Newswise — To help reporters answer food safety questions regarding the recent outbreak of E. coli, Kansas State University offers four experts.
The experts are: Daniel Y.C. Fung, professor of animal sciences and industry and professor of food science; Curtis L. Kastner, professor of animal sciences and industry; James Marsden, Regents Distinguished Professor of animal sciences and Douglas Powell, associate professor diagnostic medicne pathobiolog and scientific director of the Food Safety Network at K-State.
DANIEL Y.C. FUNGProfessor of animal sciences and industryProfessor of food science
Rapid detection of spoilage and harmful microorganisms in food, clinical specimens, industrial and environmental samples can help prevent food spoilage and foodborne outbreaks. That promotes food safety and public health. Daniel Y.C. Fung, professor of animal sciences and industry and professor of food science at Kansas State University, has devoted his career to developing faster processes for detecting spoilage and harmful and beneficial microorganisms in food and the environment. He also has worked on controlling pathogenic organisms by physical methods (microwave treatment, heating, freezing, etc.), chemical methods (antioxidants and antimicrobials), and fermentation procedures. He received three U.S. patents in relationship to pathogen detection and fermentation technology.
Fung has also studied how spices can deter food-borne pathogens. Use of common kitchen spices, like clove and garlic, can kill up to 99 percent of the E. coli bacteria in ground beef. Fung is testing other spices for similar results and working to determine the exact combination of heat and spice that will be most effective on food-borne pathogens -- as well as the best tasting.
Fung is an internationally recognized authority in the field of rapid methods and automation in microbiology for his research as well as his many presentations in more than 40 countries on five continents. At K-State he initiated the international workshop on rapid methods and automation in microbiology in 1981, a workshop that has attracted more than 1,500 scientists from 45 countries. He is also a consultant to the food industry and microbiological diagnostic companies.
Fung received his bachelor's degree from the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan in 1965, his master's degree from the University of North Carolina in 1967, and his doctorate from Iowa State University in 1969. He has been with K-State since 1978. He is a member of 15 professional societies including the American Society for Microbiology and the Institute of Food Technologists, where he has held active leadership roles.
Fung has received numerous awards throughout his career including the 1997 Harold Macy Food Science and Technology Award from the Minnesota Section of the Institute of Food Technologists and the 1997 Institute of Food Technologists International Award. In 1995, he was named a Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists and in 1998 he was elected a Fellow of the newly formed International Academy of Food Science and Technology.
CURTIS L. KASTNERProfessor of animal sciences and industryDirector, Food Science Institutehttp://foodsci.k-state.edu
Curtis L. Kastner is director of the Food Science Institute at Kansas State University. He has served as a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's national advisory committee on meat and poultry inspection, and is research team co-leader of a USDA-funded project designed to develop rapid, automated hazard detection techniques and processing techniques to enhance meat safety. He is currently the principal investigator on a new interdisciplinary food safety as well as food security initiative. He has also studied the feasibility of developing value-enhanced meat products.
Kastner received his bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctorate in food science from Oklahoma State University. He has been with K-State since 1975 and has served as research coordinator and associate head for the department of animal sciences and industry.
He has received the Outstanding Faculty Award (1982), Phi Kappa Phi Scholar Award (1986), Phi Tau Sigma Outstanding Food Scientist Award (1993), the Gamma Sigma Delta Research Award of Merit (1996), and Distinguished Faculty Award (2000), was named a National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Fellow in 1985 and was named the Advanced Degree Graduate of Distinction Award at Oklahoma State University (2000).
Kastner is a member of the American Society of Animal Science, the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists, the Institute of Food Technologists, Society of the Sigma Xi, Gamma Sigma Delta, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Tau Sigma, Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, American Meat Science Association, National Alliance for Food Safety and Security, and the Beef Industry Food Safety Council.
JAMES MARSDENRegents Distinguished Professor of animal sciences
If beef is what's for dinner, you can thank James Marsden, regents distinguished professor of animal sciences at Kansas State University, for a virus-free meal. Marsden has made a number of breakthroughs in meat safety, and has earned a reputation as one of the nation's foremost food safety experts. His research has helped develop steam pasteurization for meat, and irradiation as a method for killing E. coli.
Marsden has extensive research experience with food pathogens, and is author of some 80 publications and presentations in the areas of rheology, food safety, public health, meat science, processed meat technology, microbiology and quality management.
He is a member of the Society of the Sigma Xi National Research Fraternity, the Institute of Food Technologists, the American Society for Microbiology, the American Meat Science Association, the American Society for Quality Control, the American Society of Animal Science, and several other professional organizations.
Marsden received his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in food science from Oklahoma State University. He came to K-State in 1994.
Douglas Powell Associate ProfessorDiagnostic Medicne Pathobiolog
The Food Safety Network, an online repository of food-safety related information, will now be operated from Kansas State University in conjunction with the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Doug Powell, the network's creator and a food scientist, has joined K-State as an associate professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine's department of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology.
Powell started the Food Safety Network at the University of Guelph in 1994 and operated it from the school for 11 years.
The Food Safety Network Web site provides commentary, policy evaluation and public information on food safety issues "from farm to fork." In addition to maintaining the Web site, Powell gathers, edits and posts news articles each day on food safety-related issues through four electronic mail lists that are sent around the world twice each day. The four e-mail lists consist of the Food Safety Network, FSNet; Agriculture Network, AgNet; Animal Network, AnimalNet; and Functional Food Network, FFNet.
The articles are gleaned from wire services, as well as scientific and technology-related news releases that are searched daily through an electronic information provider. Many major metropolitan newspapers are searched manually as well. Powell said the information reaches people from 70 countries in academia, the food industry, government, agriculture and the public at large.
"We're really interested in having science make a difference in the world, and the way we do that is through information," Powell said. "The idea of the e-mail lists is not to say what's right or wrong, but to show what's in the news for public discussion on any given day."
Powell said the 300 news articles released through his lists each day reach about 12,000 direct subscribers and potentially millions more through re-distribution.
Powell also conducts research in risk assessment and analysis related to food safety.
His research evaluates whether food-safety information is having its intended effect of influencing the practices of consumers and those in the food industry.
Powell co-authored the 1997 book, "Mad Cows and Mother's Milk: The Perils of Poor Risk Communication," which explores case studies where institutions fail to communicate the scientific basis of high-profile risks in food safety. Among the cases discussed are the 1996 mad cow disease outbreak in Britain and the emergence of E. coli in hamburger at fast-food restaurants in the early 1990s.
Powell also serves on an advisory committee for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Avian Influenza on how to communicate risk.
Subscribing to any of the Food Safety Network e-mail lists is free and can be done at the Food Safety Network Web site, http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/en/
More information about Powell can be found at http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/523763/
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