Penn State Labs Work To Make Food Safer
(Continued from Page A 1)
now has 20 faculty members and
100 undergraduates. It is one of
the largest and best programs in
the nation.
Isolated outbreaks of food
borne illnesses and meat that is
recalled because of possible con
tamination send warnings
throughout the food industry. In
the last several months a mas
sive recall of taco shells was
issued because traces of a geneti
cally engineered corn that was
approved for animal feed but
not human consumption was al
leged to have appeared in the
shells.
Koushik Seetharaman ex
plained how biotechnology takes
a beneficial gene and puts it into
a seed such as corn so that less
chemicals are needed during the
growing season. This puts a new
gene into the food, a protein. Al
though initial findings showed
no ill side effects, two major con
cerns have come to the forefront
recently. Is it safe for human
consumption and is it environ
mentally safe?
Some people claimed to have
had an allergic reaction to
genetically engineered com.
And a few environmentalist
groups claimed negative impact
on the environment.
All Demirci explains that several methods to destroy
microorganisms are needed to ensure a safe food supply.
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According to Seetharam,
pollen can drift, depending on
the wind, and the genes can po
tentially combine with plants
growing under normal condi
tions. Once a gene enters a food,
it becomes part of it and cannot
be removed. “It’s a little like
gossip,” Seetharaman said, of
the impossibility of stopping the
gene that was initiated.
Tests failed to find any evi
dence that the genetically engi
neered food caused food allergy
reactions in those that con
sumed the shells, but their fears
caused concern that reactions
might not show up until 3-5
years later, when the protein
component builds up in the
body.
Cornell research had said that
the genetically engineered corn
was killing butterflies, but other
independent studies have not
found this correlation.
Technology must be looked at
carefully, and with it public edu
cation must precede and accom
pany the utilization of
technology. In the past, much of
technology was beneficial to
farmers, helping them to receive
higher yields and better growth.
Today technology must consider
how it will affect consumers,
Seetharam said.
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Dana McElroy, department of
food science, talked about public
perception on food safety and
extension’s component in edu
cating the public.
Luke Leborde, extension spe
cialist, works with food service
and food safety issues. His de
partment examines food pro
cessing.
He said that one well-known
pizza chain buys more mush
room in the state than any other
industry. The chain wants assur
ance that the mushrooms they
order are safe. They want to
know about the manure patho
gens.
The labs research methods of
killing pathogens without less
ening the flavor, appearance,
and nutrient content of the food.
Ali Demirci said the depart
ment of ag and biological engi
neering is working with low
heat sterilization of foods.
Although heat kills microorgan
ism, not all food can be heated.
Infrared processing, irradia
tion, and electoheating are some
of the methods researched.
Many consumers view irradi
ation as a new process, but
Catherine Cutter, department of
food sciences, said that irradia
tion has been around for more
than 100 years. In 1896, scien
tists discovered that uranium is
radioactive and within a few
years determined that the y-rays
could destroy bacteria in food.
FDA has approved the process
for some food additives but not
all food. During the 19605-19705,
1970s, a big thrust to implement
this method was spearheaded by
NASA in order to keep food safe
in space for long periods of time.
During the last 10 years,
much research is being done
with irradiation and the meat
industry. The method has
proven effective to kill patho
gens, but a higher cost is at
tached to the product because
food must be shipped to one of
five or six food irradiation facili
ties in the U.S. The food then
needs to be repackaged off-site
and shipped back for distribu
tion.
Several large meat packaging
companies are supposedly plan
ning to purchase irradiation
equipment soon in the hopes of
cutting the extra charges of
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shipping and handling. such as salmonella, E.coli, sta-
Irradiation will reduce and in phylococcus aureus, listeria
some circumstances eliminate monocytogenes, Campylobacter
pathogenic microorganisms (Turn to Page A 36)
Dana McElroy recommends that consumers with ques
tion on food safety, storage, and preparation check the
Penn State Food Safety Website http:/
foodsafety.cas.psu.edu.
Participants discuss the use of sensors used by Jo
seph Irudayaraj to determine food quality, microbial de
tection, and contaminant determination.
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