Science Platforms > Research at NCFST

The National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST), founded in 1988, is a unique food research consortium of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and the food industry.

The FDA established NCFST to serve as a link to the food and food-related industries and to house the CFSAN Division of Food Processing Science and Technology. NCFST is the one place where industry can work collaboratively on projects with FDA scientists on food safety and technology research.

Membership in NCFST allows companies to gain early insight into emerging food safety issues and health promoting foods trends from the CFSAN perspective and to assess the safety of new technologies that may be important for innovation. This early collaboration with FDA may facilitate speed to market through the regulatory process.

World-class food industry research at NCFST is organized into four primary scientific platforms:

Processing and Packaging Platform

Investigation of the effects that processing and packaging steps have on the potential public health impact of foods in terms of food safety, quality, and nutrition.

  • Validation of novel technologies for sterilization, pasteurization and decontamination of dried ingredients and minimal processing of fresh produce
  • Use of Food Safety Objectives (FSOs) to facilitate regulatory approval and equivalency of novel processes
  • New technologies and tools for validating package integrity
  • Models for predicting migration of contaminants through packaging

Microbiology Platform

Generation of knowledge on the behavior of microorganisms in food and processing environments to improve food safety, quality, and public health.

  • Expert knowledge on Clostridium botulinum and other sporeformers
  • Expert knowledge on bacterial and viral pathogens
  • Risk management options for fresh produce
  • New molecular tools for studying microbial resistance
  • Sample preparation and detection techniques
  • Detection and decontamination methods for food defense, biological threat agents

Chemical Constituents and Allergens Platform

Generation of knowledge on chemical constituents for industry and regulators to make science-based decisions that influence food safety quality and public health.

  • Effects of processing on chemical contaminants and beneficial bioactives in foods
  • Detection and decontamination methods for food defense, chemical threat agents
  • Validation of procedures to prevent allergen cross-contact
  • Effect of processing on allergens

Health Promoting Foods Platform

Development of food based solutions for improving public health and reducing disease risk through science validating impact of health promoting foods on clinically relevant end-points.

  • Integrated approach to nutrition, food safety, and processing
  • Models for studying vascular health
  • Human clinical facilities for studying biochemical and functional end-points of chronic disease
  • Science for improving the adoption of dietary guidelines
  • Science validating in humans the beneficial effects of plant and dairy bioactives

The primary goal of these platforms is to develop projects based on stakeholders’ needs. Portfolios for each includes collaborative, leveraged and proprietary research and balances short- and long-term needs of industry members, the FDA and NCFST.

NCFST is well placed to facilitate innovation in the food industry through the assessment and validation of new technologies, especially new food safety and preservation technologies, aimed at delivering key consumer drivers of safety, health, freshness and convenience. NCFST also offers innovation in the area of nutrition research through science that validates
impact of health promoting foods on clinically relevant end-points.

If you would like to participate in the NCFST Research Program, we would like to invite you to become a member. For membership information, please contact: Catherine Nnoka

For brief descriptions of Past Collaborative Research, go to: