Keeping food safe with blue light
A team of researchers from UGA’s Center for Food Safety is studying the application of LED light as a weapon against foodborne pathogens that requires no physical contact from humans, can work continually 24/7, generates zero waste, and requires very little maintenance.
The team, led by CFS Director Francisco Diez, is looking at a specific blue light spectrum known as antimicrobial blue light, or aBL. Applying aBL in food processing and manufacturing facilities, the researchers hypothesize, could help reduce incidence of biofilms, clusters of microorganisms that can endure for years in such facilities and sometimes pose risks to humans. Read More >
FoodPIC brings new ideas to the table
Established in 2017, the UGA Food Product & Innovation Center (FoodPIC) helps companies develop new food products and market those products through a network of experts both at the university and within the industry in food technology, engineering, food product development, sensory analysis, storage and shelf-life evaluation, consumer testing and marketing.
“We’re like an incubator, a launch pad for these products,” said FoodPIC Director Jim Gratzek. “It’s hard work designing and managing a facility that makes food, so we try to take some of that work out of it for our clients. Our strategy is adding value to food and food commodities that are relevant to the Southeast U.S. and Georgia.” Read More >
Taste of history: UGA’s Heritage Apple Orchard
Planted in 2021 during a global pandemic, the trees of the Heritage Apple Orchard are now producing fruit and well on their way to helping Georgia rediscover part of its agricultural legacy. Its 139 apple varieties represent a tantalizing pip of possibility: the revival of Southern apple culture. These apples, many of which were cultivated for their tolerance of heat and humidity, could provide some genetic assistance for farmers who don’t want to see their fruit wither in a warming climate. They also could provide the raw material for a resurgent cider industry in Georgia. Read More >
A cage-free future for poultry farming
Cage-free poultry systems—indoor aviaries that house colonies of up to thousands of birds—offer an improved level of animal welfare for egg-laying hens. But the economics of transitioning to cage-free systems are daunting. Increased labor costs make them more expensive to operate, and cage-free systems come with their own welfare concerns. Researchers like Lilong Chai in the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences are leading the way toward more efficient, safe, and eventually cost-effective poultry production. Read More >