DOUG
POWELL
Associate professor, diagnostic medicine and pathobiology
Scientific director, International Food Safety Network
Doug
Powell, food scientist and creator of the International Food Safety Network,
an online repository of food-safety related information, joined
K-State as an associate professor in the College of Veterinary
Medicine's department of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology in May 2006.
The International Food Safety Network is a collection of individuals who passionately care about reducing the burden of foodborne illness and seek innovative ways to compel everyone in the farm-to-fork food safety system -- individual producers, retail employees, and consumers, among others -- to acknowledge and adopt best practices to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. Under Powell's supervision, researchers and students with the network conduct research, provide commentary, policy evaluation and public information on a range of food safety issues such as the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables, restaurant inspection discloures sytems and human behavior. Powell also conducts research in food safety risk analyss, especially whether food-safety information is having its intended effect of influencing the practices of consumers and those in the food industry. The network also produces four electronic mail lists that are sent around the world each day: Food Safety Network, FSNet; Agriculture Network, AgNet; Animal Network, AnimalNet; and Functional Food Network, FFNet.
Powell co-authored the 1997 book, "Mad Cows and Mother's Milk: The Perils of Poor Risk Communication," which explores case studies where institutions fail to communicate the scientific basis of high-profile risks in food safety. Among the cases discussed are the 1996 mad cow disease outbreak in Britain and the emergence of E. coli in hamburger in the early 1990s.
Subscribing to any of the International Food Safety Network e-mail lists is free and can be done at the Food Safety Network Web site, http://www.foodsafety.k-state.edu/en/
International Food Safety Network also maintains barfblog, a forum for musing about current food safety issues.
Powell can be reached at 785-317-0560, or via e-mail at dpowell@k-state.edu.