Food Safety and Toxicology

The food industry is an industry built on trust. The consuming public expects food products that they purchase to be safe, wholesome, and free from adulteration. This trust incentivizes consumers to purchase manufactured food products, as opposed to producing and making all foods at home. However, changing agricultural and manufacturing environments and practices require constant research in the area of food safety and toxicology in order to stay up-to-date. The BYU Food Science program has a BSL 2 certified microbial testing and research lab and has conducted commercial and academic food microbiology testing and research for many years. Dr. Gene Ahlborn, one of our Food Science faculty, has a PhD in toxicology and worked for many years as a toxicologist for a leading flavor manufacturer. He is in the process of developing a food toxicology lab here at BYU.

Sample Projects:

Identification and use of bacteriophage (viruses that specifically target bacteria) against sporeforming bacteria in milk prior to spray drying to produce low spore milk powders.

Isolation, identification and use of surrogate microorganisms in place of foodborne pathogens during low moisture foods thermal process validations.

Use of natural antimicrobial compounds to enhance stability and safety of ready-to-eat deli meats.

Prevalence of mycotoxins (potentially carcinogenic toxins produced by molds) in gluten-free flour products.