What could be more personal than the food you eat? The issue of food safety is as close as your next meal. Yet it covers such widespread challenges as food recalls and imports, the state's booming food processing industry, organic growers and school lunch programs.
The UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences stands guard to protect Georgia citizens with food safety research, education and information. Here is just a sample of the many ways CAES looks at this issue and acts to keep food safe.
Review these reports on food safety issues from CAES faculty in research, teaching and Extension. For more reports, visit the searchable database.
- Food Preservation and Food Safety
- Safety of Locally Grown Produce
- Washing treatment to inactivate E. coli
- Sale of raw milk
- Salmonella in home style mayonnaise
- Effectiveness of UV Light
- Salmonella in Chickens
- Salmonella and Campylobacter prevalence
- ServSafe Manager Certification Training
- Safety of Locally Grown Produce
- Sustainable Food Systems Initiative
- Reducing food safety risks at home
- Salmonella and Listeria in Deli Salads
- Antimicrobial Sprays to Sanitize Food Handling
- Salmonella Transfer and Survival on Tomatoes
- Food Safety for Urban Consumers
- Sanitizers Don't Stop Parasites
- Food Safety for Food Service
- Food Safety Manager Training
- Pathogens and toxins in food
- Safer Alfalfa Seeds
- Improving the Diets of Low-Income Families
- 4-H Helps Flood Victims
- Garden of Hope
- Salmonella in Poultry Farms
- Risk-benefit assessment in food processing
- Electrolyzed water to ensure food safety
- Starting a New Food Business
- Low-dose Irradiation of Processed Poultry
- Electrolyzed water for food safety
- All natural sanitizer in poultry processing
- Protecting Against Food Borne Illnesses
- Food Safety in the Peanut Industry
- Operation EATERY
Georgia FACES Articles
Here's just a sample of food safety issues in the news generated by the college. For the latest news, visit Georgia FACES.
Asian, American scientists work together for safer food supply
October 16, 2014 - A group of scientists from China, Taiwan and Japan traveled to south Georgia this week to share their work with University of Georgia researchers during the Seventh Annual Mini Summit on Food, Policy and the Environment. Cultural differences and thousands of miles separate the group, but they are unified in their primary concern — the safety of the world’s food supply.
Griffin-based scientist earns UGA's Creative Research Medal
April 25, 2014 - Walid Alali, a scientist with the University of Georgia Griffin Campus, has received the University of Georgia Creative Research Medal — an award presented to faculty who have conducted outstanding research within the past five years on a single topic.
Fight insects, buy resistant plants to keep diseases at bay
March 12, 2014 - The same fungal, bacteria and viral diseases that affect vegetable farmers can have the same detrimental impact on backyard gardeners’ spring and fall gardens.
Cleaner hands mean less colds, flus and illnesses
March 6, 2014 - Washing your hands is still touted as the most effective way to prevent the spread of diseases and illnesses like the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. University of Georgia Extension created Wash Your Paws, Georgia! to teach Georgians how to properly wash their hands
UGA's Doyle named National Academy of Inventors Fellow
January 27, 2014 - The National Academy of Inventors named Michael Doyle, University of Georgia Regent’s Professor of Food Microbiology and director of UGA’s Center for Food Safety in Griffin, Ga., to the 2013 class of NAI Fellows.
UGA experts say don't use real leaves to mold chocolate ones
December 10, 2013 - Using leaves from landscape plants to mold chocolate leaves for your holiday desserts may awe guests, but University of Georgia food safety specialists say it isn’t worth the health risks.
UGA study finds electrified water kills foodborne pathogens on beef
August 14, 2013 - University of Georgia researchers have used electrolyzed oxidizing water to sanitize poultry, kill funguses on nursery-grown plants and remove pathogens from produce. Now they’re using it to reduce shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) on beef.
UGA professor is distinguished agri-scientist
July 11, 2013 - University of Georgia Regents Professor of Food Microbiology Michael P. Doyle has been awarded the 2013 Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation Agriscience Award.
USAID grant to fund global UGA peanut research
May 3, 2013 - A $15 million grant from the U.S. Agency on International Development is giving a boost in funds to international peanut research at the University of Georgia.
AgrAbility helping farmers get back to work
May 2, 2013 - Richard Stanley’s work revolves around his livestock.
FDA to inspect cantaloupe packinghouses
April 8, 2013 - Cantaloupe packinghouses have been put on notice. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will conduct inspections with hopes of eliminating foodborne outbreaks traced back to the melons.
Grant funds UGA research on salmonella in ready-to-eat foods
November 29, 2012 - University of Georgia food scientist Joseph Frank has been awarded a $499,998 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine the risks associated with salmonella in dry and ready-to-eat foods.
UGA study finds essential-oil blend reduces salmonella contamination
November 7, 2012 - Oil and water may not mix, but a University of Georgia study has found feeding chickens a blend of plant-based oils in their drinking water can help prevent salmonella contamination before the meat reaches the dinner table, or even the grocery store.
Building a backyard flock takes some thought
July 26, 2012 - If your family is one of the many considering raising a flock of backyard chickens, there are a few things you may want to consider before you bring the birds home to roost.
Snails in the kale?
May 31, 2012 - Farmers markets offer the best of local, fresh produce throughout Georgia. But all those mouth-watering vegetables straight from the field sometimes come with slimy little surprises — bugs.
California BSE case proves food safety system works
April 26, 2012 - While the California dairy cow that tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, made national headlines this week, University of Georgia livestock and food safety experts say the real story is how well the nation’s food safety system worked.
On the Web
- Center for Food Safety
- College of Family and Consumer Sciences
- Department of Food Science and Technology
- Food Safety Resources