Food science expert Prof. Lawrence Goodridge appeared in an online article on GlobalNews.ca about how climate change could make our food less safe to eat.

A recent report from the Public Health Agency of Canada concluded that changes to the world’s climate could mean more frequent outbreaks of food-borne illness, and Canadians need to be ready to deal with the risks.

Goodridge, a professor in the Department of Food Science, noted that rising water temperatures, for example, have been associated with more shellfish-related illnesses. Stronger storms could also lead to more agricultural runoff that can cause crop contamination, he said

Goodridge holds the Leung Family Professorship in Food Safety. He studies ways to integrate genomics to detect food- and water-borne bacterial pathogens such as salmonella, E. coli and listeria.