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A
computer chip monitoring a de-feathered chicken may seem farfetched, but
Dick Tracy’s wristwatch radio had the country buzzing
when Tracy’s comic strip creator, Chester Gould, unveiled it six
decades ago.
The
leader of the AU project is Professor Bryan Chin, who is chairman of the
University’s Materials Engineering Program. Chin has a 20-year career
at Auburn.
Chin’s
interest in radio-frequency identification tags and adaptive sensors is
well known throughout the research community involved in the food safety
program.
"Our
research is different from others because we take an engineering
approach," said Chin. "What we do is aimed at the entire food
system, using sensor technology and information technology to solve our
food problems."
What
Chin’s group is focusing on is the entire food chain and how detection
can help guarantee items moving through the system will be safe for
consumption.
"The
food chain basically consists of food production which can be foreign or
domestic," Chin said. "It begins at the processing plant and
ends on the dinner table."
Much
can happen in between and that is why the AU research group is working
hard on sensor devices to sound alarms if something out of the ordinary
happens.
"It’s
our job to identify where the problem occurs," he said. "When
radio frequency chips are developed and implemented, we will have taken
a major step in ensuring healthy food for consumers."
Chin
said the stamp-sized chips are to be used in poultry, fish or meat as
they move along the processing chain. If a problem is detected, a
warning will be sounded to remove the identified food item or see the
problem is corrected.
"These
chips will contain information as to where the food item came from and
how we can contact those involved in their production," said Chin.
Chin
said he and scientists working with him envision the sensor chips will
be molded into the packaging that comes with the product.
"For
instance, in monitoring milk, the sensor tag would be injection molded
into the plastic container and be in contact with the milk from the
inside of the container," he said.
For
meat products, the final sensor tag would be molded into the plastic
tray to determine the bacterial count. For fruits and vegetables, the
sensor would be mounted into the plastic wrap.
"When
the wrapping on these products is removed, the sensor tag would be
disposed of along with the packaging," said Chin. "We have
worked with the packaging companies on this concept and it seems okay
with them."
Auburn
University has been actively involved in food safety concerns since 1999
when the school commissioned and designated the Detection and Food
Safety Center.
The
designation as a University Peak of Excellence project paved the way for
state funding to help launch an engineering approach to identify and
study the problem.
Researchers
from five AU colleges - Agriculture, Engineering, Human Sciences,
Science and Mathematics, and Veterinary Medicine - have been working on
ways to quickly spot food safety contamination.
Using
the latest biosensor technology to augment existing identification
advances, AU unit’s goal is to eliminate or significantly reduce the
threat of food-borne bacteria, pathogens and toxins from reaching supper
tables around the country.
With
the 2008 Olympics just around the corner, concerns about food safety in
China continue to grow, especially since a series of recalls of
Chinese-produced products.
Another
Auburn University scientist, Yifen Wang, has been playing a key role in
addressing those concerns. Wang was one of 15 food safety authorities
named to a Beijing Olympics food security organization two years ago.
Wang’s
appointment didn’t cause much of a ripple at the time, but outrage
around the world over the recalls of contaminated Chinese food items put
him into an international spotlight.
Selected
because of his fluency of English and Chinese as well as his scientific
achievements, Wang has been working hard since his appointment.
One
of four U.S. representatives on the panel, Wang is the board’s
designated liaison for the English-speaking members. Other food safety
authorities on the panel are from China, Australia, the European Union
and the World Health Organization.
The
mission of Wang’s group is to write a manual for the rigorous food
safety program that will be put in place for the two-week-long Olympic
spectacular.
Development
of global positioning systems will be utilized at the Games in order to
track all food products. Wang was instrumental in adoption of radio
frequency identification technology used in the GPS program.
"There
is great pressure on us to ensure all foods that enter the athletes’
village, media villages, main press center and international
broadcasting center at the Games are safe," said Wang. "We are
confident the security program that has been established is a very good,
highly effective system."
The
Associated Press reported Chinese officials are overseeing a
program in which all food entering the Olympic Village and other
facilities will be given a food safety logistics code.
Most
athletes eat special diets provided by their own team officials, but
Olympic organizers have also promised to test food samples on mice,
according to the state-run newspaper, the China
Daily.
Concern
over Chinese products surfaced earlier in the year when a Chinese-made
pet ingredient was linked to the deaths of cats and dogs in North
America. Since that time, Chinese goods ranging from toothpaste to tires
and toys have been banned or recalled around the world.
As
Wang moves forward on his part in ensuring the safety of food at the
Olympics, U.S. health officials have had their hands full trying to
ensure the safety of food on the home front.
In
October, ConAgra Foods - one of the largest food processors in the
country - found itself in the middle of another recall. Instead of
peanut butter, it was its Banquet pot pies.
ConAgra
voluntarily stopped production at its Missouri plant where the pot pies
are made after health officials said they may be linked to more than 100
cases of salmonella in 30 states.
The
company insisted its chicken and turkey pies are safe if they are cooked
properly. Federal officials issued the warning to consumers about what
it felt was a link between the salmonella cases and the pot pies.
The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been tracking reports of
the salmonella cases for a week. Most had been reported in four states -
Georgia, Wisconsin, Missouri and Pennsylvania.
Earlier
in the year, ConAgra had to recall all of its peanut butter made at a
plant in South Georgia because it had been linked to a different
salmonella outbreak.
Food
safety concerns are hardly new in the United States. In 1862, President
Lincoln founded the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and, from
that, came what the country has today.
Individual
states tried their best to cope with the problem of livestock diseases,
but they couldn’t handle it. The outcry was heard in Washington as the
states sought help on the national level.
Two
decades after Lincoln established the USDA, President Chester Arthur
created the Bureau of Animal Industry which was the forerunner of the
Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Chin
and other AU scientists involved in the food safety program are
extensions of what Lincoln started by establishing the USDA.
"It
could take seven or 10 years to develop a food sensor program, but we’re
well on the way to doing just that," said Chin.
When
that happens, Auburn University’s scientific community will have added
another feather in its cap of achievements.
Alvin
Benn is a freelance writer from Selma. |
