Purdue University says it it working with the Food and Drug Administration on a multiyear study of salmonella in the cantaloupe-growing region of southwest Indiana.
Researchers will sample air, soil, water, weather data and animal scat to better understand the environmental conditions that encourage the survival, growth and spread of pathogens, according to the university. The study includes a farm in central Indiana, four university-operated farms in northwest Indiana and the Southwest Purdue Ag Center.
Purdue said the state ranks sixth in the U.S. in cantaloupe production according to USDA data. As of 2018 figures, growers in Indiana planted 1,8000 acres of cantaloupe with a production value of $8.6 million
The new study focuses on how pathogens move in the environment and how those pathogens may contaminate produce before harvest, according to the university.
“The growers want to participate in this study because of their commitment to do everything they can to keep their produce as safe as possible,” Amanda Deering, associate professor of fresh food produce safety, said in a report from Purdue’s College of Agriculture.
