Detection and Food Safety
BRYAN CHIN, DIRECTOR
Food safety is a national priority that affects every man, woman and child. As many as 48 million Americans become ill annually due to foodborne pathogens and toxins. The Center for Disease Control's estimates indicate that as many as 3,000 of these individuals will die, with an additional 128,000 being hospitalized as a result of this exposure.
At the core of the Auburn University Detection and Food Safety Center are researchers from five Auburn University colleges: Agriculture, Engineering, Human Sciences, Sciences and Mathematics, and Veterinary Medicine. Our core researchers, along with the help of colleagues, staff and students from these and other disciplines, work together to address the need for next-generation sensors and information systems for the detection of food contamination, and rapid inventory and traceability of food products. To accomplish this, AUDFS is combining advances in the identification of foodborne illnesses and contaminants with the latest in biosensor technology. These efforts will ultimately lead to a system that monitors food products from production to consumption, thereby eliminating or reducing significantly the threat of foodborne bacteria, pathogens and toxins (i.e. Salmonella, E. coli, "mad-cow disease," et cetera) reaching our dinner tables and restaurants.
Center research is funded through several funding streams, including special university funding through the Peaks of Excellence program, federal agencies (including USDA, FDA and NSF), and food-related industries in the form of sponsored projects and industrial participation.
