Virginia Tech researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are examining how fresh pears change during storage, and how such knowledge can be used to keep food safety risks low over time.
To help growers mitigate food safety risks posed by wild birds, an ongoing study funded by the Center for Produce Safety is examining the prevalence of different species in agriculture and whether they carry and transmit foodborne pathogens.
A Center for Produce Safety-funded study is working to characterize the physiological changes that occur in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 (STEC) bacteria that is present on romaine lettuce during postharvest cooling and refrigerated transport to processors, which could affect the pathogen’s virulence and detectability characteristics. The end goal of the research is to develop an easily accessible online tool for industry that identifies practices to mitigate the risks of STEC transmission via romaine lettuce.
Two studies funded by the Center for Produce Safety aim to identify production practices that may contribute to Salmonella contamination of bulb onions and food safety control strategies for the commodity.
The Center for Produce Safety (CPS) has funded 14 new research projects that will help answer the fresh produce industry’s most urgent food safety questions related to leafy greens, stone fruit, pears, foodborne pathogens, indoor farming, and other topics.
The Center for Produce Safety (CPS) has published a summary of the 2022 CPS Symposium, highlighting several crucial food safety findings related to Cyclospora, Listeria, biofilm control, sanitization methods, and more.
The Center for Produce Safety has already made $5 million in progress towards its $15 million financial goal. The money will be used for produce-specific food safety research.
