GRAVETTE — Nathan Tapp, a 2006 graduate of Gravette High School, received international recognition in Warsaw, Poland, where he attended the recent International Association for Food Protection Symposium on Food Safety.

Tapp is the son of Vickie and William Tapp of Gravette. Following his graduation from GHS in 2006 he earned his bachelor’s degree in animal science, with a minor in agri-business from the University of Arkansas in 2010.

He is now enrolled at Texas Tech University, where he will graduate this August with a master’s degree in meat science with emphasis on food safety.

It was his research at TTU involving food safety that resulted in his award. His poster on that subject earned first-place honors among his peers at the international symposium.

Last week Tapp attended the Reciprocal Meats Conference in Fargo, N.D., where he presented his research about E. Coli. The bacteria has attracted much attention in recent months because of its dangerous and sometimes fatal consequences.

In July he will be attending the IAFP’s American Symposium on Food Safety being held in Providence, R.I.

Tapp’s food safety research and resulting honors were reported in the following release by Norman Martin:

A meat science and muscle biology graduate student from Texas Tech’s Department of Animal and Food Sciences has been awarded first-place honors for his research poster at the International Association for Food Protection European Symposium on Food Safety in Warsaw, Poland.

Nathan Tapp, a master’s student from Gravette, focused his research presentation on room temperature alternative sanitation practices, since non-thermal water can be more accessible throughout most of the world. The research poster was titled “Reduction of Salmonella on Harvesting Knives Following Thirty Second Sanitizing Treatments.”

Tapp, who serves as a graduate research assistant, found that while thermal sanitation is generally moreeffective for pathogenic contamination, there are alternatives producing reduction of salmonella if hot water is not available. He noted that the purpose of the study was to compare room temperature sanitizing treatments to standard water sanitation treatments to determine the treatment most effective at reducing salmonella on harvesting knives.

Salmonella illnesses can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps and fever. Salmonella causes about 1.2 million cases of food poisoning each year. Its victims are most likely to be 5 or younger. Infections from salmonella, which can bedeadly, result in $365 million in direct medical costs each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The IAFP’s European Symposium on Food Safety was organized in collaboration with the International Life Sciences Institute Europe and the Society for Applied Microbiology. Since 2005, the symposium has centeredon the future of food safety by providing a forum for professionals from across Europe working in industry, government and academia.

Program officials claim that the mission of the International Association for Food Protection is to provide food safety professionals worldwide with a forum to exchange information on protecting the food supply.

News, Pages 3 on 06/27/2012