Amanda Wilbanks, owner of Gainseville’s Southern Baked Pie Company, baked her way to the grand prize with her caramel pecan pie in the University of Georgia’s 2016 Flavor of Georgia Contest.

Mike Doyle doesn’t eat raw bean sprouts, medium-rare hamburgers or bagged salads. He isn’t on a special diet, but as director of the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety in Griffin, Georgia, he studies the food pathogens that sicken thousands of Americans each year. For a time, foodborne illness was most often connected with undercooked meats; today, 33 percent of cases are tracked back to raw produce.

Judges have selected 33 products to compete in the final round of the University of Georgia's 2016 Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest March 14-15 at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot in Atlanta.

Georgia wines may not have the same cachet as California chardonnays or French Burgundies, but they’re earning new accolades each year thanks to a community of dedicated grape growers and little help from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.

If winter weather is keeping your family indoors, use the time to make and enjoy homemade fruit roll-ups. Using a food dehydrator and directions from University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, you can make some simple fruit roll-up snacks that are lower in sugar than those that are commercially produced.

Spring water from springs scattered across north Georgia may taste better than tap water, but that doesn’t mean it is safe to drink. The truth is that these spring water sources are not tested or treated.

While early reaction to the new dietary guidelines released by the federal government on Thursday focused on new warnings about added sugar, sodium and meat, a University of Georgia expert noted the report is largely consistent with previous versions.

Time is running short for food entrepreneurs who want to participate in the state’s premier annual food competition: UGA’s Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest. The deadline for registering for the 10th annual contest is Friday, Feb. 5.

Researchers at the University of Georgia found that pathogens, like salmonella, can survive for at least six months in cookies and crackers. The recent study was prompted by an increased number of outbreaks of foodborne diseases linked to low-water-activity, or dry, foods.