Thought for Food
Researchers at The Center for Food Safety develop new ways to fight microbiological threats in our food
From studying the way light affects foodborne pathogens to designing innovative technology, researchers at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety (CFS) are on the front lines of food safety research.
CFS, which celebrates 30 years of research in 2023, is home to some of the world’s leading experts in food microbiology, embodying a variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise that help ensure the food you and your family eat is as safe as it can be.
Francisco Diez, professor and director of CFS, studies antimicrobial blue light.
Shining a light on safer foods
Blue light technology is changing the way we think about our health. Currently marketed for use in applications from teeth whitening to controlling the spread of infections in hospitals, CFS researchers are investigating ways it can help make food safer.
Antimicrobial blue light (aBL) technology relies on cost-effective LED lights and is believed to work similarly to the way that visible light, such as sunlight, works on foodborne pathogens, said CFS Director Francisco Diez. Initial findings have shown “consistent killing of Listeria monocytogenes’ cells in liquid cultures, on inert surfaces and biofilms using different blue light wavelengths and doses,” said Diez.
CFS researchers are investigating the use of aBL in food processing facilities to sterilize hard-to-reach places that can harbor biofilms — clusters of organisms like bacteria — that can be difficult to eliminate. Viruses such as norovirus can also persist in these areas and can survive on various surfaces for prolonged periods.
Researcher Hendrik den Bakker stands in front of an image showing the genomic connections between different Listeria isolates.
Researcher Hendrik den Bakker stands in front of an image showing the genomic connections between different Listeria isolates.
The future of food safety
Located at the cross section of microbiology and big data, three CFS faculty members who make up the Food Safety Informatics Group combine their knowledge of food safety and computer expertise to create the future of food safety.
Established in 2017, the team includes Xiangyu Deng, Hendrik den Bakker and CDC bioinformatician Lee Katz, who interpret massive quantities of data, whether from investigations into illness outbreaks or the day-to-day operations in food processing facilities. Using software that looks for patterns, the researchers process “big data” information to help agencies that regulate food safety and industries that process food to develop better ways of protecting the food supply.
Deng developed software called SeqSero2 that uses whole-genome sequencing to determine the serotype of Salmonella involved in any given outbreak in only a few seconds, a process that previously could take up to three days. Building on that, den Bakker wrote read-classifier software called Sepia that helps quickly sort through the multitudes of microorganisms found in a sample to determine what types of bacteria and viruses are present.
In a study featured in American Society for Microbiology journals, Deng and den Bakker led an extensive genomic survey of sanitizer tolerance in Listeria, showing how big data could guide sanitation practices in food processing.
CFS researchers help educate stakeholders on how this work can lead to a safer food supply by serving as a resource to cross-reference food safety information for both corporations and government regulators.
Doctoral student Jouman Hassan and researcher Issmat Kassem collect agricultural water samples.
Could your food make you more vulnerable to infection?
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when pathogens that make us ill, such as bacteria or viruses, evolve and become less responsive to medical treatment. These antimicrobial-resistant pathogens also spread via the food chain.
Imports and exports of food can lead to an increase in antimicrobial resistance by spreading the genes that cause antibiotics to be less effective. One such gene is mobilized colistin resistance, or MCR, and CFS researcher Issmat Kassem has spent his career tracking it.
MCR threatens one of the world’s most important antibiotics, colistin, by making it less effective. Colistin is known as a last-resort antibiotic, used when other antibiotics fail. If it becomes less effective — or ineffective — patients are at greater risk of serious health implications.
There is no place on Earth that is unaffected by antimicrobial resistance. Kassem has uncovered MCR from Asia to the state of Georgia and studied its spread in refugee camps, irrigation and surface waters, poultry farms and domesticated animals, and aquaculture and fresh produce.
“Even in the Arctic, it is believed that humans or wildlife might have introduced antimicrobial resistance genes there that were first detected in India,” Kassem said. “Science at its best, for me, is a tool of change. The global implications are positive for everyone.”
Associate Professor Xiangyu Deng developed software that uses whole-genome sequencing to determine the serotype of Salmonella involved in any given outbreak in only a few seconds instead of up to three days.
Associate Professor Xiangyu Deng developed software that uses whole-genome sequencing to determine the serotype of Salmonella involved in any given outbreak in only a few seconds instead of up to three days.
Key partnerships
A linchpin of the center’s success is the relationship it has built with public health officials and the food industry, which plays a key role in keeping foods safe by implementing the prevention strategies uncovered by researchers and by doing their own surveillance and investigations.
CFS was established in 1993 as the Center for Food Safety and Quality Enhancement and would undergo many changes over the years, including a building expansion, a name change and a rebranding to focus more specifically on food microbiology. Since its inception, CFS has partnered with national and international industry members who make up the CFS Board of Advisors and provide unrestricted gift funding for food safety research.
Established by the center’s first director, world-renowned microbiologist Michael Doyle, the center’s annual meeting brings food safety experts from all arenas together in an informal setting to discuss the most pressing issues facing the industry and the public.
“The Center for Food Safety’s annual meeting continues to be an important forum for bringing together industry, academics and government public health agencies to address food safety in a way that would be difficult to do otherwise,” Doyle said.
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