Agriculture News

May 5, 2016  

Purdue researchers available to share expertise on listeria, food safety

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University has several experts who can talk to reporters about foodborne pathogens including listeria and on the general topic of food safety.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced a multistate outbreak of listeria that led to a recall of frozen fruits and vegetables and the hospitalization of at least eight people.

The centers said epidemiologic and laboratory evidence available at this time indicate that frozen vegetables produced by CRF Frozen Foods of Pasco, Washington, and sold under various brand names are one likely source of illness in the outbreak. About 358 of the company's consumer products, including frozen fruits, sold under 42 brands have been recalled. Recalled items were sold nationwide and in Canada.

Listeria can cause life-threatening illness.

Purdue sources available for interviews include:

* Haley Oliver, associate professor of food science. Oliver's research involves the persistence, prevalence and transmission of foodborne pathogens, especially listeria, in retail food systems and the development of intervention strategies to improve food safety in retail food operations.

CONTACT: 765-496-3913, hfoliver@purdue.edu

 

* Arun Bhunia, professor of food science. He recently led research involving a Purdue University-developed laser tool (BARDOT), already effective in quickly detecting harmful bacteria, that has been shown to detect mutant varieties of listeria - and in the same amount of time. See the news release at http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2016/Q2/laser-tool-effective-at-identifying-mutant-listeria-bacteria.html

CONTACT: Bhunia will have limited availability through May. He can best be reached via email at bhunia@purdue.edu.

 

* Amanda Deering, clinical assistant professor of food science. Deering's area of expertise is fresh produce food safety, and her research is in internalization of human pathogenic bacteria in plants and post-harvest sanitizers. She can comment on how fruits and vegetables can be contaminated and the sources of listeria.

CONTACT: 765-494-0512, adeering@purdue.edu

 

* Manpreet Singh, associate professor of food science. His research interests include pre- and post-harvest food safety and the impact of food processing on safety of foods; development and validation of novel intervention strategies to control foodborne pathogens in production and processing environments; application of rapid detection and identification methods for foodborne pathogens; prevalence and persistence of foodborne pathogens in production and processing environments; and stress responses including host-pathogen interactions and survival of foodborne pathogens in foods.

CONTACT: 765-494-0823, manpreet@purdue.edu
 

Writer: Keith Robinson, 765-494-2722, robins89@purdue.edu

Agricultural Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu
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