The searchable food safety research project database provides more than 1700 records with abstract, principal investigator, agency, funding information and more. The food safety research database is an ongoing effort providing users with information on research projects through the cooperation of government agencies, educational institutions and other organizations.

On this page... Submiting Research Project Information NAL Agricultural Thesaurus Food Safety Categories used in the Database Fields used in the Database

Submiting Research Project Information

To submit food safety research project information for inclusion in the Food Safety Research Database, please contact FSRIO using the Ask a Quesion form. Review the the database fields for more detail. Please supply as much information as possible. Back to top

NAL Agricultural Thesaurus

The research projects are assigned key words based on the Agricultural Thesaurus's controlled vocabulary. At this time, the Agricultural Thesaurus is not integrated with the search. Users may need to visit the thesaurus to find the proper key word to use while searching the FSRIO database. Go to the Agricultural Thesaurus The following is an example of the controlled vocabulary and how it is used to index projects. Example: A user types in the Key Word box "E. coli". The search result is zero (0). Why? The Agricultural Thesaurus does not allow for the use of "E. coli". Instead, it suggests that "Escherichia coli" be used as the key word to index projects describing research in this particular food safety topic. Back to top

Food Safety Categories used in the Database

Food and Food Products - included is research on a variety of plant and animal food products, such as: functional foods, potentially hazardous foods, perishable products, formed foods, reconstituted foods, baked goods, genetically modified foods, and precooked foods Food Composition and Characteristics - included is research on the chemical components of foods such as: nutrients, naturally occurring toxins, phytochemicals, and antinutritional factors Food Quality Characteristics - included is research on the properties of foods that influence their safety, composition, palatability and acceptability, such as: appearance, spoilage and off odors Food Handling and Processing - included is research on various aspects of food processing, food packaging, food preservation, food storage, postharvest treatment and food biotechnology On-Farm Food Safety - included is research on the food safety issues concerned with the health of food animals and food crops before slaughter or harvest such as: good agricultural practices, preslaughter treatment, and animal health Diseases and Poisonings - included is research on the foodborne and food-related illnesses that effect human health such as: bacterial and/or contagious diseases, mycotoxicoses, and food allergies Sanitation and Pathogen Control - included is research in the area of disease/quality control. Some of the terms included in this category include: hazard analysis and critical control points, microbial detection, and sanitation processes. Contaminants and Contamination - included is research on various sources of contamination, categories of contaminants and types of contamination such as chemical contaminants and residues, microbial contamination, packaging materials migration, and cross contamination Government Policy and Regulations - included is research on food safety-related government organizations, consumer protection, regulatory and public health issues, such as: grading, Food Safety and Inspection Service, postmortem inspection, and Codex Alimentarius Methodology and Quality Standards - included is research on techniques used to analyze foods and monitor quality such as: analytical kits, risk analysis, biosensors, and genetic analysis Human Health and Epidemiology - included is research on human health status, epidemiological concerns, and disease characteristics such as: toxicity, chronic health effects, biosafety, pesticide safety and handling, and disease vectors Education and Training - included is research on food safety related education and training activities, risk communication, consumer information, health education, and food service training Facilities and Sites - included is research on structures, businesses or other locations that have food safety or related concerns, such as: slaughterhouses, school food service operations, and street markets Pathogen Biology - included is research on biological mechanisms, host-pathogen interactions, and other factors that influence pathogen survival and virulence traits such as, microbial genetics, population dynamics, microbial ecology, and epidemiology Back to top

Fields used in the Database

Agency - the organization funding the research project; it can be a federal or state agency, educational institution, or private entity Title - research project title Number - project number as given by the funding agency Project type - describes the project funding such as a grant, cooperative agreement, private, or appropriated funds Start Date - research project expected start date End date - research project expected end date Funding - funding amount allocated to the research project Objective - purpose of the research project More Information - miscellaneous research project information, funding (actual dollar amount) or any other material that was obtained about the project State - location where research is conducted Annual Reports - project reports Cooperators - other organizations, agencies or institutions that are collaborating in the research effort Project PI - name of the principal investigator for the project or the designated contact PI Contact - contact information of the designated contact (content varies on certain agency projects)  PI Email - email address of the designated contact Publications - published articles related to the research project Back to top