Within the past decade, food safety has been an increasing concern for consumers, retailers, and all production and processing areas of the food industry. An estimated 25-81 million cases of foodborne illness and an estimated 9000 deaths are associated with consumption of contaminated foods each year (1999 FDA Food Code). The increased awareness has promoted significant increases in food safety research and funding opportunities to do research. Most food safety research has focused on improving detection of foodborne hazards and understanding how they can be prevented and controlled.
There are several food safety research centers nationwide associated with academic institutions. With few exceptions, these centers are limited to agriculture faculty only, lack recognized multi-disciplinary strengths, and/or are linked to a specific commodity group. Currently, none of the university-based food safety centers include engineering as an essential component.
It is clear that engineering should be an integral component of food safety research. Engineering is necessary to develop physical and chemical mechanisms for detection of microbial and chemical hazards to the food supply. For example, the non-engineering scientist may understand what biological agent is present and at what level the agent needs to be detected in a food system. However, the non-engineering scientist may need collaboration with engineers to build the most effective and accurate system of measurement.
The expertise of engineers also becomes critical in process control. All foods are subject to several different processes from the farm gate to consumption. Each process affects food safety and quality. Engineers help to measure important parameters of process control and predict and/or control the effect of the processes on food safety and quality.
Purdue University has a long history of excellence for research and outreach in Agriculture, Engineering, and other related sciences. There are examples of collaborative food safety research teams at Purdue that involve scientists from each of these areas (see Appendix A). Within the past few years, in particular, multi-disciplinary team approaches have been more successful and more competitive in extramural research funding opportunities. Development of a formalized Center for Food Safety Engineering at Purdue will encourage multi-disciplinary team research approaches. Formation of the center will also explore different areas of food safety research that will lead to national and international recognition.
Forming research partnerships among agriculture, engineering, and related sciences is an important goal of the current "food safety engineering project" at Purdue University. The food safety engineering project involves a five year cooperative agreement with USDA-ARS to develop better methods of detection and prevention of biological and chemical foodborne contaminants. The cooperative agreement provides $7 million of funding ($1 million for first year, 1.5 million/yr for years 2-5) to support research and technology transfer. At Purdue, a competitive program has been developed for research, equipment, and graduate students to support the goals of the project. Most of the current projects that have been funded include collaboration among engineering and non-engineering scientists.
The funding for the food safety engineering project provides a unique opportunity for Purdue University to position themselves as a national leader in food safety research. The food safety engineering project provides an important multi-disciplinary research foundation. Most extramural food safety funding opportunities "highly encourage" or require a multi-disciplinary approach. Universities that have already established multi-disciplinary research teams will have a competitive advantage for funding. Furthermore, a multi-disciplinary approach including the "engineering component " will make Purdue University truly unique.
The primary goal of initiating multi-disciplinary research through the food safety engineering project is working well. Multi-disciplinary teams, which may not have otherwise been formed, are learning that this collaborative effort is an important step in advancing food safety research. This success should be used as an important stepping stone for fostering further collaboration and multi-disciplinary research through development of the proposed Center for Food Safety Engineering.
The mission of the Center for Food Safety Engineering is to develop new knowledge, technologies and systems for detection and prevention of chemical and microbial contamination of foods.
Through CFSE, Purdue University positions itself as a national leader in multi-disciplinary food safety research. Our multi-disciplinary approach, including a strong engineering component, makes Purdue University truly unique.