Browse Food Safety Stories

On an unseasonably warm winter afternoon, three women armed with baskets and shears made their way along a nature trail in the woods of Pike County, Georgia. Peering into the underbrush, they stopped occasionally to examine spots of interest in and under the trees and around fallen logs and decaying stumps. A curious observer might wonder what they were searching for with such intent — unless they overheard the trio’s conversation. 

The career world is wide open for students at the University of Georgia, a life lesson third-year student Emily Harris learned as a food science major in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Harris plans to attend the UGA School of Law to pursue a degree in food regulation and law this fall, a unique path she discovered through classes in the Department of Food Science and Technology.

Georgia’s geographic diversity — from beaches and swamps to mountains and flatlands —makes the state an attractive place to live, but each region is vulnerable to weather-related emergencies year-round. When disasters strike, navigating the milieu of steps to recover and rebuild can be difficult. With a presence in all 159 Georgia counties, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is uniquely positioned to help communities prepare for and rebound from calamity.

Consider your favorite breakfast cereal, granola bar or other similar food, then imagine the production facility where it is made. If you picture large machines, conveyor belts and lots of moving parts, you get the gist of the environment. Keeping all these moving parts clean is of utmost concern to manufacturers, who spend considerable time and investment on food safety, making sure their production lines are free from harmful pathogens that may make consumers sick.

Consumers hold high standards for fresh food, which farmers aim to meet, but hot summer temperatures and long-haul deliveries can degrade quality even before produce makes it into stores. In a collaborative study, Angelos Deltsidis, assistant professor of horticulture in the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, teamed up with UGA Cooperative Extension agents to improve upon a decades-old method of precooling to increase efficiency and reduce postharvest losses along the value chain.

Though flour does not seem to be a raw ingredient, most flour is raw and is considered a "not-ready-to-eat" ingredient, meaning it should not be consumed uncooked. Flour is at risk of contamination with harmful bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella, pathogens that can cause foodborne illnesses in people who consume contaminated, raw flour.

Interest in preserving food can be driven by several factors, ranging from the pursuit of a hobby or recreational activity to continuing a family tradition to saving money. But does preserving food at home really save money? There are several variables involved, including the availability of raw materials such as produce and ingredients, equipment, resources and time.

When government officials need expert opinions, they often turn to academia for advice. The University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety has a long history of working with such entities to help ensure a safe global food supply, and its involvement in government matters deepened last fall when the center’s director participated in a high-profile review of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

According to the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety study, SARS-CoV-2 experimentally introduced onto berries remained infectious on frozen berries for at least a month. Refrigerating berries at 39 degrees Fahrenheit showed a 90% reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infectivity over the course of three days, as did washing berries before freezing.

Foodborne illnesses affect more than 600 million people each year worldwide. In 2018, the U.N. General Assembly established June 7 as World Food Safety Day to bring awareness of foodborne risks and “to celebrate the myriad benefits of safe food.”