Food Safety Expert, Profs Make Headlines
January 29, 2013 - In the News
Brita Ball, Food Safety Network co-ordinator, appeared live on CTV News Channel Wednesday. She discussed safe food handling in the context of a new study that says leafy greens like lettuce and spinach are a leading source of food poisoning.
Ball talked about what the study means, the risks involved in improper food handling, and how people should be careful with their food to prevent contamination.
She was interviewed by Sandie Rinaldo for CTV News Today.
Ball studies food safety management systems in the food processing sector, including how factors such as the food safety culture and production systems influence employees, food safety and quality assurance.
Prof. Bruce McAdams, Hospitality and Tourism Management, was on the popular CBC Radio program Q Monday, taking part in a live debate on tipping and the effect on the hospitality industry. He discussed the issue with host Jian Ghomeshi and Steve Dublanica, the author of Waiter Rant and Keep the Change, who participated from a studio in New York City.
The debate aired live in Atlantic Canada and was broadcast at 10:30 a.m. in Guelph. Q, a national daily talk program on CBC Radio One and CBC-TV, airs on CBC Radio One weekdays at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Since it launched in 2007, Q has become the highest-rated show in its morning time slot in CBC history.
McAdams studied how gratuities affect restaurant operations as part of a larger project on issues affecting restaurant sustainability. Some of his preliminary findings were released last summer in a discussion paper called “The Tipping Point: Is There a Fair Share?”
He worked in the hospitality industry for close to 30 years before coming to Guelph in 2009. Prior to joining the U of G faculty, he was vice-president of operations with Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants. He is also founder and co-chair of the Ontario Hostelry Institute’s “Top 30 Under 30” recognition program and believes in mentoring and recognizing students who aspire to be industry leaders. A two-time Guelph graduate; he earned an undergraduate degree in hotel and food administration in 1989 and a master’s degree in leadership studies in 2009.
Prof. Andrew McAdam, Integrative Biology, was featured in the Toronto Star Sunday as part of the ongoing series Wild in the City. In the article, McAdam talked about the differences between red and grey squirrels and how grey squirrels came to be more prominent in Toronto parks.
He went on to say that the squirrels will be eating food they have stored up through the fall. When that food supply ends, the red squirrels will eat "fungus, berries, buds and sometimes even insects or sap from trees or even animal material (songbird eggs, young birds or even young mammals).”
McAdam is an evolutionary ecologist interested in the ecological mechanisms of short-term evolutionary change in natural populations. Research in his lab investigates the biotic and abiotic factors influencing the strength and mode of selection and genetic and environmental constraints on adaptation. These include interactions between closely associated species, the effects of food and climate on adaptation, and the unique role that human activities play as a contemporary evolutionary force.
