principle of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Taylor’s remarks engaged both food industry stakeholders and the public health community. He delivered the message that not only is the federal government committed to the issue of food safety and prevention, but also that prevention of food safety problems is in everyone’s interest in order to create a healthy and sustainable food system working at local and global levels, to feed our population.
Martin Wiedmann, food-safety expert and associate professor of Food Science at Cornell University, comments on recent protests in Washington, D.C., advocating the sale of raw, unpasteurized milk.
When it comes to cooking over an open flame, men hold the spatulas and tongs as the dominant grillers, according the most recent North American barbecue study. As grills across the country heat up for picnics in the park or backyard barbecues, so does the risk of food poisoning, making this the perfect time to remind those at the helm of the grill how to protect themselves and their guests with simple steps from the American Dietetic Association and ConAgra Foods’ Home Food Safety program.
The safety of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico became a central concern following the Deepwater Horizon blowout a year ago. Even after previously closed Gulf waters began reopening in summer 2010, consumer confidence in the safety of Gulf seafood remained shaky. A new review published online May 12 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) affirms that levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found thus far in Gulf seafood samples in fact have been well below levels that would be of concern for human health.
Cedars-Sinai researchers have reported two advances in the understanding of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, the most common gastrointestinal disorder in the United States, affecting an estimated 30 million people.
Increasingly for Americans the cost of food is becoming almost as important as the taste of it, according to the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation 2011 Food & Health Survey.
Ultraviolet light can safely sterilize food, water and medical equipment by disrupting the DNA and other reproductive molecules in harmful bacteria. Traditionally, mercury lamps have supplied this UV light, however mercury release from power generation and lamp disposal have generated discussion of harmful environmental impact. A potentially energy efficient and non-toxic alternative is the light-emitting diode, or LED, which can be made to emit at almost any desired wavelength.
As food suppliers attempt to meet the growing demand for local products, a new study finds it’s not always economically or environmentally viable for multi-product industries to focus heavily on local sales.
Although stevia-derived sweeteners are relatively new to U.S. grocery store shelves, consumers should feel confident using them because of extensive and rigorous testing worldwide during the past decade and beyond.
Chemical engineering students at the University of Arkansas have designed a system that can provide 3,000 gallons of clean drinking water per day without the use of electricity. Their design, which could be used to treat water in remote or disaster-stricken areas, recently won the Intel Innovation Award.
A combination of forest byproducts and crustacean shells may be the key to removing radioactive materials from drinking water, researchers from North Carolina State University have found.
Biochemist Yingfu Li and his research team have developed a simple test that can swiftly and accurately identify specific pathogens using a system that will ‘hunt’ for bacteria, identifying their harmful presence before they have a chance to contaminate our food and water.