Mérieux NutriSciences and Biofortis are excited to welcome our new Principal Scientist, Oliver Chen, PhD, formerly the Interim Director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University. Oliver is a great addition to our science team, assisting our r
esearch sponsors with their clinical nutrition projects. We sat down with Oliver for a quick Q&A to pick his brain on some important topics in the industry.
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Here at Mérieux NutriSciences, our team of expert scientists upholds our mission of protecting consumers’ health through their daily work. Dr. Angela Nguyen joined our team this year to lead our molecular services laboratory, which covers our suite of services, including foodborne virus testing, Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), Vitek MS, Sanger Sequencing and Riboprinter Platform with bionumerics software. I recently met with Dr. Nguyen to learn more about her background, coming from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and where she sees the future of molecular biology headed within the food industry. Continue Reading
Yeast and mold get a bad rap, which is understandable in most cases. If yeast and mold appear in foods where they don’t belong, it can be a sign of a problem in the manufacturing process, or it could simply mean that you left your strawberries in the fridge for too long. No matter the case, there are some food and beverage items that we would not have without the aid of yeasts and molds.
These groups of organisms deserve our thanks for providing us with the following three foods: Continue Reading
Microbial identification and organism typing provide the food industry with a way to identify organisms and sub-species of those organisms. Laboratories specializing in this type of testing offer food companies a way to determine which harmful organisms may be present in their production plant ecology, as well as a particular ingredient or product that is out of specification. Additionally, this testing provides a way to confirm the presence of beneficial organisms in a product. Continue Reading
Our expert scientists are at the heart of everything we do at Mérieux NutriSciences, and they work hard every day to uphold our mission to protect consumers’ health. With that in mind, I recently interviewed Dr. Amy Parks, the Research Project Manager for Specialized Services at the Silliker Food Science Center (FSC), to learn about her background and expertise. She told me about her experience in the food industry, her role at Mérieux NutriSciences and why she enjoys working to ensure food safety and quality. Read on to learn more about Dr. Parks: Continue Reading
In addition to routine screening for harmful pathogens, bacterial species identification and further strain differentiation play an important role in food safety and quality investigations. These methods can offer an immediate classification of an existing or new problem in a given facility. Additionally, the resulting data gives manufacturers the ability to track contamination strains and map the bacterial flora present within their facility in order to monitor raw materials, surfaces, finished product and overall sanitation effectiveness. Continue Reading
When consumers purchase chicken from the grocery store, they could be bringing home more than just a drumstick. Campylobacter has crept its way up the charts to become the top bacterial cause of reported foodborne illnesses in the United States. Move over, Salmonella! But how does Campylobacter infiltrate the food supply, and why is it seemingly on the rise? We’ve answered five need-to-know questions about Campylobacter below: Continue Reading
I once jokingly said during a presentation that there were at least 10 ways to sabotage your food pathogen testing program. While no conscientious food safety leader would set out to negatively impact their own program, the high attention to detail and constant organizational discipline required for an effective testing program leave some room for error. If any small step is not well designed and expertly executed, then your entire program may be worthless – or worse – may cost you millions due to a recall or human illnesses. One factor in particular that manufacturers need to focus their attention on is the reliability of their pathogen sampling and compositing (pooling) strategy, as well as the applicability of their pathogen method. Specifically, what test portion should be taken to ensure accurate results, and what method should be used when testing for the presence of pathogens? Continue Reading
