UW-Extension Purnendu Vasavada

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

Agriculture and Natural Resources Specialist

Purnendu Vasavada

Department of Animal and Food Science
UW-River Falls
410 So. 3rd Street
River Falls, WI 54022
715-425-3150
purnendu.c.vasavada@uwrf.edu

Purnendu is an Extension Food Safety and Microbiology Specialist with expertise in the microbiological quality of milk and dairy products. He consults with food industry clients and county-based Extension staff on food safety issues.

A U.S Congressional Office recently consulted Purnendu on the role of rapid pathogen testing of meat in new safety regulations that are being developed.

Recent Highlights

Hosted the 24th Food Microbiology Symposium and the Rapid Methods and Automation in Food Microbiology Workshop with speakers and participants from across the nation and eight other countries
Organized a special one-day forum on Emerging Issues in Food Safety which covered chronic wasting disease (CWD), Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (MAP) and Johne's disease
Organized a two-week short course on food safety in the fish processing industry for food safety specialists from Latvian government and academia. Funded by the Cochran program.
Continued efforts to have food science/food safety incorporated into the high school curriculum with a presentation at the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers (WSST) annual meeting
Made 19 invited presentations at state, regional, national and international conferences and workshops
Interviewed about food safety topics in the news by four different media outlets, including Minnesota Public Radio and KSTP televsion (Channel 5-Minneapolis/St. Paul)

Sharing Our Expertise with Emerging Democracies

With funding from the Cochran Program (USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Office), UW-River Falls hosted three Latvian officials seeking to improve food safety in the Latvian fish industry. To provide the necessary training, a collaborative effort was organized involving area industries, FDA personnel from the Seafood Processing Research Center, and consultants to the U.S. food industry. The Latvians spent two weeks receiving training in all aspects of food safety including processing techniques, development of HACCP plans, creation and enforcement of regulations, etc.

Education

Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in Food Science and Dairy Manufacturing
M.S. from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Microbiology
M.S. from M.S. University in Microbiology
B.S. from J. and J. College of Science in Microbiology