N. C. 

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NORTH CAROLINA STATE LIBRARY 



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JANUARY, 197? 



Looking at seafood 

 from the inside out 



Microbiologists see things a little differently 

 from most people. Where most folks look at fish or 

 beef and think of dinner, microbiologists at North 

 Carolina State University (NCSU) see potential 

 problems. 



"Anytime you start with raw foods, you're start- 

 ing with a loaded situation microbiologically," ex- 

 plains NCSU food scientist Marvin Speck, the man 

 who brought the world sweet acidophilus milk. 



Speck and fellow scientists Bibek Ray and Cam- 

 eron Hackney have been working with UNC Sea 

 Grant to discover the microorganisms lurking in 

 seafood and to find ways to keep the harmful ones 

 out of the food we eat. 



"In the seafood industry relatively little em- 

 phasis has been placed on this part of the industry, 

 as compared to red meats and poultry. So really, 

 we're starting at a very primitive stage as far as 

 what is known," Speck says. 



In addition, the North Carolina seafood business 

 is relatively basic and very scattered. More than 

 100 handlers and processors operate in North Caro- 

 lina and many are small family businesses. 



"The more people you have handling food, the 

 more people need education," Speck continues. 

 "Combine that with a very sensitive food, like sea- 

 food, which is rapidly spoiled and you get a poten- 

 tially explosive situation." 



Recent explosive news about such things as mer- 

 cury and kepone in fish has pointed out the need 

 to know what other contaminants besides microbes 

 are in seafoods. So NCSU food scientist George 

 Giddings is looking at how processing affects both 

 the heavy metal contaminants and nutrients in 

 seafoods. 



Speck, Ray, Giddings and Hackney don't confine 

 their efforts to the laboratory. They are also very 

 aware of the world outside the test tubes. The re- 

 searchers continuously analyze samples from pro- 



1235 Burlington Laboratories 

 NCSU, Raleigh, N.C. 27607 Tel: (919) 737-2U5U 



(See "Getting the news," p. U) 



Scallop processing 



