Hi-Tech to the Rescue

The nation's food processors are increasingly looking to hi-tech to safeguard the food supply against possible bioterrorism threats.

One quality control manager, for example, boasts that he can track the exact source of any ingredient in any of his company’s products within 15 minutes --- a far cry from the five to six hours it took using the previous system. As any food safety expert would attest, five to six hours is an eternity from the standpoint of food-poisoning or bioterrorism.

Even so, there is a downside to the added vigilance that has followed 9/11. A group of scientists maintain that safety measures put in place following the attacks are having a chilling effect on scientific research --- a problem that ultimately may undermine U.S. scientific preeminence.

“To win the war on terror, we may lose our scientific preeminence,” warned David Heyman, director of the Homeland Security Program's Center for Strategic and International Studies, speaking at an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting recently.

Part of the problem, they say, stems from visa delays and restrictions. Also, roughly 50 percent of the graduate schools reported declines in applications for programs in agriculture or the biological sciences, according to a recent survey.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at April 27, 2004 09:24 AM | TrackBack