University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Food Safety

Working to make food safer
For decades, the UGA Center for Food Safety has been one of the nation's leading research centers and an international leader for food safety and food microbiology research. The center's state-of-the-art facilities enable faculty to conduct cutting-edge research in food safety that benefits the food industry, government agencies and consumers. Scientists pursue scientific research that contributes valuable information to the food industry for solving problems related to foodborne pathogens, which in turn provides consumers with wholesome foods that have minimal risk to human health.
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Bioactive food components for human health. (2018) Quasi-metagenomics and realtime sequencing aided detection and subtyping of Salmonella enterica from food samples (2018) Methods Evaluation for Reduction of Foodborne Pathogens in Biofilm and RTE Meat (2017) Salmonella's Tolerance to Desiccation and Thermal Resistance under Dry Conditions (2017)
Quicker Identification
UGA scientist creates system to detect food pathogens in hours, not days
Quick, efficient pathogen detection and fingerprinting is essential and often lifesaving when it comes to preventing foodborne illness. University of Georgia food scientist Xiangyu Deng has created a system that can identify foodborne pathogens much quicker than traditional methods.

Food Safety Research News

As an assistant professor of food virology at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety in Griffin, Malak Esseili has been focused on studying the microbial ecology of human viral pathogens (such as human noroviruses), and now her work includes the emerging viral pathogen SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). CAES News
As an assistant professor of food virology at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety in Griffin, Malak Esseili has been focused on studying the microbial ecology of human viral pathogens (such as human noroviruses), and now her work includes the emerging viral pathogen SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).
UGA scientist leads coronavirus research on Griffin campus
When COVID-19 was identified, Malak Esseili stopped taking her children along on trips to the grocery store and she told her sisters to start wearing scarves as makeshift masks while in public. As an assistant professor of food virology at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety in Griffin, Esseili studied the emerging viral pathogen SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).
University of Georgia food scientist Yen-Con Hung has been named the first recipient of the Koehler-Ayers Professorship. CAES News
University of Georgia food scientist Yen-Con Hung has been named the first recipient of the Koehler-Ayers Professorship.
UGA food scientist Yen-Con Hung named first Koehler-Ayers Professor
University of Georgia food scientist Yen-Con Hung has been named the first recipient of the Koehler-Ayers Professorship.
CAES Greenhouse CAES News
CAES Greenhouse
CAES ranked No. 3 College for Agricultural Sciences in U.S. by Niche
The University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) is ranked third on the 2020 list of Best Colleges for Agricultural Sciences in the U.S. by rankings platform Niche.
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The UGA Center for Food Safety in Griffin, Ga. was established in 1993 with a mission of maintaining and improving the safety of foods through the development of methods that detect, control or eliminate pathogenic microorganisms or their toxins.

UGA Center for Food Safety