A Food Safety Research and Response Network has been created by 50 researchers from 18 colleges, including North Carolina State University.
The Network, funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was formed to share knowledge and findings in order to more efficiently process information about food safety and processing. Research is being conducted on toxoplasma, a parasite that can infect cattle, says Patricia Conrad, a professor in the pathology, University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Disease-causing microbes such as E coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter will be studied to determine their occurrence, sustainability and propensity to infect livestock.
“Food safety and processing is much more diverse than simply inspecting animals in slaughterhouses,” Conrad says. “The new food-safety network is important in order to find a way of assuring the purest water and food and are not infected with disease-causing agents.”