LINCOLN UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR COLLABORATES ON INVENTION OF FOOD SAFETY SENSOR

Jefferson City, MO– New biotechnology developed through a collaboration between researchers at Lincoln University and the University of Missouri-Columbia is aimed at making the food we eat safer.  Dr. Majed El-Dweik, Interim Dean of the College of Agriculture, Environmental and Human Sciences and Professor of Biological Engineering at Lincoln University, and Dr. Mahmoud Almasri, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia, along with a team of student researchers, have received approval and a patent for an invention that reduces the testing time for food contamination.

The High Sensitivity Impedance Sensor received Patent Number 10,274,492 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The state-of-the-art biotechnology significantly reduces the testing time for contaminants from three days to 14 hours. Food processing companies will now be able to rapidly test their products within in hours rather than days before shipping to consumers.  

According to the Centers for Disease Control, foodborne illness affects 1 in 6 people in the United States per year, resulting in approximately 3,000 deaths.  Contaminated foods cost more than $15.6 billion in product recalls annually. This new biotechnology will strengthen processors’ line of defense against E.coli, Salmonella and Listeria outbreaks.