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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu
Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

DOUG POWELL
Associate professor, diagnostic medicine and pathobiology

 

Doug PowellDoug Powell, food scientist and creator of 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.

Powell is among 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 analysis, 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 e-mail lists is free and can be done at this Web site: http://www.foodsafety.k-state.edu/en/

Also, Barfblog, a forum for musing about current food safety issues, is available at http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/

Powell can be reached at 785-317-0560, or via e-mail at dpowell@k-state.edu.