The Food and Drug Administration offered $500,000 in prizes for potential breakthrough ideas on how to detect Salmonella bacteria in fresh produce. “Concepts must be able specifically to address the detection of Salmonella in minimally processed fresh produce, but the ability of a solution to address testing for other microbial pathogens and in other foods is encouraged,” said FDA. It is the first time FDA has run a cash prize contest. Entries are due by Nov 9.
Salmonella is the leading cause of death and hospitalization from food-borne illness, with the toll estimated at 380 deaths and 19,000 hospital stays. U.S. officials say the food supply is among the safest in the world but an estimated 1 in 6 Americans a year contracts food-borne illness.
Details about the contest are available here.