Advances in Food Science and Safety

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.

The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension’s novel Master Forager program has spots available for curious Georgians interested in learning how to safely harvest and use herbs, fungi and more. The first class for the program, which begins Aug. 24, will be held at the UGA Research and Education Garden in Griffin, Georgia.

Researchers at the University of Georgia are developing a new way to detect potentially deadly Listeria contamination in food. Listeriosis, an infection caused by eating food contaminated by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, can cause severe illness in pregnant women, newborns, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems.