Hundreds of millions of public and private dollars fund basic and applied food safety research, from organizations such as NIFA, ILSI, AMI, CPS, U.S. Poult. & Egg Assoc., Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, other federal and local governments around the world.  In addition, private-funded, industry-related projects abound.  Many of these grants are driven not only by the “hot topics” of the day, and issues perceived as the greatest threat to public health, but also stem from problems representing the greatest economic losses to the food industry (which may or may not be significant food safety issues).  While all these areas are important, the question has been posed:  “are grant-funded research dollars being allocated and utilized in the maximally effective way to improve food safety?”  Participants of this roundtable will represent various areas of food production, regulation, research, and consumer interests, and will be able to provide point-counterpoint arguments relative to food safety research funding.  Topics for discussion will include (1) Maximally beneficial versus less impactful uses of research dollars, (2) Comparison of the food safety impact between [a] publishable research and public access data versus [b] proprietary research projects, (3) Human illness-driven versus industry economic loss-driven research, (4) The effects of pseudo-science non-food safety activism on impactful research (e.g., “pink slime” and genetically engineered crops), (5) The practicality of surrogate microorganisms versus pathogenic microorganisms in research, (6) The use of human or animal models versus cell culture or other in vitro techniques, (7) Challenge studies versus mathematical modeling, and (8) Lab-scale versus manufacturing plant or agricultural field trial studies. 

The following questions will be pre-assigned for speakers to consider:

1. Are current research dollars being used to the maximum extent for food safety?  If not, how could funding allocations be improved?

2. Where does the balance lie in funding research projects that are “human-illness driven” versus projects that stem from “food industry profit losses?”

3. Discuss the impact of research publication and data sharing versus proprietary research, which benefits only a single producer or group of producers.  (i.e., What is the impact of competition among food producers such that important food safety information remains in-house?)  

4. Do you believe the current wave of consumer activism (largely driven by new techno-media sources) regarding pseudo-food safety issues (e.g., “pink slime” and genetically engineered crops) will play a role in future research funding? 

5. What are the 1–3 largest areas that you believe are being overlooked in food safety research grant RFPs, and how would more research in these areas improve public health?

6. What types of research do you deem the most frivolous use of public and industry funds? (i.e., what areas of research will have minimal or no impact on food safety?)

7. What can food industry personnel, academics, government officials, researchers, and anyone with an interest in food safety research do to change “the system?"