Food Research Institute

Former FRI IAFP travel award winner Elena Olson and FRI affiliate member Steve Ricke are coauthors, together with UW-Madison PhD student (now alum) Chamia Chatman and her advisor and corresponding author Erica Majumder, on a new, open-access report investigating how 49 days of exposure to chemical contaminants (mixtures of nitrate, atrazine, and imidacloprid) or microplastic fibers affects broiler chickens. Read more:

Exposure to known and emerging groundwater contaminants significantly alters poultry microbiome and metabolome | Applied and Environmental Microbiology Environmental contaminants in groundwater are increasingly common, yet their combined effects on animal health remain poorly understood. The current study shows that even low-level exposure to agricultural chemical mixtures and microplastics can alter the gut microbial metabolism in broiler chickens...

Join us on April 21 for our next FRESH food safety webinar, where Luis Rolando Munoz, PhD from the Dept. of Poultry Science at Mississippi State University will present, "Winning the Salmonella battle before processing." Register here: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/ev4oBSVPTzGeAC3NpiNNAQ #/registration

You're invited to join us on May 12–13 for the annual Food Research Institute Spring Meeting! This year’s presentations will also be offered virtually via Zoom. Register now: https://lnkd.in/gBMHk6WE

View more information: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D0itnKkwIFe8ljuEB3jbTWtKH8gVyXv-CRevFoHo9gQ/edit?tab=t.0 =h.5jkmbwfkrdpb

View the draft program: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P-gKroU1W6pGplSEICtmXz1GcTgvHAUxYOp9Lqt9WQA/edit?tab=t.0

Learn more about J.P. van Pijkeren, the new director of the Food Research Institute! He grew up in the Netherlands on a family farm that raised Blonde d’Aquitaine beef cattle while also spending several years working night shifts at a bakery. Initially considering becoming a veterinarian, he developed a strong interest in microbial biotechnology. This passion has persisted throughout his career. His laboratory now conducts both applied and fundamental research on lactic acid bacteria. Among his goals: to better understand how bacteria interact with each other, their viruses, and with the human host to ultimately facilitate the development of next generation of probiotics.

J.P.’s research has taken him from the Netherlands to New Zealand where he worked with the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute in Palmerston North. In Ireland, he completed his graduate studies and his first postdoc at the Cork Cancer Research Center, where he developed a Listeria monocytogenes-based drug delivery system. He was reunited with lactic acid bacteria again at Michigan State University during his second postdoc before becoming an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2013.

Since his arrival on the UW-Madison campus, J.P. has been involved with FRI, first as an affiliate member and then as a member of the executive committee. The interplay between fundamental and applied sciences, common to both his research and FRI, has resonated strongly with him. The ability of FRI’s work to directly help the food industry is something he finds to be very powerful and important. J.P. wants to continue to build on FRI’s strong foundation to ensure the organization’s long-term future in assisting food companies.

Now a full professor, J.P. bikes to work when he can, spend with his family, and squeezes in time to slow-cook a pork shoulder, roast his own coffee beans, bake bread, make yogurt and even make Gouda cheese (which he admits is going to require more practice).

Read the latest edition of FRI eNews for up-to-date food safety news, events, and current literature https://app.explore.wisc.edu/e/es?s=1427524768&e=2403680&elqTrackId=6bf940c8fcbe4d2896cdc087ece57e37&elq=bf9bbaba4b45427a89435749a39ce28b&elqaid=81423&elqat=1&elqak=8AF5422A84BE25282174206C84F71BC13D6C19F35859C5639F1C9FA472FF2614172F

Congratulations to FRI admin Marcia Verhage! Marcia is a recipient of the 2026 CALS Academic Staff Excellence Award. An award ceremony will take place Tuesday, April 28, at 4:00 p.m. in room 1220 of the Microbial Sciences Building. https://ecals.cals.wisc.edu/2026/03/16/2026-cals-awards-recipients-announced-will-be-celebrated-april-28/

Join us on March 31 when Bradley Bolling presents, "Chromatic complexity: Can we achieve health benefits from natural pigments by replacing synthetic colors?" Learn more and register: https://fri.wisc.edu/events_seminars.php

FRI Financial Specialist Houa Moua was recently on Good Morning America with family and friends, celebrating the latest accolade that her sister Diane Moua has received for her restaurant in Minneapolis. Diane’s Place was chosen as the 2025 best restaurant in the U.S. by Food and Wine Magazine and was also selected as the best restaurant in Minnesota by Good Morning America. Read more: https://minneapolistimes.com/a-landmark-day-for-northeast-dianes-place-takes-the-national-stage-on-good-morning-america/

Image: Photograph of a large group of people gathered around a table filled with various types of bread and pastries inside Diane's Place in Minneapolis.

You're invited to join us on May 12–13 for the annual Food Research Institute Spring Meeting! This year’s presentations will also be offered virtually via Zoom. Register now: https://uwmadison.tfaforms.net/5183609

Congrats to FRI affiliate faculty member Steve Ricke, who was recently elected as a Fellow to the American Academy of Microbiology based on his records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology. Read more: https://andysci.wisc.edu/2026/02/20/steven-c-ricke-among-63-fellows-elected-to-the-american-academy-of-microbiology/

Image: Steve Ricke portrait in a blue shirt, navy jacket and red tie over a gray background.

FRI affiliate faculty member Sabine Pellett and collaborators published a research article identifying novel botulinum neurotoxin-like toxin proteins produced by the bacteria Paeniclostridium ghonii. Other known botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) and BoNT-like toxins are produced as a single protein that is proteolytically cleaved into two protein domains when forming the active toxin. In contrast, the newly identified BoNT homologs produced by P. ghonii are expressed as separate peptides, eliminating the need for proteolytic cleavage.

Identification and characterization of botulinum neurotoxin–like two-component toxins in Paeniclostridium ghonii Two-component BoNT-like toxins from Paeniclostridium ghonii specifically cleave insect SNAP25 and kill flies and mosquitoes.

Registration is filling quickly for the next Better Process Cheese School, to be held April 14–15, 2026 at UW–Madison. Register today! https://fri.wisc.edu/events_workshops.php