Assessment of biological risks associated on the
production and sale of raw milk, dairy products and meat; the
research activity is focused mainly on Arcobacter spp.,
Campylobacter spp., E. coli verocitotossici, Salmonella spp.,
Listeria monocytogenes, e Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis.
The Unit leads research activities relating to the
agricultural food chains (primary production, manufacturing,
storage) in the field of products of animal origin; these
activities are mainly, but not exclusively, focused on the dairy
chain, respectively milk
and products derived from milk, with particular attention to
raw milk; the specialist skills and knowledge are primarily related
to biological hazards in food that could be important sources of
foodborne pathogens, but the Unit, in close cooperation with
other research groups, provides a wide range of multidisciplinary
scientific skills, including chemical contaminants, qualitative and
nutritional aspects, and typical products. The research unit
benefits from the collaboration with the scientific and
technological strengths of the Experimental Teaching Cheese Factory
and Slaughterhouse of the Departmentof Veterinary Medical Sciences. This has
enabled us to harness a wide array of scientific disciplines in the
pursuit of excellence in veterinary research.The main research
activities deal with the development of new strategies for the
reduction and control of emergent biological hazards in the food
chain. The current research lines include: the assessment of the
risk for the consumer associated with the consumption milk, meat, fishery and their products, microbial resistance in different food chains, hazards due tio the use of insects as protein sources for feed, rapid diagnosis of mastitis and strategies for antimicrobial use reduction, assessment of the risk for consumers
related to Mycobacterium
avium paratuberculosis infection in Italian dairy
farms.
