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Friday, September 1, 2006
FOOD SAFETY NETWORK CREATOR JOINS K-STATE
By Brennan Engle
The Food Safety Network, an online repository of food-safety related
information, will now be operated from Kansas State University in
conjunction with the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Doug Powell, the network's creator and a food scientist, has joined
K-State as an associate professor in the College of Veterinary
Medicine's department of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology.
Powell started the Food Safety Network at the University of Guelph in
1994 and operated it from the school for 11 years.
The Food Safety Network Web site provides commentary, policy evaluation
and public information on food safety issues "from farm to fork." In
addition to maintaining the Web site, Powell gathers, edits and posts
news articles each day on food safety-related issues through four
electronic mail lists that are sent around the world twice each day. The
four e-mail lists consist of the Food Safety Network, FSNet; Agriculture
Network, AgNet; Animal Network, AnimalNet; and Functional Food Network,
FFNet.
The articles are gleaned from wire services, as well as scientific and
technology-related news releases that are searched daily through an
electronic information provider. Many major metropolitan newspapers are
searched manually as well. Powell said the information reaches people
from 70 countries in academia, the food industry, government,
agriculture and the public at large.
"We're really interested in having science make a difference in the
world, and the way we do that is through information," Powell said. "The
idea of the e-mail lists is not to say what's right or wrong, but to
show what's in the news for public discussion on any given day."
Powell said the 300 news articles released through his lists each day
reach about 12,000 direct subscribers and potentially millions more
through re-distribution.
Justin Kastner, assistant professor of food safety and security at
K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine, studied under Powell while
pursuing his doctorate at the University of Guelph. Kastner said
Powell's expertise will enhance the university's goal of leading the
nation in the area of food safety and security. "Agricultural security,
biosecurity and food safety are institutional priorities across campus,
and Doug is a great addition to this team," Kastner said.
Powell also conducts research in risk assessment and analysis related to
food safety.
"I'm interested in anything to lower the incidence of food-borne
illness," he said. According to Powell, one in four people become ill
and 5,000 die from food-borne illness each year.
His research evaluates whether food-safety information is having its
intended effect of influencing the practices of consumers and those in
the food industry. "Human behavior is what we really focus on. We're
interested in places where people talk about food and handle food," he
said. This research often involves observing employees in retail food
establishments for proper hand washing and food handling.
"Doug really is a society and science scholar," Kastner said. "He looks
for ways to get inside the brains of restaurant workers, for instance,
to help them practice food safety properly."
Powell co-authored the 1997 book, "Mad Cows and Mother's Milk: The
Perils of Poor Risk Communication," which explores case studies where
institutions fail to communicate the scientific basis of high-profile
risks in food safety. Among the cases discussed are the 1996 mad cow
disease outbreak in Britain and the emergence of E. coli in hamburger at
fast-food restaurants in the early 1990s.
Powell also serves on an advisory committee for the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency on Avian Influenza on how to communicate risk.
Subscribing to any of the Food Safety Network e-mail lists is free and
can be done at the Food Safety Network Web site, http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/en/
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