An ISU professor is one of 22 experts nationwide who was appointed to a committee that will study and advise the U.S. government in prevention and control of food-borne diseases.

George Beran, distinguished professor of veterinary medicine, was selected from among food safety experts across the nation to be part of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods.

“It’s truly a tremendous experience,” Beran said. “The people on the committee are the leading experts in the country in both research and practical application of food safety.”

Committee members were first nominated by the American Veterinary Medical Association. From there, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman decided which nominees to recommend to the Federal Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Defense, who together made the final selections.

The committee is set to meet at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., four times each year.

During their first meeting of 1997, the committee discussed pasteurization of milk and fruit juices, risk assessment for food-borne diseases and enhancement of standards for food safety in small processing plants.

Beran said the committee serves a vital purpose in today’s society.

“The issue of food safety is particularly important now that President Clinton has declared food safety a national priority,” he said.

Beran currently chairs the multi-university Food Safety Consortium and is the director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center in Risk Assessment and Hazard Intervention of Foods of Animal Origin at ISU. He also chairs the Food Safety Committee in the American Veterinary Medical Association.