A professor of food safety and public health with Texas Tech's Department of Animal and Food Sciences has been appointed to a national committee that will provide recommendations on microbial criteria of food. The selection of Guy Loneragan to the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods was announced today (Mar. 1) by USDA officials.

"It's an incredible honor and responsibility to be appointed to this committee," Loneragan said. "It highlights the prominence of Texas Tech's internationally-respected food safety program."

The committee provides recommendations to both Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius, who runs Health and Human Services, the department that oversees the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The committee's work provides a valuable resource for obtaining external expert advice on scientific and technical food safety issues for our nation's food safety programs, said Food Safety and Inspection Service Administrator Al Almanza. Committee membership includes some 29 scientists from academia, industry and other organizations.

Members are appointed by the USDA Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of HHS with advice on membership from the Department of Commerce's National Marine Fisheries Service, Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Loneragan, who joined the Tech faculty in 2010, was formerly an epidemiologist and associate professor at West Texas A&M. He also served in adjunct faculty roles at Texas Tech, Colorado State, Kansas State and Texas A&M. Today, Loneragan's research focuses on understanding the ecology of antibody resistance, and looking at pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli O157 to understand their ecology within livestock populations.

Written by Norman Martin

CONTACT: Guy Loneragan, professor, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2805 ext. 268 or guy.loneragan@ttu.edu

0322NM13 / PHOTO: Rik Andersen/West Texas A&M