FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Steven C. Ricke, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Arkansas System’s statewide Division of Agriculture, will deliver an invited presentation on the overall status of current Salmonella research on Oct. 28 at the Hot Topics in Food Microbiology conference in Gloucestershire, England.

The conference is sponsored by Campden BRI, a British firm that provides technical support to the food, beverage and allied industries.

Ricke will also serve as chair of the conference’s second day on Oct. 29.

“With new genetic tools and information now available, an in-depth approach on how environmental conditions might influence Salmonella prevalence during food production and processing has emerged,” Ricke said. “This has the potential for development of more effective antimicrobial approaches for limiting Salmonella establishment in all phases of food production.”

Ricke, who also holds the Wray Endowed Chair in Food Science at the university, has received the Poultry Science Association Research Award and the American Egg Board award. He has been named a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Faculty Fellow, received the Division of Agriculture-University of Arkansas John White Outstanding Research Award and is an International Scholar of Kyung Hee University, Suwon, South Korea.

He is currently a director-at-large and served as co-founder and former president of the Arkansas Association for Food Protection. His research program is primarily focused on virulence and pathogenic characteristics of foodborne Salmonella with emphasis on the growth, survival and pathogenesis of the organism under conditions encountered during food production and processing.