Last week Cargill announced a partnership with Kansas State University (KSU) for the construction of the Cargill Center for Feed Safety Research. The facility, built in part from a $500,000 grant from Cargill, will conduct studies to address current food and feed safety issues facing the animal feed industry.
"At present, there is not a single facility in the United States licensed and approved for feed-related research involving Salmonella, E. coli and other common, food-related pathogens. We are thankful that Cargill's contribution helps support the construction of this Kansas State research facility," said Dr. Kirk Schulz, Kansas State University president.
"Animal nutrition research during the past 50-plus years has focused on several key areas, including the establishment of nutritional requirements of animals," said Dr. Gary Pierzynski, interim dean, KSU College of Agriculture. "The growing importance of related factors, such as food safety and control of food-borne pathogens, is increasingly evident. Future animal nutrition and feed processing technologies research must take these factors into consideration to ensure the long-term sustainability of animal agriculture."
Once operational in late 2012, the planned research efforts include feed processing technologies to lower bacterial/viral introduction to animal food livestock operations and the food chain. The facility will be located on the Manhattan, Kansas KSU campus and housed in the O.H. Kruse Feed Mill and Bio-refinery. It will be in close proximity to the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility federal laboratory, built by the Department of Homeland Security. The laboratory will be capable of conducting food and feed research relating to dangerous and exotic foreign animal diseases. The Cargill Center for Feed Safety Research will be a critical link between the research and teaching efforts of these facilities.
"Advancements in food safety are one of the biggest focus areas for the industry at the present time," said Chuck Warta, a vice president at Cargill Animal Nutrition. "Feed and feed ingredients are an increasingly critical part of the safe food system. Helping enable this research is an investment that reaches beyond Cargill. The entire animal feed industry will benefit from the continued development of food, feed and feed ingredient safety."
