FRI eNews provides updates on research and events at FRI and UW–Madison and other current food safety news. Click here to subscribe.
link Full ArticleFRI welcomes Kristin Schill, who will join FRI in January. Currently a research microbiologist at FDA, Kristin has broad experience in food safety research, genomic analysis, and pathogen testing. She received her PhD (working with FRI Executive Committee Member Eric Johnson) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her B.S. and M.S. in Microbiology and Food Science, respectively, at Iowa State University. With experience working with many foodborne pathogens, especially Clostridium botulinum, Kristin will work closely with Kathy Glass and the Applied Food Safety Lab and collaborate with the Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery Laboratory and Center for Dairy Research on food safety applications.
link Full ArticleFRI hires new microbiologist; Report says flies can transmit E. coli O157:H7 from cattle lots to nearby leafy greens
link Full ArticleResearch from the lab of FRI executive committee member Laura Knoll of the UW-Madison Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology has made a breakthrough that will spare a lot of felines from research. Dr. Knoll's team finally worked out why the parasite's sexual cycle only occurs in cats. It then used that knowledge to break the species barrier, allowing the parasite to complete its life cycle in mice for the first time.
link Full ArticleFRI executive committee member Jeri Barak is working with colleagues to study the microbiomes of tomato plants. They’re exploring how a plant’s genetics influence its microbiome and, in turn, how microbiomes may alter the behavior of pathogens. And they’re finding that the ability of plants to ward off diseases may also be a key component in protecting human health.
link Full ArticleFRI science writer Wendy Bedale wrote a summary of the September 2018 symposium, "Food Waste and Sustainability — Strategies to Improve Food Safety, Food Security," co-organized by the Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH) and FRI. The summary was published in the July/August 2019 issue of Food Protection Trends.
link Full ArticleRaw wheat commonly harbors pathogens; To salt, or not to salt?
link Full ArticleFRI Director Chuck Czuprynski was interviewed by Channel 27 News about the recent norovirus outbreak at La Hacienda in Madison.
link Full ArticleCongratulations to FRI executive committee member Jae-Hyuk You on receiving a UW2020 grant for research on ensuring global food safety by degrading aflatoxins. The goal of UW2020 is to stimulate and support cutting-edge, highly innovative and groundbreaking research at UW-Madison and to support acquisition of shared instruments or equipment that will foster significant advances in research.
FRI's Kathy Glass to be inducted into WI Meat Industry Hall of Fame; Food safety book chosen as UW Go Big Read selection
link Full ArticleOSI Group recently announced its support for the Food Research Institute. “We are pleased to add our support to the world class programs and faculty at FRI,” said Joe Holt, vice president for food safety and quality for OSI. “We look forward to collaboration with our industry partners to continue to enhance food safety.”
FRI also recently welcomed Plumrose USA as a sponsor. We appreciate all of our many sponsors, who provide crucial support that allows FRI to respond quickly to developing food safety issues.
FRI Associate Director and Distinguished Scientist Kathy Glass will be among those inducted into the Wisconsin Meat Industry Hall of Fame on May 3 at noon at the Dejope Residence Hall on the UW–Madison campus. The efforts of Dr. Glass over the course of her career have significantly improved the the safety of processed meats in the U.S.
link Full ArticleDeborah Blum’s “The Poison Squad: One Chemist’s Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century” is the 2019–20 Go Big Read selection. The book pays tribute to Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, known as "the father of the pure food and drug act." It’s thanks in large part to him and a little known group of research volunteers that the food we eat is safe. Keep up with related events and announcements on the Go Big Read website.
link Full ArticleRegistration open for FRI Spring Meeting; The late Mark Cook inducted into Poultry Industry Hall of Fame
link Full ArticleFRI Spring Meeting registration opens March 1; Consumers in 19 states were potentially exposed to drug-resistant brucellosis
link Full ArticleThe late Mark Cook was among five inductees added to the Poultry Industry Hall of Fame for 2019. Dr. Cook, an FRI executive committee member, was a world renowned leader in poultry science as both an investigator and as an instructor in campus courses and the Midwest Poultry Consortium Center of Excellence. He received numerous awards and honors for a lifetime of devoted service to the university and the poultry industry.
link Full ArticleWith leadership from FRI affiliate Anne Marie Singh (Associate Professor, Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology), UW Health University Hospital has become one the newest centers of excellence in the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) Clinical Network, a food allergy research collaborative comprising 33 leading research and clinical care facilities nationwide.
link Full ArticleFRI affiliated faculty JP van Pijkeren and his research team have unraveled a mechanism that explains how fructose triggers the production of viruses in the gut. When the gut symbiont Lactobacillus reuteri is exposed to a fructose-enriched diet, it produces acetic acid, which in turn triggers the production of viruses.
link Full ArticleFRESH seminars continue in March; Don't kiss your hedgehog this Valentine's Day
link Full ArticleCongratulations to FRI affiliated faculty Tu-Anh Huynh, who has received the New Innovator in Food and Ag Research Award from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR). The New Innovator Award provides the early investment needed to successfully launch a scientific career in food and agriculture. Award recipients were selected on a number of criteria, including scientific merit, innovation, and a demonstrated commitment to mentoring other young scientists.
link Full ArticleFRESH seminars continue Jan. 29; How does the government shutdown affect food safety?
link Full Article
