Linda J. Harris, Ph.D. Associate Director of the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security Extension Specialist in Microbial Food Safety Department of Food Science and Technology University of California One Shields Avenue Davis, CA 95616-8598 ljharris@ucdavis.edu 530-754-9485/ 530-757-5767 office 530-752-2826 lab 530-752-4759 fax

Dr. Harris maintains an active research program in the area of microbial food safety focusing on the microbiology of fresh fruits and vegetables and nutmeats. Her research program has focused on developing and validating standard methods for a range of produce items. In addition, her laboratory has developed a method to reduce injury of Escherichia coli O157:H7 when testing frozen juices and evaluated the effects of freezing and thawing on the survival of E. coli O157:H7 in apple juice. She has used these methods to evaluate the behavior of foodborne pathogens on fruits, vegetables and nutmeats stored under a variety of conditions. These methods have also been used to evaluate various sanitizers for their efficacy in reducing microbial populations on various cut and intact produce surfaces.

Trevor V. Suslow, Ph.D. Extension Research Specialist Dept. of Vegetable Crops, Mann Lab University of California One Shields Ave. Davis, CA 95616-8631 tvsuslow@ucdavis.edu 530-754-8313 office 530-752-4501 lab 530-752-4554 fax

My areas of primary responsibility and research interest include postharvest pathology and microbiology of perishable horticultural commodities and lightly-processed (fresh-cut) vegetables, the role of environmental and crop production practices on postharvest quality and safety of edible horticultural crops, microbiological quality and safety of ag-water, and other biologically-mediated controls of postharvest pathogens.

My current research activities seek to integrate a variety of biological and technology approaches to increasing our understanding of plant:microbe interactions that impact postharvest quality (decay/spoilage) and microbial food safety of fruits and vegetables. In response to the critical need for validation of model system data in field and commercial postharvest handling studies, I have developed fundamental and applied research programs of several key commodities that address risk assessment and hazard analysis specific to the epidemiology of Salmonella, E. coli, and Shigella. We are optimizing and validating combined techniques for the rapid and sensitive detection of these pathogens from environmental sources, farm inputs, and in postharvest processing for the purpose of identifying opportunities for optimal microbial reductions.