Microbiomes in Food Production

Microorganisms impact the production, distribution and storage of our food, and can be responsible for compromising human and animal health. Understanding microbial-food interactions is essential for the development of spoilage prevention and pathogen detection technologies and extending the shelf life of fresh produce.

Seafood safety and surveillance:

• Pathogen characterisation (sequencing) for seafood inspection
• Surveillance of aquaculture pathogens of concern, incl. development of real-time technology for aquaculture
• Seafood microbial characterisation to identify human pathogens
• Source tracking of pathogens in and around sediments associated with aquaculture farms
• Microplastics-associated pathogens and toxins in marine food chain (e.g., animal rearing facilities)

Food spoilage

• Microbial solutions to delay post-harvest food spoilage
• Understanding microbial biofilm formation to prevent food spoilage, e.g., raw chicken, leafy greens

Food and public health; emerging pathogens

• Study on gastroenteritis – ‘omics studies sequencing pathogens (virus/bacteria) responsible for surveillance