USDA Awards $19 Million In Food-Safety Research Grants To Select Universities
By Melissa Lind, contributing writer
Funding grants have been announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The awarded money will go to 36 grantees at 29 universities to conduct research related to food safety.
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded nearly $19 million in grants to fund research to advance the safety of the food supply while maintaining competitiveness in American Agriculture. NIFA funding awards were made through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), which was authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill.
AFRI was enacted to support developments in agricultural science that address problems of “national, regional and multi-state” concern. AFRI issues funding for research in all areas of agriculture, including food safety and farm products. This year’s awards were issued in five food safety categories, the largest of which involves studies of pathogens resistance to antimicrobial agents in both animals and plant products.
Research programs in “Effective Mitigation Strategies For Antimicrobial Resistance” were granted a total of nearly $7 million, including $2.19 million to the University of Florida and $2.25 million to the University of Minnesota. Other recipients in this category included Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Washington State University, Colorado State University, Wake Forest University, and Texas A&M University.
The recent awards of $3 million for “Enhancing Food Safety Through Improved Processing Technologies” include Tennessee State University’s project focusing on innovation in irradiation, along with other recipients at the University of Arkansas, University of Maine, University of California-Davis, and Michigan State University.
“Improving Food Safety” grants totaled $4.5 million, including $979,761 awarded at Cornell University for the study of food pathogens attachment processes on produce. Additionally, five awards of $500 thousand were granted to to Emory University, University of South Florida, University of Hawaii, University of Minnesota, and UC-Davis. Other food-safety award recipients included the Ohio State University, North Dakota State University, University of Connecticut, University of Maine, and the University of Nevada-Reno.
Grants given to programs for “Improving Food Quality” included two awards totaling $861,714 to the University of Illinois, seven awards of over $400 thousand were given to UC-Davis, the University of Florida, West Virginia University, the University of Massachusetts, Purdue University, Michigan State University, and Iowa State University with additional awards given to the University of Idaho, University of Maine, and the University of Maryland. Finally, the Illinois Institute of Technology was given a grant for studies in “Identifying and Targeting Food Safety Needs.”
A complete list of this year's project descriptions is available on the NIFA website.