3.1: Reduce Food-Borne Illness

Provide Science-Based Knowledge on the Safe Production, Storage, Processing, and Handling of Plant and Animal Products and on the Detection and Control of Toxin-producing and/or Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi Parasites, Mycotoxins, Chemical Residues, and Plant Toxins So as To Assist Regulatory Agencies and the Food Industry in Reducing the Incidence of Foodborne Illnesses

Other Information:

Central to providing a safe food supply is preventing the contamination of food by pathogens, toxins, or chemical contaminants throughout production and distribution. Contamination of food can result from complex and diverse factors ranging across agricultural practices, ecological and environmental factors, manure use, water quality, weather, plant and animal genetics, industrial hygiene, storage and packaging, transportation, and food preparation. The safety of our food supply has long been a priority; the increased threat of intentional introduction has placed more emphasis on food safety in general and specifically on methods to prevent and detect contamination during processing and distribution. Basic applied and developmental science and resulting technologies and management practices are key to both preventing and detecting contamination of the food supply by microbial pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites), bacterial toxins, fungal toxins (mycotoxins), or chemical residues. Performance Measures: 3.1.1: Develop new on-farm preharvest systems, practices, and products to reduce pathogen and toxin contamination of animal- and plant-derived foods. Baseline: 2002 – Achieved development of some practices and products that reduce preharvest contamination of animal- and plant-derived food products, e.g., AF 36, the non-aflatoxin competitive fungus that prevents aflatoxin in cottonseed and a program for broiler growers that will reduce the contamination of broilers with Salmonella and Campylobacter. Target: 2007 – Develop practices and/or products that reduce preharvest contamination of two additional major animal- and plant-derived food products. 3.1.2: Develop and transfer to Federal agencies and the private sector systems that rapidly and accurately detect, identify, and differentiate the most critical and economically important foodborne microbial pathogens. Baseline: 2002 – Achieved various stages of sequencing and annotating the genomes for several different bacterial pathogens that will be used to develop these systems. Target: 2007 – Develop practices and/or products that reduce postharvest contamination of two additional major animal- and plant-derived food products.

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