Browse Food Safety Stories - Page 2

Though flour does not seem to be a raw ingredient, most flour is raw and is considered a "not-ready-to-eat" ingredient, meaning it should not be consumed uncooked. Flour is at risk of contamination with harmful bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella, pathogens that can cause foodborne illnesses in people who consume contaminated, raw flour.

Interest in preserving food can be driven by several factors, ranging from the pursuit of a hobby or recreational activity to continuing a family tradition to saving money. But does preserving food at home really save money? There are several variables involved, including the availability of raw materials such as produce and ingredients, equipment, resources and time.

When government officials need expert opinions, they often turn to academia for advice. The University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety has a long history of working with such entities to help ensure a safe global food supply, and its involvement in government matters deepened last fall when the center’s director participated in a high-profile review of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

According to the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety study, SARS-CoV-2 experimentally introduced onto berries remained infectious on frozen berries for at least a month. Refrigerating berries at 39 degrees Fahrenheit showed a 90% reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infectivity over the course of three days, as did washing berries before freezing.

Foodborne illnesses affect more than 600 million people each year worldwide. In 2018, the U.N. General Assembly established June 7 as World Food Safety Day to bring awareness of foodborne risks and “to celebrate the myriad benefits of safe food.”

As home canning season approaches, a University of Georgia food safety expert stressed the need for proper precautions to avoid foodborne illness. A recent death in Washington state was attributed to botulism, a toxin that is a byproduct of the heat-resistant spores of a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum that likely originated from a home-canned food.

Researchers from the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety and Department of Food Science and Technology are expanding their global networks to increase the safety of the global food supply in the U.S. and abroad. 

Researchers from the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety have developed software that functions as an important step in improving the accuracy of DNA sequence analysis when testing for microbial contamination.

Carla Schwan has been hired as an assistant professor and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension specialist in food safety and home food preservation in UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences. She is slated to get started January 2022.