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The goals of this project are to develop an international collaborative program in food safety in order to strengthen the capabilities of the University of Missouri (MU) in research, education, and outreach to meet the changing demands of a global economy on our food supply, specifically to combat the transmission of contaminated foods through the global food chain.
<P> We plan to pursue the following two specific objectives: <Ol> <LI> Enrich existing curricula in the Food Science program at MU with emerging food safety issues; develop an internet-based distance education course for students on food safety; develop a special Study Abroad course for graduate students on food safety; <LI>Build an internationally recognized food safety research and training program at MU and at Jiangnan University (JU) in China, which is beneficial to faculty and students of both universities; disseminate food safety knowledge and novel analytical techniques to US and Chinese faculty, students, and the food industry.
</OL>The project will address the priorities of the USDA ISE program of strengthening the global competence of faculty and students from MU in food safety through international collaborative research, education and outreach. The anticipated results and products include: well-rounded graduate students who will be trained in this project with a global perspective; enriched teaching and education curricula on emerging food safety issues and research papers and presentations; an enhanced collaboration with Chinese institutions and a model that can be followed by other disciplines.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: There has been mounting concern in recent years about intentional adulteration of imported foods and food ingredients coming into the United States through the global food chain. Therefore, there is an urgent need for international collaborative efforts to address these food safety issues by enhancing international collaboration in food safety education and research. In addition, existing curricula in food science should be updated and enriched with the latest food safety information and new elements of food safety practices. This project will address the aforementioned needs from different angles to meet the priority under the USDA ISE program of strengthening the global competence of students and faculty in agricultural and food science and enhance the capabilities of colleges and universities to conduct collaborative research with other countries.
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APPROACH: We will enrich existing courses meant to address the needs. New teaching materials will be developed to augment and update existing food science courses for training future food scientists. Selected existing key graduate and undergraduate courses in food science will be infused with international content on safety issues specific to imported foods. We also aim to develop a new online distance education course which will be accessible to students and faculty at MU as well as students from other U.S. and even international institutions. Together with JU, we will build an internationally recognized food safety research and training program with an emphasis placed on field trips, on-site lectures, and short-term research projects. Highly motivated graduate students will be selected and trained to participate in this project. The student team will be composed of several MS or PhD students in Food Science from MU and JU to conduct collaborative research projects related to emerging food safety issues. MU and JU graduate students will work together to develop novel analytical techniques for rapid and accurate detection of food contaminants implicated in emerging food safety issues. Returning faculty and students will organize workshops and seminars, compile and publish papers to share food safety knowledge and international experience with US students, food safety experts, government regulators, and the food industry.