The Committee on Food Microbiology is committed to proactively improving the understanding and control of microbial food safety hazards to enable scientifically informed decision making.
The Food Microbiology Committee achieves its mission through supporting sound science, and fostering collaboration between academia, government, and industry.
How are research priorities identified?
In advance of setting priorities for each new research cycle, the committee and its scientific advisors hold a research roundtable with representatives from federal and international agencies. These include: the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Nutrition (CFSAN) and Office of Food and Veterinary Medicine; the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA); the European Food Safety Authority and; Health Canada. The objective of these roundtable discussions is to identify emerging food microbiology research needs considered critical to public health.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Conagra Brands
Deibel Labs
General Mills, Inc.
Kraft Heinz Company
Mondelēz International
National Dairy Council
ACADEMIC ADVISORS
Kathleen Glass, PhD, University of Wisconsin
Abby Snyder, PhD, Cornell University
GOVERNMENT LIAISONS
Kristina Barlow, MS, US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service
Heather Carleton, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Julie Kase, PhD, US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Jodi Williams, PhD, US Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Read our Op-Eds on Food Safety
- Keys to Understanding Food Recalls: What Every Consumer Should Know
- Dry Sanitation in Food Processing: Enhancing Safety for Low-Moisture Foods
- Hashtags and Hazards: The Dubious Influence of Social Media Trends on Food Safety
- Sharing Data to Protect Public Health: The Why, the What, and the How
- The Role of Data Sharing in Reducing Risky Foodborne Outbreaks
- A Melting Pot of Cultures—and Microbial Risks
Reference Strain Collection
Established in 2001 for Listeria monocytogenes isolates and housed at Cornell University, the Reference Strain Collection was expanded in 2006 to include the strain set and subtyping data that emerged from the committee’s Cronobacter (formerly Enterobacter) sakazakii projects. A 2008 expansion included the strains set of Salmonella resulting from the committee's Salmonella low-moisture projects. Isolates from the collection are available for a minimal charge to investigators around the world. This unique resource provides investigators with a standard set of isolates that improves comparison of research data. The Food Microbiology Committee continues to support the expansion of the strain collection.
Projects Supported by the Committee:
Publications
Evaluation of Bead-Based Assays for the Isolation of Foodborne Viruses from Low-Moisture Foods
Journal of Food Protection, 2020
Evaluation of the Impact of Skewness, Clustering, and Probe Sampling Plan on Aflatoxin Detection in Corn
Risk Analysis, 2021
Probe sampling plans for aflatoxin in corn attempt to reliably estimate concentrations in bulk corn given complications like skewed contamination distribution and hotspots. To evaluate and improve sampling plans, multiple sampling strategies were assessed by Monte Carlo simulation.
Identification of Novel Genes Mediating Survival of Salmonella on Low-Moisture Foods via Transposon Sequencing Analysis
Frontiers in Microbiology, 2020
Identification of novel genes mediating survival of the foodborne pathogen Salmonella on low-moisture foods via transposon sequencing analysis.
Inactivation of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes on Dried Fruit, Pistachio Nuts, Cornflakes and Chocolate Crumb Using a Peracetic Acid-Ethanol Based Sanitizer or Advanced Oxidation Process
International Journal of Food Microbiology, 2020
A study of the inactivation of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes on model low moisture foods.
Induction of the Viable-but-Nonculturable State in Salmonella Contaminating Dried Fruit
ASM Journals / Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2022
Salmonella is a leading foodborne pathogen globally causing numerous outbreaks of foodborne illnesses and remains the leading contributor to deaths attributed to foodborne disease in the United States and other industrialized nations. Therefore, efficient detection methods for Salmonella contaminating food are critical for public health and food safety. Culture-based microbiological methods are considered the gold standard for the detection and enumeration of Salmonella in food. Findings from this study suggest that unique stressors on dried fruit can induce the VBNC state in Salmonella, thus rendering it undetectable with culture-based methods even though the bacteria remain viable.
Events
No results.