Two Calif. Research Projects
Awarded CPS Grants
Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli, Executive Director of the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) at the UC Davis, announced sixteen new grant awards valued at $3 million. The research awards are directed at answering critical questions in specific areas of:
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| Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli |
- food safety practices for fruit, vegetable and tree nut production
- pre-harvest, harvest and post-harvest handling
- co-management of food safety and the environment.
The objective is to provide the produce industry with practical, translatable research data that can be used at all levels of the supply chain.
The broad range of the projects reflects the commitment of CPS’s Partners in Research (PIR), a cross section of public and private partners. Contributing partners for these projects are:
- California Department of Food and Agriculture
- California Cantaloupe Advisory Board
- California Melon Research Board
- California Leafy Greens Research Program
- Western Center for Food Safety
- California Pistachio Research Board
- CPS Campaign for Research.
Two of the sixteen research projects include California researchers:
Linda Harris, University of California, Davis
Assessing postharvest food safety risks and identifying mitigation strategies for foodborne pathogens in pistachios.
Trevor Suslow, University of California, Davis
Remediation and recovery measures to expedite planting or replanting of vegetables following soil contamination by Salmonella enterica.
Research work on these projects will commence in January 2014.
“Each year, submissions to the RFP grow,” said Stephen Patricio, chairman for the CPS Board of Directors. The CPS Technical Committee reviewed 55 proposals, the highest number of proposals received since the initial RFP in 2008. To date, CPS has funded 85 projects valued at $13.6 million.
