O’Connor Sr. Center
Knoxville

Dr. Steve Oliver
UT Food Safety Ctr. Of Excellence

Chuck Denney
UT Institute of Agriculture

Mary Newton
Knoxville

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Audio Transcript:

He’s shedding his lab coat for a dressier outfit here, but Dr. Steve Oliver’s focus is the same as any other day. He’s a researcher with UT’s new Food Safety Center of Excellence– a division of the Institute of Agriculture. Recently the center held seminars about food safety at Knoxville’s O’Connor Senior Center. Dr. Oliver told this group our food supply can be contaminated with pathogens and other bacteria that make us very sick – or at worst, can be fatal.

Dr. Steve Oliver
“The real problem with food borne illnesses too is that it may no occur two or three hours after you eat a meal. It could occur several weeks later depending on your physical state.”

Chuck Denney
“The Centers for Disease Control reports about a quarter of the US population is at a high risk for food borne illnesses. Here in Tennessee, it’s estimated these diseases cost upwards of half a billion dollars a year in health care expenses.”

The elderly are among the highest at-risk groups for food sickness. Others include the very young and those with compromised immune systems – including pregnant women, cancer patients or people with immune system disorders such as HIV.

Dr. Steve Oliver
“If our immune system is operating fine, we could ingest food that might contain those organisms and we’d do just fine. But when our immune system is compromised, that’s when we tend to fall off.”

Chuck Denney
Mary Newton says learning about food safety is a natural and logical way to protect her health.

Mary Newton
“I do, you k now, think about things that come from out of the country – fresh fruits and so on. I wonder about how clean they are.”

Chuck Denney
UT experts say that watchful attitude is wise, but it’s irrational to fear our food supply – even in light of the threat of terrorists attacks on agriculture. Dr. Oliver says America’s food supply has never been safer than right now.

Dr. Steve Oliver
“In spite of those food borne illnesses, we have the world’s safest food supply. I think that’s a very important take-home message, that our food supply is very, very safe. But in spite of that, we still have some problems.”

Chuck Denney
However, Dr. Oliver says these are issues best dealt with through research and the spread of information. And the Food Safety Center is providing that here and throughout the state.

This is Chuck Denney reporting.

NOTE: UT will fund the Food Safety Center with $5 million over the next five years. Current research there has already attracted more than $3 million in federal and private support.