Governor's Food Safety Conference Next Week to Update E. coli Research

May 22, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. — The latest research on E. coli will be presented at a conference in Lincoln May 27-29.

Scientists at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are part of a national team researching shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC), which cause about 230,000 illnesses a year in the United States. The conference later this month combines the annual STEC conference with the Governor's Conference on Food Safety.

Gov. Dave Heineman will give the welcome on May 27. Other speakers, including UNL scientists, are leading experts on the biology and ecology of STEC and its development, transmission and epidemiology and on regulation and public policy, the food industry and consumer protection.

UNL is one of 15 universities involved in the research that was funded by a 5-year, $25M grant from the USDA. Twelve researchers from the university are involved in the project.

"The long-term goal of the project is to reduce the occurrence and public health risks from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli in beef, while preserving an economically viable and sustainable beef industry," Dr. Rod Moxley, project director from UNL. "This can only be accomplished by a multi-institutional effort that brings together complementary teams of the nation's experts whose expertise spans the entire beef chain continuum and then sharing the research findings through conferences such as this."

More information about the conference is available at www.stecbeefsafety.org.