Our lab is interested in the development of scientifically valid intervention strategies that improve food safety and microbial quality. Through research, teaching, and extension, we work to develop interventions that: 1) mitigate cross-contamination and 2) enable targeted recognition of microbial spoilage potential and environmental persistence.
Mitigate cross-contamination
Cross-contamination of bacteria, fungi, or allergenic residues from surfaces into food can result in foodborne disease or premature product spoilage. But, developing interventions to prevent this from happening is challenging because food production environments are complex and highly variable. We look at interventions, like sanitation, as a process and use systems thinking, engineering tools, and leverage an applied understanding of food processing and connections with the industry to address this challenge.
Enable targeted recognition of microbial spoilage potential and persistence
Quality issues resulting from microbial food spoilage are a significant problem and contribute to waste, consumer dissatisfaction, and threaten brand protection. We work to enhance the industry’s control over spoilage biota and foodborne pathogens by leveraging molecular biology, genomics, and metagenomics to move the field beyond simplistic assessments. Our goal is to develop more user-friendly, rapid tools to increase our understanding of the risk of spoilage or environmental persistence.
