The Center for Produce Safety at the University of California, Davis, today announced ten new grant awards for research directed at answering critical questions in specific areas of food safety practices for fruit, vegetable and tree nut production, harvest and post-harvest handling. The objective is to provide the produce industry with practical, translatable research data that can be used at all levels of the supply chain.
The broad range of the projects reflects the commitment of CPS's Partners in Research, which include a cross section of public and private partners. To date CPS has funded 69 projects valued at $10.6 million. The new awards resulted from the CPS request for proposals issued in February. The awards were made possible by funds provided by PIR members and contributors to the CPS Campaign for Research. The grants go to:
To date CPS has funded 69 projects valued at $10.6 million. The new awards resulted from the CPS request for proposals issued in February. The awards were made possible by funds provided by PIR members and contributors to the CPS Campaign for Research.
California Department of Food and Agriculture www.cdfa.ca.gov
Washington State Department of Agriculture www.agr.wa.gov
California Cantaloupe Advisory Board www.cmrb.org
California Leafy Greens Research Program www.calgreens.org
California Melon Research Board www.cmrb.org
CPS Campaign for Research http:/cps.ucdavis.edu
Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission http://www.treefruitresearch.com
"The research being conducted at CPS is applicable to all points of the supply chain - farmers, shippers, handlers and consumers. CPS's collaboration with its Partners in Research demonstrates what is possible when we work together to share knowledge to help keep fresh produce safe," says Stephen Patricio, CPS Advisory Board chairman. "I encourage industry stakeholders to fund the Center for Produce Safety research program to continue filling knowledge gaps."
The CPS Technical Committee reviewed 50 proposals, the highest number of proposals received in response to its annual request for proposals since the initial RFP in 2008. Research work on these new projects will begin in January 2013:
*Reducing the risk for transfer of zoonotic foodborne pathogens from domestic and wild animals to vegetable crops in the southwest desert. Michele Jay-Russell, University of California, Davis
*Assessment of sanitation techniques for tree fruit storage bins.
Karen Killinger. Washington State University
*Rapid assessment of oxidative stress induced in microbes to evaluate efficacy of sanitizers in wash water.
Nitin Nitin, University of California, Davis
*Practical validation of surface pasteurization of netted melons.
Trevor Suslow, University of California, Davis
*Avirulent Salmonella strains and their use to model behavior of the pathogen in water, composts, in and on vegetables.
Max Teplitski, University of Florida
*Die-off rates of human pathogens in manure amended soil under natural climatic conditions using novel sentinel chamber system.
Keith Warriner, University of Guelph
*Genomic elucidation of the physiological state of enteric pathogens on pre-harvest lettuce.
Martin Wiedmann, Cornell University
*Science-based evaluation of risks associated with wildlife exposure for contamination of irrigation water.
Salmonella. Anita Wright, University of Florida
*Evaluation of the level of white-tailed deer fecal colonization by E. coli O157:H7 and the ecological role of dung beetles with the pathogen in produce farms.
Vivian Wu, University of Maine
*Novel coating systems with sustained release of food antimicrobials to improve safety of cantaloupe.
Qixin Zhong, University of Tennessee