Food Science & Technology: Personnel

Willicam C. Hurst

Description of Research Interests

Postharvest technology of horticultural crops (fruits, nuts, vegetables). HACCP instruction/application for fruit/vegetable processing, fresh produce handling, and minimally processed produce. Statistical quality control instruction/application for the food industry.

Courses Taught

FDST 4090/6090-4090L/6090L: Food Quality Control
FDST(EHSC)(MIBO) 4320/6320-4320L/6320L:
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point in the Food Industry

Honors and Awards

Dr. William C. (Bill) Hurst is a professor in the Food Science and Technology Department at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia USA. Dr. Hurst is an accredited HACCP instructor and specializes in setting up educational food safety programs for various food commodity groups.

Beginning in 1999, he started the first internationally-attended HACCP certification short course for the fresh-cut produce industry and in 2001 held the first GAPS (Good Agricultural Practices) workshop for growers and packers of the fresh produce industry.

Since 1998, Dr. Hurst has been honored for his 20+ years of work with the food industry by the Southeastern Food Processors Association (SFPA), who have awarded an annual scholarship in his name to an outstanding UGA Food Science undergraduate student.

In 2000, he received the prestigious Technical Award from the International Fresh-Cut Produce Association (now United Fresh Produce Association) for his long service to this industry. Dr. Hurst received the 2004 D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Extension, the highest award granted to faculty in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia.

Selected Recent Publications

Akins, E. D., Harrison, M. A., Hurst, W. C.  2008.  Effect of washing practices on the microflora on Georgia-grown cantaloupes. J. Food Prot, 71, 46-51.

Hurst, William C. 2008. Two sections: Harvesting Curing and Storing (with Paul E. Sumner) and Food Safety Practices in the Onion Production Guide, Boyhan, George E., W. Terry Kelley, eds., 54 pp, UGA Extension Publication #B1198.

Simmons, Karen, Mark A. Harrison, William C. Hurst, Judy Harrison, Jeffrey Brecht, Keith Schneider, Amy Simonne and James Rushing. 2007. “Survey of Food Defense Practices in Produce Operations in the Southeast” in Food Protection Trends, Vol 17, No. 3, March 2007, pp. 134-183.

Hurst, W.C. 2007. “Quality Assurance and Safety Considerations for Fresh-cut Produce” in Acta Horticulturae 746, August 2007, pp. 115-122.

Hurst, W.C. 2006. “Harvest, Handling and Sanitation” chapter in Commercial Pepper Production, W. Terry Kelley and George Boyhan, eds. Extension Horticulture bulletin #1309.

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