Improve Food Safety for All Americans

Research to keep our food pure

Advancing the Detection Technologies of Salmonella in Foods

Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in Diverse Farming Systems, the Environment, and Variation According to Farming Practices

Photodegradation of Aflatoxins M1 and B1 in Highly Turbid Liquid Foods using Short Wave-length Ultraviolet

Sensory Profiling of Processed Liquid Foods

Advancing the Detection Technologies of Salmonella in Foods
 Dr. Fur-Chi Chen
Salmonella is the leading cause of deaths and hospitalizations related to foodborne illness. The reduction of the level of human illness from foodborne pathogens has significant economic importance. This project will focus on developing advanced new technologies that will address the priorities for improving food safety surveillance in the following two areas: (1) develop and validate novel concentration method for the rapid, low-cost, and efficient isolation of Salmonella from foods, and (2) develop and validate an automated biosensor method for the detection of Salmonella. Experiments will be conducted to develop a process incorporating physical and immunological separations and biochemical extraction as a means to concentrate Salmonella from two food matrixes and the biosensor method will be validated by two blind studies. The new biosensor technology will be promoted to the interested industry and government laboratories through exhibitions and onsite demonstrations. Adoption of the new technology will result in increased accuracy/sensitivity and reduced time/costs of food safety surveillance.

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Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in Diverse Farming Systems, the Environment, and Variation According to Farming Practices
 Dr. Agnes Kilonzo-Nthenge
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), both in human and veterinary medicine has reached alarming levels in most parts of the world and has now been recognized as a significant emerging threat to global public health and food security. Antibiotic resistance is one of our most serious health threats today. Antibiotic resistant genes and antibiotic resistant bacteria in agricultural soils may be enhanced by several management practices, including, the application of animal manures, wastewater, or waste treatment residues that contain antibiotic resistance genes. Even though the recognition that antibiotic use in food animals is an important contributor to human infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, there remains a significant need for scientific evidence and dependable data on prevalence and persistence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in food products and agro-ecosystems.Therefore, the long-term goal of this research is better understand the persistence, and distribution of antibiotic resistance factors among indicator and pathogenic bacteria from farms, fresh foods, and the environment. The specific objectives of this study are to: (1) determine the prevalence and correlation of antibiotic resistant Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, and Enterococcus on fresh produce from farms and farmers markets; (2) characterize multidrug-resistant bacteria in diverse animal farming systems, the environment, and variation according to farming practices; and (3) collect data on antimicrobial practices in cattle and poultry farms in the State of Tennessee. Samples will be collected from farms and Farmers" Markets and will; include fresh produce, soil, water, animal manure. The anticipated impacts and outcome of this project include (1) increased knowledge on multidrug-resistant bacteria in diverse animal farming systems including cattle, poultry, and goat farms and variation according to farming practices; (2) increased number of informed poultry and cattle producers; extension educators, and students positioned to recognize opportunities to interfere with transmission and persistence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in agricultural systems, (3) increased understanding on actual data on antimicrobial practices in cattle and poultry farms in the State of Tennessee; 4) increased student recruitment and training; (5) booklets and fact sheets prudent use of antibiotics; and (6) strengthening TSU labs capacity to identify bacteria and their antibiotic-resistance profiles agro-ecostyems.

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Photodegradation of Aflatoxins M1 and B1 in Highly Turbid Liquid Foods using Short Wave-length Ultraviolet
 Dr. Ankit Patras
Exposure to aflatoxins is known to cause both chronic and acute hepatocellular injury. While aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), aflatoxins B2 (AFB2) are found as contaminants in food derived from land farming, their metabolites (AFM1 and AFB1), occur as contaminants in food of animal origin including meat and milk. Thus, humans are at a high risk of getting exposed to different types of aflatoxins depending upon the type of foods being consumed by them. Of all the food-contaminating aflatoxins, AFB1 is usually the predominant mycotoxin and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified AFB1 in the most toxic group of carcinogens (Group 1), due to the association of AFB1 exposure to liver cancer (IARC 1993). High thermal stability of mycotoxins makes them resistant to high temperatures and increase the risk of exposure in the population. In fact, several techniques have been reported as means of reducing the levels of aflatoxins. These include; heating at high temperatures, use of radiation light grinding, washing, and use of adsorbents or chemicals. This is the first study which evaluates a medium pressure and low pressure lamps source to reduce AFM1 and AFB1 and assess the cytotoxicity of treated AFM1 and AFB1 in milk. In this proof of concept based study, a laboratory photo reactor (i.e. collimated beam) using a medium pressure lamp or low pressure lamp source will be used to reduce AFB1, AFM1 in milk. This study will investigate the effect of UV irradiation on aflatoxins degradation in milk and determines the effectiveness of UV irradiation treatment of in milk against aflatoxins-induced cytotoxicity for human hepatoma cell line (HepG2).

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Sensory Profiling of Processed Liquid Foods
 Dr. Ramasamy Ravi
Numerous methods to improve the measurement of human responses have been developed and keep getting better and better. Different methods provide different types of information. Hence so it is important to screen the methods, to identify and select the appropriate sensory methodology that provides more realistic human perceptions of the foods tested. Literature survey indicated that the detailed sensory analysis or profiling using advanced descriptive techniques are scanty. Appropriate sensory analysis method would reveal more insights on the product quality rather than just performing the consumer liking studies. In this investigation, we will analyze sensory quality of UV-C processed liquid foods using advanced descriptive sensory methods and techniques for better understanding of the treatments on the product quality.

 





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