Tracking antibiotic-resistant bacteria in store-bought meats and seafood
Official title: NARMS Cooperative Agreement Program to Strengthen Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance in Retail Food Specimens
Funded at Minnesota State Dept of Agriculture · NIH-11385626 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project checks how often store-bought meats and seafood carry bacteria that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Minnesota State Dept of Agriculture NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Saint Paul, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2020 |
| Project end | August 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $185,000 |
| NIH project number | 2U01FD007154-06 |
| Project ID | NIH-11385626 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This project does not enroll people, but its results are most relevant to consumers and people at higher risk for severe foodborne illness, such as young children, pregnant people, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems.
✕Less likely to help
People seeking a personal medical treatment or who want to join a clinical trial will not directly benefit because the project tests foods, not patients.
What this research studies
Researchers from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture work with the Minnesota Department of Health, CDC, and FDA to buy and test retail meats and seafood from stores across Minnesota. Lab teams culture samples for Salmonella, Campylobacter, Vibrio, Aeromonas, and Enterococcus and send bacterial isolates for confirmation, antibiotic susceptibility testing, and genetic typing. Sampling covers chicken, pork, ground beef, ground turkey, and various seafood like shrimp, salmon, and tilapia, with monthly sample totals varying over time. Results feed into the national NARMS network to spot trends in resistance and to inform food safety guidance and public health actions.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work can help reduce foodborne infections by identifying resistant bacteria in the food supply and guiding safer handling, treatment, and policy decisions.
How similar studies have gone: This work builds on the long-running NARMS retail food surveillance program, which has successfully tracked resistant pathogens in foods and informed public health responses.
Where this research is happening
-
Minnesota State Dept of Agriculture
Saint Paul, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Danzeisen, Jessica — Minnesota State Dept of Agriculture
- Study coordinator: Danzeisen, Jessica
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.