As we all know, there was a public meeting to address Salmonella that was held by the FSIS a few days ago. The meeting was very thorough in discussing how to address the pathogen from pre-harvest to the consumer and everything in between. There is still time to submit responses and, again, I encourage you to submit those.

One thing that came up multiple times in the discussions was “data gaps.” FSIS would ask for data to support comments made by the audience and many of the comments made by the public were focused on asking for data from the agency for decisions made. Data are needed on both sides from Salmonella quantification and pathogenicity to the impact of specific mitigation strategies and monitoring on actual public health metrics. The list goes on and on. It was mentioned a few times that “they” will figure it out/do the research to solve the problems, leading to an important question: Who is/are THEY? It is fair to assume that “they” would refer to scientists, but scientists reside in a variety of venues most commonly found in academia, industry and government. Data generated by private industry is usually for the benefit of the company and is rarely shared publicly. Government data can be used to inform policy but also represents discovery and development of new innovations, which is also the goal of academia. It works best when we all collaborate to achieve a common goal. Leaving out any scientific group will fall short.

Over my 25+ years as a scientist, I have realized that non-scientists do not necessarily understand the complexity of what is needed to conduct research to address the data gaps. There is usually a linear thought process embraced by outsiders that is black and white and doesn’t account for the complexity of the scientific process. The good news is that the data gaps related to Salmonella aren’t insurmountable. We as scientist have the theories, lists of hypotheses and ideas that can lead to studies to generate the results that will close the gaps. What is indeed missing is the support and the funds to carry out the work. It takes time, labor and money.

At the university we see tens and hundreds of millions of dollars dedicated to build new athletic facilities and support athletes. Don’t get me wrong; I am a huge fan of college sports, and we need the funding because ultimately funding leads to success. We need similar support for our research programs. Even a fraction of what is given to athletics could go a very long way in addressing Salmonella. Rapid methods to detect and quantify could be developed and validated, pre- and post- harvest mitigations could be developed and validated. Pathogenicity could be determined … the list goes on and on. The scientific community in the meat and poultry realm needs a seat at the table for significant competitive funding from NIH or other major federal funding agencies that give multi-million projects. Also, the industry itself can be a significant source of support of universities to conduct research to fill the gaps. Currently, the industry can and does support many programs and we are very grateful for that. However, funds come in small allocations to address one issue at a time, being less globally impactful.

Problems have been discussed and data gaps identified. It’s time to move towards solutions. Academic, government and industry scientists in meat and poultry science already work well together across the nation. We are poised and ready to move! It’s time to invest for success.

Data gaps: Salmonella

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