Grant Funds Feedlot Education for Fighting Pathogens

LUBBOCK, Texas ¯ Texas Tech University food-safety researchers are teaching feedlot personnel how to prevent harmful pathogens such as E. coli O157 and Salmonella from spreading through feed yards, thanks to a grant totaling almost $600,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Research conducted through the International Center for Food Industry Excellence (ICFIE) showed that by introducing relatively simple safeguards at critical junctures, feed yards may contain pathogen spread as they transport cattle for harvest. The faculty is currently developing and conducting a pre-harvest, food-safety demonstration project to relay this information to the cattle industry, which was made possible by another USDA grant.

"This grant will take our research out of the lab and get it to our end-users," said Mindy Brashears, director of the ICFIE. "Thanks to the USDA, this information is not limited to a journal article or a conference demonstration; the benefits can be passed to feed yards and, ultimately, consumers."

Funded as part of a $14 million grant package distributed by the USDA among 17 universities to improve U.S. food safety, the project will support three interrelated projects to locate information gaps in feed yards, provide field training and ensure that controls are successfully adopted.

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