Research News

As controlled environment agriculture and vertical farming gain a greater foothold in modern agriculture, a new $300,000 grant aims to enhance hydroponic lettuce production. Kristen Gibson, director of the Arkansas Center for Food Safety and Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station faculty member…

While half the global population relies on rice as a staple, about 15 percent of rice produced each year is contaminated by potentially fatal aflatoxins. Seeing this threaten lives in her home country of Kenya prompted a graduate research assistant to focus on eradicating the risk through safer storage methods…

Bacteria can easily hibernate in low-moisture ingredients such as flour and spices, and food scientists have been working on ways to make them safer with novel technologies. Publication of a food safety study on radiofrequency pasteurization and novel steam technology highlights…

Sometimes the processing that makes food safe can compromise flavor and nutrients, but food scientist Jennifer Acuff is looking for a way to make food safe and minimize loss of quality. Food processors often use heat for pasteurization or sterilization to make food products safe by killing pathogens…

Sinking Mississippi River levels in recent years have caused grain shipping disruptions, prompting farmers to pursue on-farm grain bins to preserve quality and market potential. “Storage is becoming a critical thing,” said Griffiths Atungulu, director of the Rice Processing Program for the UADA…

Federal regulations say growers and packers must keep their produce packing areas clean and sanitary but don’t offer specific guidelines on how to do it. That’s where Arkansas food science professor Kristen Gibson comes in. The Center for Produce Safety has awarded Gibson a $206,108 grant…