Center for Research on Ingredient Safety, April 2015
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EmailA national Center for Research on Ingredient Safety (CRIS) has been established at MSU.
A national Center for Research on Ingredient Safety (CRIS) has been established at MSU. This very important development strengthens MSU’s and FSHN’s leadership position in food science and food safety. An independent, academic, science-based center, CRIS will serve as a reliable and unbiased source for information, research, training and analysis on the safe use of chemical ingredients in consumer packaged goods including foods, beverages, cosmetics and household care products. The core of the CRIS is a newly endowed chair and several new faculty positions. The search for the inaugural director of CRIS is well under way.
CRIS will be governed by an advisory board composed of multiple stakeholders representing academia, industry, nongovernmental organizations and regulatory agencies.
“Partnerships such as the one with the Grocery Manufacturers Association and its members, which created the Endowed Chair in Ingredient Safety, show that safe and secure food and consumer products truly change the world,” said Fred Derksen, chairperson of the MSU Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. “In addition to the support of the endowed chair, MSU is committed to establishing this center, whose core is research, educating the next generation of scientists, informing regulators and serving industry.”
The center will work to achieve the following goals:
- Expand the opportunity to conduct basic and applied research on the safety and toxicology of ingredients in food, packaging, cosmetics and household care products.
- Develop and validate testing methods and strategies for evaluating the safety of ingredients in food, packaging, cosmetics and household care products.
- Establish a graduate training program that prepares scientists for a career in assessing the safety and toxicology of ingredients in food, packaging, cosmetics and household care products, a program that includes training in risk assessment and U.S. and international regulatory policies.
- Inform the public, health professionals, regulators and the scientific community on research matters reflecting the state-of-the-science pertaining to the safety and toxicology of ingredients in food, packaging, cosmetics and household care products.
