Material from two interdisciplinary research projects, conducted by the Center for Food Safety at Texas A&M University (one completed, one ongoing), is presented. These international projects respectively assess the comparative costs of adopting various pathogen reduction strategies in beef slaughter plants in Australia and the food safety risks (and recommended strategies to alleviate any risks) in cantaloupe and cabbage production and packing in Texas and Mexico. The economic component of each project is introduced, along with findings (for the completed project) and methodologies to be adopted (for the ongoing project). The vital role of stakeholders in conducting this research is stressed to provide lessons for similar partnerships in the future.