OSU food safety program gets funding boost

More than $1m in funding has been committed towards a goal of $3.4m to create an Oklahoma State University (OSU) food safety program.

The advisory board of OSU’s Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center (FAPC) provided the money towards the target.

“Once the food-safety option is approved and implemented, OSU will be among the first to offer an undergraduate food-safety option, according to our research,” said John Griffin, president and CEO of Griffin Foods in Muskogee, and spokesperson for FAPC’s advisory board.

FAPC implemented a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) program which focuses on food-industry assistance in training, auditing, pre-third-party audit preparations, education, and in-plant technical assistance for food safety and quality programs.

“Globalization of the food industry has significantly affected almost every Oklahoma food processor directly and indirectly with mandated food-safety and security regulations and policies that cut across all food-processing sectors,” said Chuck Willoughby, FAPC manager of business and marketing relations.