Top Grant: U.S. Poultry Award to Center for Food Safety Targets Salmonella Detection

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Food safety researchers at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will pursue a project to rapidly detect the extent of Salmonella on poultry carcasses. The U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, through its USPOULTRY Harold E. Ford Foundation, has awarded a $55,775 grant for the project proposed by Steven C. Ricke, director of the Division’s Center for Food Safety, and Si Hong Park, a postdoctoral associate at the Center.  It was ranked number 1 out of only 5 funded from the pool of 32 full proposals that were submitted for this funding cycle out of 87 preproposals.

The one-year project will investigate the possibility of developing more rapid methods to obtain same-day data on Salmonella detection that will allow poultry processing facilities to potentially detect Salmonella sooner than with currently used methods. The proposal calls for developing polymerase chain reactions – technology that amplifies and modifies DNA sequences – to cover the full spectrum of possible Salmonella contamination.

“This research is part of a comprehensive effort to develop reliable rapid Salmonella detection in all phases of poultry production,” Ricke said. “More importantly, it would provide a means for the industry to design a preventative strategy at the processing plant that includes rapid and routine Salmonella analysis as part of control measures.”