Laboratory Scientist Supervisor:
Erinna Kinney
443-681-3948
Food Laboratory Phone: 443-681-4574
Shellfish Laboratory Phone: 443-681-4571
According to the FDA, recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that about 48 million people (1 in 6 Americans) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from food-borne diseases. This is a significant public health burden that is largely preventable. The Food and Shellfish Lab under the Division of Environmental Sciences provides results and data by testing all Food-borne outbreaks, surveillance, regulatory and seasonal samples for the State of Maryland. As a central lab, we keep Marylanders and our nation safe by testing food samples which is defensible in court by providing good quality data. The food lab plays an important role in public health; so important that it is in COMAR for different types of tests that we do. It has been brought further into the lime light since the Food Modernization Act was passed by President Obama. We are the primary lab for the State of Maryland and the tests we do are crucial. We play a key role in the Labs Administration. We work with different food matrices for many different types of food-borne pathogens. Isolating food pathogens from various matrices is a difficult task, but due to specialized and trained scientists, we have managed to excel in the testing that is required to keep Marylanders safe. The majority of our tests are ISO 17025 and AOAC certified. The Food and Shellfish Lab is certified and audited by the FDA and A2LA to make sure that we meet the international standard for food safety.
