Mississppi Center for Food Safety and Postharvest Technology

1) Develop and/or improve novel methods for the detection, identification and quantification of pathogens and chemical residues in catfish and other products; 2) Quantification of high-risk and low-risk Listeria monocytogenes serotypes and other pathogens on catfish environment and products by molecular tools such as multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and surfaced enhanced Raman microscopy; 3) To develop novel, sustainable processes and products from catfish and its sub-products so as to enhance efficiencies while diminishing environmental impact; 4) To develop and apply novel bioactive compounds from catfish sub-products and to apply these and other compounds to improve heatlh and other functionalities (antimicrobial, antioxidant); and 5) To generate sound risk assessment data for establishing/modifying food safety regulations and to reduce/eliminate food safety problems in the aquaculture industry and their environemnt.