Iowa State University animal science professor James Dickson has been named to the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced. The panel was established in 1988 by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the departments of commerce and defense. It provides impartial scientific advice and peer reviews to food safety agencies on public health issues regarding domestic, imported and exported foods. Dickson specializes in food microbiology and meat product safety.