Faculty and staff within the Texas A&M University System are eligible for membership with the Center for Food Safety, while individuals from outside TAMUS may hold adjunct membership. Members are expected to contribute to the mission of the CFS. Examples of participation include teaching food safety lectures, laboratories or workshops, conducting food safety research, regular attendance at or presentations at CFS seminars, symposia or meetings, outreach or Extension activities consistent with the CFS’ missions or other activities determined to be important to the CFS mission by the Executive Committee.
Current Members
- Food microbiology
- Foodborne pathogens
- Microbiological safety and quality of food
- Process control (HACCP)
- Validation of process control
- Since 2002, Dr. Anciso has been the Extension Vegetable Specialist for the 21 county area of District 12 which stretches from Brownsville to Eagle Pass. His responsibilities include vegetable production and on-farm food safety.
- He had coordinated the IPM program for citrus and vegetable pests as the IPM Agent for Hidalgo and Cameron counties from the Hidalgo County Extension office from 1989 thru 2002.
- Dr. Anciso has written several scientific and popular articles on vegetable pest management and on-farm food safety. He attends the annual USDA IR-4 Food Use Workshop as the plant pathology representative for Texas. He also represents Texas on the National Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) committee, Produce Safety Alliance and United Fresh National GAPs Harmonization effort that addresses GAPs food safety in produce.
- Study the effect of decontamination process technologies on product quality and shelf-life (experience with eggs, poultry, fresh fruits and vegetables, and nuts).
- Predictive microbiology to optimize impact of decontamination strategies.
- Application of electron beam irradiation as an intervention strategy for pathogen decontamination.
- Development of technology for controlling bacterial pathogens in fresh and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables
- Reduction of pathogens on fresh beef
- Use of electron beam irradiation for food safety purposes
- Diagnostic pathology of domestic animals
- Red meat and avian pathology at slaughter
- Biowaste disposal
- Feedlot experience and research
- Development of novel food processing technologies to ensure food safety using nanotechnology approaches.
- Synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles for delivery of antimicrobials in food systems (food products and food contact surfaces).
- Received a $256,500 grant from TDA to develop GAPs for fresh produce in Texas
- Hold annual workshops to train and certify producers, growers, shippers, packers, etc., in the latest issues and topics on food safety
- Developed a website on food safety (agrilifefoodsafety.tamu.edu)
- A Produce Safety in Texas Training Manual. Anciso, J. and J. Masabni. October 2009. Available at agrilifebookstore.org ($30)
- Dosiemtry study for accurate food irradiation
- Develop a dosimetry methodology using CT Scan and Monte Carlo simulation to accurate predict dose distribution in complex shaped food products
- D10 values evaluation for irradiated fresh fruits and vegetables
- Evaluation of the effect of produce type, resuspension medium, dose uniformity ration (DUR), and sample preparation conditions (tissue exposure, MAP, anoxia) on the D10-value of Escherichia coli cocktail (BAA-1427, BAA-1428, and BAA-1430) and Salmonella Typhimurium LT2 inoculated on the surfaces of tomato, cantaloupe, romaine lettuce and baby spinach.
- Radio-sensitization studies using different gases and natural antimicrobials to reduce microorganisms resistance to ionizing radiation.
- Food safety in distribution
- Optimizing food supply chains for safety and efficiency
- Traceability and monitoring in cold chains
- Collaboration in global food supply chains
- Creating sampling plans, monitoring process variability and process control
- Experimental design
- Developing and validating molecular detection and characterization technologies for microbial pathogens
- Developing sample collection and concentration technologies for pathogens in natural and man-made ecosystems
- Developing intervention strategies against pathogens in natural and man-made ecosystems
- Developing E-Beam and X-ray pasteurization and sterilization solutions for the food, feed, water, and medical industries
- Technical consultancy in food safety and environmental microbiology
- Expertise in eliciting people’s perceived risks of contaminants in water and food using a variety of approaches
- Worked to integrate people’s risk perceptions in a host of contexts into important behaviors that they choose to undertake. For example, in a project for EPA, Dr. Shaw explored how risk perceptions of arsenic in drinking water play a role in decisions to drink bottled water.
- Undertaken recent work on the perceived risks of the presence of pesticide residues in apples in rural areas of Italy.
- Published work on how young people make decisions to choose healthy foods, depending on the degree to which health benefits that reduce long-term risks range from completely uncertain, to being depicted with a high degree of accuracy.
- Analysis and characterization of chemical and biological food antimicrobials for foodborne pathogen inhibition, inactivation and preservation of microbiological food safety;
- Investication into non-molecular mechanisms of food antimicrobial inhibition of microbial pathogens, including evaluation of antimicrobial impacts on microbial membrane components;
- completion of translational research evaluating the antimicrobial activity and pathogen-reducing capabilities of food antimicrobials or food process intervention technologies;
- characterization of physiological characterizations of emerging foodborne microbial pathogens (e.g., E. albertii)
- Development and application of methodologies that improve the tracing of foods and potential contaminants
- Facilitation of expanded use of chemical, isotopic and elemental tools
- Research targeting specific food products or compounds and their stable isotope variation
- Application of isoscapes (see http://isomap.org) to issues of food safety and control
- Source and authenticity of foods and food additives
Adjunct Members
Jane Broussard
Emergency Response Coordinator
Food & Drug Administration, Dallas District Office
Grand Prairie, TX
Dr. Marilyn Felkner
Emerging and Acute Infectious Disease Branch
Department of State Health Services
Austin, TX
Dr. Ranzell “Nick” Nickelson
Red Mesa Laboratory Services
Fort Worth, TX
Dr. Cynthia Sheffield
USDA, ARS, Southern Plains Research Center
Food & Feed Safety Research Unit
College Station, TX
Dr. Zoraida Alexandra Zea Gonzalez
Public Health School, Department of Sanitation
Central University of Venezuela, Caracas