Soohyoun (Soo) Ahn is a lecturer in Food Science and Human Nutrition Department at UF. She is a nationally acclaimed food safety expert with expertise in pathogen detection techniques and food safety practice at small-sized farms and facilities. Dr. Ahn also founded the Florida Food Entrepreneurship program in 2013 and helped numerous Floridians to start their own food business as the program coordinator until she stepped down in 2020.
Her teaching interests include food regulations, food safety, and basic human nutrition and food science at introductory level.
Dr. Ahn’s research interest is to develop rapid, inexpensive, and simple assays for simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens in foods or in the environment. She has also studied microbiological safety at farmers’ markets and foods from small-sized facilities.
Dr. Ahn loves reading, watching movies, doing jigsaw puzzles, and playing with her new puppy, Milo, in her free time.
Dr. Ahn’s research interest is to develop rapid, inexpensive, and simple assays for simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens in foods or in the environment. She is particularly interested in building a small, portable microfluidic platform, which will be ideal for field assays.
Ahn currently does not run active research program and does not accept any graduate student at this time.
Selected Publications
- Roth, L., Simonne, A., House, L. and Ahn, S. 2018. Microbiological analysis of fresh produce sold at Florida farmers’ markets. Food Control 92:444-449.
- Aydin, M., Carter-Conger, J., Gao, N., Gilmore, D. F., Ricke, S. C. and Ahn, S. 2018. Molecular identification of common Salmonella serovars using multiplex DNA sensor-based suspension array. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 410: 2637-2646.
- Wu, S., Ricke, S. C., Schneider, K. R. and Ahn, S. 2017. Food safety hazards associated with ready-to-bake cookie dough and its ingredients. Food Control 73:986-993.
- Herzig, G. P. D., Aydin, M., Dunigan, S., Shah, P., Jeong, K. C., Park, S. H., Ricke, S. C. and Ahn, S. 2016. Magnetic bead-based immunoassay coupled with tyramide signal amplification for detection of Salmonella in foods. Journal of Food Safety 36:383-391.
Dr. Ahn’s Extension interest includes food entrepreneurship and food safety practices in small facilities including home-based businesses and farmers markets. She founded the Florida Food Entrepreneurship program in 2013 and held many training workshops for beginning food entrepreneurs in Florida, including the state-acclaimed workshops, “How to Start a Food Business in Florida”, “Farmers Market Food Safety for Managers and Vendors”, and “Understanding the Florida Cottage Food Law“. She helped numerous Floridians to start their own food business as the program director until she stepped down in May 2020.
Dr. Ahn is currently developing an online Food Entrepreneurship class for Distance Learning.
Selected Publications:
- Ahn, S., Goldstein, J., Baker, G. and Krug, M. 2020. How to Start a Food Business: Basic Food Technology – Food Acidity. EDIS publication #FSHN20-2. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FS/FS32500.pdf
- O’Donoughue, A., Jenning, W., and Ahn, S. Finding and Using a Co-packer. EDIS publication #FSHN20-35. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FS/FS38000.pdf
- Krug, M and Ahn, S. Facility registration and initial regulatory compliance activities for acidified food and low-acid canned food processors in Florida. EDIS publication #FSHN19-2. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/FS/FS31800.pdf
- Athearn, K. R., Simonne, A., and Ahn, S. Budget template for home canning. EDIS publication #FE1034 http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FE/FE103400.pdf
- Ahn, S. and Simonne, A. H. 2018. Clostridium difficile – an important opportunistic pathogen in healthcare-associated infections. University of Florida – IFAS. EDIS publication #FSHN14-07 http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FS/FS25300.pdf
- Lepper, J. A., Ahn, S., Schneider, K. R., Danyluk, M. D., and Goodrich-Schneider, R. 2018. The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 – Final rule for preventive controls for human food. University of Florida – IFAS. EDIS publication #FSHN17-6 http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FS/FS30100.pdf
- Rometo, M., USapijaszko, J. and Ahn, S. Best practices for shoppers at the farmers’ market. University of Florida – IFAS. EDIS publication #FSHN17-7 http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FS/FS30200.pdf
- Ahn, S., Lepper, J. A. and Schneider, K. R. 2017 (major revision6). Food safety tips for the holiday season. University of Florida – IFAS. EDIS publication #FSHN14-13 http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FS/FS26000.pdf
Soohyoun Ahn, Ph.D.