Food safety

Theme Leader: Professor Mike Gasson

Programme Leaders:

Bacterial pathogenesis and response to environmental stress: Drs Jay Hinton & Jerry Wells

Predicting the behaviour of food bacterial pathogens: Professor Mike Peck

Commensal bacteria in biocontrol and fermentation: Professor Mike Gasson

Molecular profiling of GM plants: Dr Tony Michael

Dr Jerry Wells, Dr Tony Michael, Professor Mike Peck, Professor Mike Gasson and Dr Jay Hinton

The Food Safety Theme is focused on microbial food poisoning. The continued persistence of human food poisoning and the constant threat that damaging new problems will emerge have a major impact on the food industry, the Government and consumers. Well established problems persist and this is exacerbated by the fact that new foodborne disease problems are likely to emerge, driven by changes in pathogens, human host status and levels of exposure.

The IFR research strategy on microbial food poisoning is built on two key premises. First, food-borne pathogens are highly evolved microbes that have the capacity to thrive in a diversity of environments that are likely to include the farm, raw materials including farm animals, abattoirs, food processing factories, the retail chain and the human host. Because of the significance of the entire food chain, our research strategy encompasses a whole food chain vision. This is addressed by the combination of focused in-house expertise and technology strengths, together with strategic collaborations that provide the necessary breadth of expertise and experimental facilities. Second, the current era of whole genome sequencing and post-genomic analysis provides an unprecedented opportunity to advance the understanding of bacterial pathogens and this will lead to better prediction and control.

Our microbiology research is divided into three distinct but highly interactive programmes. Research on the fundamental biology of foodborne pathogens has an emphasis on the basis of bacterial virulence and the response of bacteria to their environment. The focus is on Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter and Clostridium botulinum. More food-focused work addresses the behaviour of microbes in food, improved prediction of the fate of microorganisms and improved risk assessment. Work on pathogen control and eradication provides a proactive dimension to our food safety research.

In addition, the Theme addresses safety issues surrounding the introduction of novel food, including genetically modified food. Concerns over the safety of GM foods drive the ongoing development of safety evaluation strategies that will underpin the needs of safety regulation. A major issue is the potential of molecular profiling to provide data on the global consequences of transgene introduction. This depends on understanding and interrogating gene expression and the interface between transcription, translation and metabolism. We have expertise in translational regulation of plants and contribute to the development and exploitation of global molecular profiling using DNA microarrays, proteomics and metabolomics.