Ep. 218. Dr. Brady Carter: Water Activity, Shelf-Life Validation, and Food Safety Controls

Brady Carter, Ph.D. is the Chief Scientific Officer at Carter Scientific Solutions. He specializes in water activity, moisture sorption, shelf-life stability, plant science, and wheat production and quality. He has 23 years of experience in research and development and previously was a Research Professor at Washington State University focusing on wheat end-use quality. Dr. Carter has pioneered work in using dynamic isotherms to investigate product stability and establish critical water activities for optimal shelf life. He also specializes in shelf-life loss and effective utilization of instrumentation to address product safety and quality issues. Dr. Carter holds a Ph.D. in Crop Science and Food Engineering and an M.S degree in Cereal Chemistry and Crop Science from Washington State University, as well as a B.A. degree in Botany from Weber State University.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak with Dr. Carter [41:18] about:

• The basics of water activity, including how it is measured and how it differs from moisture content
• The influence of water activity on food safety and shelf life, and how water activity data can support the validation of shelf-life claims
• Ways manufacturers can incorporate water activity into their shelf-life and food safety testing, and during research and development when formulating products
• Regulatory expectations around water activity monitoring as part of validation and verification
• The realities of water activity measurement that make real-time, inline testing impractical with current technology
• How water activity monitoring can help mitigate food waste
• The importance of the statement, "water activity is the energy of water."

News and Resources

News

Donald Prater Becomes New Head of FDA Human Foods Program [16:54]
FDA Commissioner Steps Down, To Be Replaced by Agency's Human Foods Leader
Top U.S. Food Safety Officials Discuss Regulatory Landscape at Food Safety Summit

FDA Encourages Industry to Develop Best Practices, Use Root Cause Analyses [20:30]

FDA Finalizes Systematic Post-Market Food Chemical Review Process [21:34]

FDA Launches One-Day Inspectional Assessments [22:30]

Scientists Tackle Food Waste with More Accurate 'Sell By' Dates Based on Meat Microbial Activity [27:42]

Monitoring Data Show EU Food Mostly Compliant with Pesticide Limits [35:58]

Resources

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