Ricke to Be Keynote Speaker for Livestock Feed and Pet Food Safety Round Table

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Steven Ricke

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Steven C. Ricke, director of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Center for Food Safety, will be the keynote speaker at the Livestock Feed and Pet Food Safety Research Round Table on Aug. 13 at Kansas State University. The event is hosted by Kansas State's department of grain science and industry.

Ricke, who also holds the Donald (Buddy) Wray Endowed Chair in Food Safety, will speak on "Salmonella: Example of Academia, Industry and Government Collaboration to Improve Food Safety." His lecture is part of Kansas State's ADVANCE Distinguished Lecture Series sponsored by the university's Office for the Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering. The lecture series facilitates professional connections among women faculty members at Kansas State.

In his presentation, Ricke will note that research can be done to determine the environmental factors that are critical for survival of Salmonella. "Once these factors are well understood they can be modified to prevent the early establishment of Salmonella in food processing environments and limit survival under these conditions," Ricke said. "With new genetic tools and information now available on how growth and survival conditions influence virulence and pathogenic characteristics of Salmonella, this will lead to development of novel approaches for limiting Salmonella establishment in all phases of food and feed production."