Rebecca Bell
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Title: Salmonella, Tomatoes and the delmarva peninsula
Biography
Biography: Rebecca Bell
Abstract
Recurrent outbreaks of Salmonella enterica serovar Newport have been linked to produce, mainly tomatoes, grown on the
Delmarva Peninsula. Environmental surveys have discovered multiple serovars present in this environment yet only large
outbreaks of S. Newport have been reported. Understanding the ecology of S. Newport in this environment, and it’s interaction
with plants is crucial to implementing better good agricultural practices to prevent the pre-harvest contamination of fresh
produce. Traditional culture based microbiology, molecular biology and functional genomics intersect to aid in tackling this
fundamental food safety issue.