Penn State Live - State secretaries hold food safety hearing at Penn State

State secretaries hold food safety hearing at Penn State

Monday, November 17, 2008

University Park, Pa. -- The invisible nature of microbial pathogens means food inspectors need the latest detection technology to keep food safe for consumers, a researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences told state officials during a hearing on food-safety issues on Nov. 7 at the University Park campus.

Stephen Knabel, professor of food science, noted that because we cannot see how and where foods become contaminated, Penn State researchers are pioneering advanced DNA fingerprinting techniques, such as multi-virulence-locus sequence typing, which will help detect and identify dangerous pathogenic strains at points where they could enter the food supply.

"Scientists in our department have applied this new approach to Listeria monocytogenes and E. coliO157:H7 and are in the process of applying it to salmonella and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA," Knabel said. "We intend to use these methods to establish the routes by which these dangerous pathogenic strains are transmitted to foods and humans, which will then allow food industries in Pennsylvania to implement effective intervention strategies to prevent that from happening."

Knabel was part of a faculty panel that presented testimony as part of the Strategy for Agriculture and Food Excellence, or SAFE, initiative, a joint effort of the state departments of Agriculture and Health in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the state Office of Homeland Security. The SAFE initiative is a comprehensive plan to address food safety and security from the farm to the table.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff, acting Secretary of Health Everette James, and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Director Robert French visited Penn State on the second day of a four-part statewide tour, during which they learned about food safety and security strategies at food pantries, test kitchens and processing facilities. Their visit was part of the Department of Agriculture's sixth annual Harvest Tour, which is dedicated to the SAFE initiative.

The panel was moderated by John Floros, head of the Department of Food Science. Also presenting were:

--Luke LaBorde, associate professor of food science, who said that farm food-safety training has emerged as a critical issue facing growers, and Penn State Cooperative Extension is the ideal conveyor of this knowledge to agricultural producers.

--Catherine Cutter, associate professor of food science, and Martin Bucknavage, food safety extension associate, who explained the numerous methods the department has used to provide food-safety training programs to processors, manufacturers and servers for more than 30 years.

--Edward Dudley, assistant professor of food science, who discussed potential technologies for limiting E. coli O157:H7 contamination.

--Christopher Raines, assistant professor of meat science and technology, who talked about how locally produced and specialty products can benefit from quality-control programs such as Penn State's Milk and Dairy Beef Quality Assurance Program.

Other presenters included William Laychur, corporate executive chef, and Mark Kowalski, executive chef, both from Penn State Food Services.

For more information, contact Luke Laborde at (814) 863-2298, or by e-mail at lfl5@psu.edu.