People & Facilities
IFSH's Food Microbiology Expertise
IFSH's Food Microbiology Team specializes in all areas of microbiological research for the food industry. Our scientists have extensive expertise in the detection, identification and microbial ecology of bacterial and viral pathogens, toxins and sporeformers, biological threat agents, and spoilage organisms in foods. Using state-of-the-art microbiology instrumentation and techniques, IFSH’s Food Microbiology Team delivers real knowledge to the food industry about the behavior of microorganisms in food and processing environments to improve food safety and quality.
Facilities and Laboratories
Food Microbiology Laboratories. Six laboratories located in the main IFSH building are equipped for a variety of microbiological research:
- Two Microbiology Media and Reagent Preparation Rooms, one of which is used primarily for preparing material for work with spore-forming bacteria
- One fully equipped General Purpose Microbiology Laboratory
- Two proficiency testing laboratories occupy 1,200 sq. ft. of BSL-2 space: A well-equipped Molecular Biology Laboratory (450 sq. ft.), for all-purpose DNA and protein experiments; and a newly reconfigured Food Microbiology/Proficiency Testing Laboratory (900 sq. ft.) for preparing and handling microbiology PT samples. The lab also has ample bench space for simultaneous hands-on training of up to 10 trainees.
- One Food Pathogen Laboratory is used mainly in projects involving work with Listeria monocytogenes.
BSL-2 Processing Innovation Laboratory. The BSL-2 pathogen processing laboratory suite includes a full set of pilot plant services that allows pathogen validation work to be carried out and is set up to handle multiple projects in a pilot plant setting. This area has been used to scale up a microwave pasteurization of eggs project to semi-commercial scale.
BSL-3 Laboratory and Biocontainment Pilot Plant. The fully self-contained 7,000 sq. ft. BSL-3 laboratory and biocontainment pilot plant is used to conduct research and validation work involving large quantities of pathogens and virulent organisms. The facility provides a unique capability within the US to study the behavior of pathogens in real-world food processing conditions. The renovated space contains approximately 1,500 sq. ft. of pilot plant area with plug-and-play capability and a decontamination zone for cleaning processing equipment and moving equipment in and out of the containment area. A full production-scale fresh produce processing line has been installed in the biocontainment pilot plant to allow validation of post-harvest risk management options for fresh produce to be performed in collaboration with industry. This facility will allow researchers to use actual outbreak strains in a realistic processing setting critical to the development of guidelines and regulations for the fresh produce industry.
High Pressure Processing Bay. A new fully self-contained processing bay for high pressure processing (HPP) research is located within the main pilot plant. New HPP-based research into pressure enhanced sterilization (PES) technologies, such as pressure assisted thermal sterilization (PATS), is conducted in this area using state-of-the-art equipment from Avure Technologies. The processing bay has been added to the select agent license, allowing critical biological validation of this proven food safety technology.
Thermal and High Pressure Processing Laboratory. The thermal and high pressure processing laboratory is a dedicated self-contained pilot plant space that is used to carry out kinetic studies on the destruction of food-related microorganisms, especially bacterial spores. The lab is equipped with a Crepaco plate heat exchanger to simulate HTST pasteurization processes, a thermal death time (TDT) apparatus, an Avure PT1 High pressure machine and a 2-liter Quintus Press high pressure machine. The laboratory is part of the select agent license allowing the performance of validation studies with Clostridium botulinum.
