US: UMass researcher to study tomato safety

A scientist at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst has received a two-year grant to study ways to assure the safe handling of commercially grown tomatoes. Lynne McLandsborough, an expert on bacterial growth, plans to set up an experimental tomato-handling station at the university's food lab, similar to stations found at farms in California and Florida. She says her team will try to better understand how bacterial cross-contamination can occur from one surface to another.
McLandsborough has previously studied bacterial transfer rates from food handling equipment to cheese and cold cuts. The grant of nearly $236,000 is one of 17 given by the Center for Product Safety in California to improve safety in the growth and harvesting of fresh produce.