Advances in Food Science and Safety

A gene that causes bacteria to be resistant to one of the world’s most important antibiotics, colistin, has been detected in sewer water in Georgia. The presence of the MCR-9 gene is a major concern for public health because it causes antimicrobial resistance, a problem that the World Health Organization has declared “one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.”

At the University of Georgia, Faith Critzer’s research focuses primarily on food safety in fresh produce, and in particular, mitigation of the pathogens that can cause outbreaks of foodborne illness. Her expertise in this critical area of research earned her a position on the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Meeting on Microbiological Risk Assessment.

Interested in researching the science of chocolate in beautiful equatorial Ecuador? Applications are now open for scholarship funding to study cacao fermentation research in Ecuador with Jose Reyes, associate professor in the University of Georgia Department of Food Science and Technology, supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.