The U.S. And China Are Taking On Food Safety Together

By Sam Lewis

The University of California, Davis, and one of China’s most important agricultural colleges have combined forces to form a food safety research center

Last week, representatives from the University of California (UC-Davis) and the Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University of China signed a note of agreement to create a new food safety institute in China’s Shaanxi province. “We are incredibly pleased to join forces with Northwest A&F University and look forward to making discoveries and realizing solutions that will promote food safety in China and around the world,” says UC-Davis chancellor Linda Katehi.

The agreement says both of the center’s major universities will form a joint research team, conduct research collaborations, and coordinate with each other’s food safety studies over the next five years. UC-Davis is expected to name a director to lead the research program. The Chinese members will give considerable financial backing for the new institute. Further details are to be announced later in 2014.

Learn how new safety regulations are steering the evolution of product inspection

The trigger for this upcoming collaboration was Katehi’s visit to China last autumn. During the visit, Chinese officials, as well as representatives and alumni of UC-Davis, identified food safety as a major issue for China. “The food industry has become the largest industry in China; and food safety is a critical area for China and the U.S. to have creative cooperation and learn from each other,” says Zhang Laiwu, China's vice minister of science and technology. 

Ideas were exchanged which eventually led to the idea of the center. The Joint Research Center for Food Safety will encourage on-going international research for food safety. Research to be conducted will include food safety policies, establishing new platforms for safety research, proposing answers to food-related hazards, and developing models and protocols for risk management to be implemented internationally.

Did you know: Nestle opened a food safety institute in China?

Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture fully supports this upcoming, international food-safety endeavor,  saying, "Food safety will benefit from global, scientific collaboration, and new findings will help the food and agriculture sector meet new challenges, improve the health of consumers, and maintain the integrity of the global food supply chain.” Roger Beachy, executive director of the UC-Davis World Food Center, shares Ross’ sentiments. “Working closely with Chinese scientists and policymakers, the new center will have a significant impact on food safety in China and elsewhere around the globe,” he says.