Scientists are hoping a new research facility will allow them to create a safer meat supply by making food-borne pathogen research possible.
“Until now we could not work with food-borne pathogens in meat products,” said Lynn McMullen, a food microbiology professor at the University of Alberta who will lead the meat safety research team at the new facility.
“Our facilities did not allow us to handle pathogens in a meat processing environment.”
The new facility will allow scientists to do large scale work on pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes in meat, she said.
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The $17 million facility, funded by Alberta Agriculture, will be built at the University of Alberta’s Edmonton research centre in September.
The Agri-Food Discovery Place will be built in two phases. The Meat Safety and Processing Research Centre will be built first and will house the biocontainment area needed for research on the safety of meat and meat products.
Phase two, the Crop Utilization Research Centre, will allow scientists to study and create high value components and concentrates for non-food industrial, novel food and functional food applications.
Phase two will also house research on bio-plastics and biofuels from plants.
Also, Alberta Agriculture, the University of Alberta and the Alberta Research Council have signed an agreement to establish the Institute for Food, Agri-Industrial and Agricultural Sciences Alberta to streamline agricultural research in the province.
The members will pool resources, staff and facilities to work together on research.
The institute is scheduled to begin operations Nov. 1.
