Mission: The Food Safety Laboratory conducts basic and applied research in food microbiology, food technology, and state-of-the-art engineering technologies to improve the safety of food products (e.g., produce and muscle foods) while retaining the desired quality attributes. Research efforts address current priorities and specific problems expressed by federal regulatory agencies, the food industry, and consumers. The primary objectives are:

• Investigate methods and evaluate the survival and detection of foodborne pathogens in agricultural commodities.
• Develop intervention strategies to prevent bacterial pathogens from entering fresh and fresh-cut produce and other food products.
• Develop innovative instruments and sensors to measure attributes that are indicative of the postharvest safety and quality of agricultural commodities.
• Develop technologies for evaluating, improving, and maintaining the quality and safety of meat and meat products.

Questions? See the research projects and contact the scientists on each corresponding project team.

Questions about the lab may also be directed to Dr. Dan Shelton, Acting Research Leader for FSL.

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USDA-ARS Food Safety Laboratory
Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, MD 20705
Phone: 301-504-8400, Fax: 301-504-8438
www.ars.usda.gov/ba/foodsafetylab