
Center of Excellence and Seafood Safety Lab
Dedicated at Delaware State UniversityDOVER, Del., June 2Agriculture Secretary
Dan Glickmantoday dedicated a new Center of Excellence and a U.S. Department of Agriculture seafood safety
lab at Delaware State University, an 1890
historically African-American land grant university. Centers of Excellence are partnerships between 1890s schools and USDA to
carry out complementary research on agricultural problems of regional and
national interest and enhance research facilities at these schools. Delaware
State University has an extensive program in aquaculture, and the new center
will carry the title of Microbial Safety of Aquaculture Products Center of
Excellence. The new lab, which is part of USDAs Agricultural Research Service (ARS), will
focus on microbiological food safety issues of aquaculture products, in
particular developing faster, more efficient tests to detect disease-causing
viruses and bacteria in clams, mussels and oysters. USDA, Delaware State University and the public will benefit from this new
partnership, said Glickman. Delaware State University and USDA will
be able to pool scientific expertise and resources in aquaculture research,
students will gain the chance to have hands-on experience in a state-of-the-art
laboratory, and the public will have safer food. The opening of this
Center of Excellence brings USDAs total to 15, seven of which are
partnerships between ARS and 1890scolleges and universities. In addition to Delaware State University, ARS has
Center of Excellence partnerships with Tennessee State University, the
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the
University of Maryland-Eastern Shore,
Langston University in Oklahoma,
Florida A&M University, and
Alcorn State University in Mississippi. Seafood safety is an important area of research for USDA. As coastal
populations continue to grow, there is increasing concern over the quality of
coastal waters and the safety of molluscan shellfish inhabiting those waters. Improved methods will make it easier to track disease outbreaks as
well as the environmental factors and pollutants that can lead to disease
problems, said ARS Administrator Floyd Horn. The laboratory is a field location of the
Microbial Food Safety Research Unitat the ARS Eastern Regional Research
Center in Wyndmoor, Pa., and is headed by ARS microbiologist Gary P.
Richards. Story contacts Microbial Food Safety Research U.S. Department of Agriculture | |