Investigation of levels of bacterial pathogens in fish © University of Greenwich

The contamination of food and feeds so that they are unsafe for consumption is an issue of concern everywhere. In many developing countries where the need to eat may outweigh concerns about food safety, it is a particularly serious problem. With increasing globalisation, the entry of food that is unsafe for consumption into the trading system from any source can lead to widespread suffering and loss of income among producers and consumers alike.

The Food Safety Research Team operates throughout the global food system, addressing the need to develop effective methods for the control of food hazards. Current work focuses upon the control of food-borne pathogens, moulds and mycotoxins in a wide variety of foods and feeds, including cereals, oilseeds, edible nuts, fruit, vegetables, fish and meat.

Key research areas

• Design of surveillance, sampling and sample preparation plans Development and evaluation of novel chemical and biological analytical methods
• Evaluation of food safety management systems
• Development and evaluation of safe handling and processing systems
• Development and evaluation of novel procedures for the estimation of microbial growth

Staff

Linda Nicolaides
Prof. Andrew Westby
Dr Andrew Graffham
Keith Tomlins

Projects

Aspergillus flavus growth on groundnuts © University of Greenwich

A0894 Enhancing Food Security through Improvements to Street Vended Foods

C0600 The Development of Sampling Plans for the Determination of Aflatoxins in Animal Feeds. EC-funded

C0608 The Detoxification of Animal Feed: Metabolic Fate/ Toxicology. EC-funded

T0002 The Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Foods and Feeds in Bangladesh.

A0918 Improved Quality Assurance Systems for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Produced by Resource Poor Farmers

Post Graduate Projects

T0002 Control of Mycotoxins in Major Food Commodities in Bangladesh

E0074 Mechanisms of Cyanogen Reduction During the Lactic Acid Fermentation of Cassava

X0273 Rapid Methods for the Analysis of Mycotoxins

E0079 Osmotic Drying of Food: Development of Predictive Models

X0274 Development of a Second Generation Biosensor for the Detection of Mycotoxins

E0021 Development of a Biosensor for the Determination of Mycotoxins

E0022 Development of Yeast Bioassays for Mycotoxins and Other Toxins

E0078 Authentication of Cultured Milk Products: Rapid Verification and Enumeration of L. acidophilus

Publications

Hoogenboom, L.A.P., Tulliez, J., Gautier, J-P., Coker, R.D. Melcion, J.-P., Nagler, M.J., Polman, Th.H.G. and Delort-Laval, J. (2001). Absorption, distribution and excretion of aflatoxin-derived ammoniation products in lactating cows. Journal of Food Contaminants 18, 47-50.

Wareing, P.W., Westby, A., Gibbs, J.A., Allotey, L.T. and Halm, M. (2001) Consumer preferences and fungal and mycotoxin contamination of dried cassava products. Journal of Food Science and Technology 36, 1-10.

Myhara, R, Tomlins, K, Johnson, PK, Obeng-Asiedu, P and Greenhalgh, P. 2000. Implementation of quality management systems to control food safety hazards of street-vended foods in Ghana. Proceedings of Food Safety Objectives: Public Health and Sciences. Ceres Forum. Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., December 4-5, 2000.

Engler, K, Coker, R and Evans, I (2000). Toxin-binding properties of cytochrome P450 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Kluyveromyces marxianus. Biotechnology Letters ,22, 3 -8.

Engler, K H, Coker, R D and Evans, I H (2000). Uptake of aflatoxin B1 and T-2 toxin by two mycotoxin bioassay microorganisms: Kluyveromyces marxianus and Bacillus megaterium. Archives of Microbiology.174, 381-385.

Coker, R, Nagler, M, Defize, P, Derksen, G, Buchholz, H, Putzka, H, Hoogland, H and Roos A (2000) The development of sampling plans for the determination of aflatoxin B1 in animal feedingstuffs. Journal of Association of Official Analytical Chemists International 83,1252-1258.

Dawlatana, M, Coker, R, Nagler, M, Gibbs, J and Blunden, G (1999) An HPTLC method for the quantitative determination of T-2 toxin and deoxynivalenol in rice. Chromatographia 49 (9/10) 547-551.

Engler, K, Coker, R and Evans, I (1999). A Colorimetric Technique for Detecting Trichothecenes and assessing Relative Potencies. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 65, 1854-1857.

Engler, K, Coker, R, and Evans, I (1999) A novel colorimetric yeast bioassay for detecting trichothecene mycotoxins. J. Microbiol. Methods 35, 207-218.

Head, S. W., Swetman, A. A., Nagler, M. J. (1999). 'Studies on deterioration and aflatoxin contamination in copra during storage'. Oleagineux Corps gras Lipides (OCL) 6 (4) pp349-359.

Nicolaides, L. (1999) Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point : from the farm to the fork. In: Decision Tools for Sustainable Development, editors: Ian Grant and Chris Sear. The University of Greenwich, ISBN: 085954 500-8

Twiddy, D.R. & Wareing, P.W. 1999 Spoilage of plant products, cereals and cereal flours. In Encyclopaedia of Food Microbiology. (eds Robinson, R.K., Batt, C.A. & Patel, P.D.) pp2045-2050. Academic Press, London. ISBN 0-12-227070-3

Wareing, P.W. 1999 The application of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach to the control of mycotoxins in foods and feeds. Post-Harvest News and Information 10(3), 29-33.

Bainbridge, Z., Harding, S., French, L., Kapinga, R., and Westby, A. (1998) A study of the role of tissue disruption in the removal of cyanogens during cassava root processing. Food Chemistry 62, 291-297.

Dawlatana, M, Coker, RD, Nagler, MJ, Blunden, G and Oliver, WO (1998). An HPTLC method for the quantitative determination of zearalenone in maize. Chromatographia 47, 215-218.

George, M., Westby, A. and Adams, M.R. (1998) A note on the microbial safety of cassava flour. Journal of Root Crops 23(1) 57-60.

Nagler, M., Buangsuwon, D., Jewers, K., Faungfupong, S., Wong-urai, A., Nagler, C., and Tanboon-ek, P. (1998). The role of leaving maize unharvested in the field after field maturity (field drying) in controlling aflatoxin contamination. Mycotoxin Prevention and Control in Foodgrains, Ed. Semple, R. L., Frio, A. S., Hicks, P. A., and Lozare, J. V. Published by UNDP/FAO

Nagler, M., Meadley, J., Cutler, M. (1998). Mycotoxins in grain in selected countries: The UK-Thai Maize Project. Mycotoxin Prevention and Control in Foodgrains, Ed. Semple, R. L., Frio, A. S., Hicks, P. A., and Lozare, J. V. Published by UNDP/FAO

Nicolaides, L, Coker, R, Wareing, P and Nagler, M. (1998). Food Safety and the Developing World. Natural Resources Institute Bulletin, Chatham, UK. ISBN 0 85954 493-1.

Nicolaides, L. (1998) Crustacean Shellfish. In: Microbiology Handbook 3) Fish and Seafood. Leatherhead Food Research Association publication. ISBN 0 905 748 41 7

Wareing, P., Nicolaides, L. and Twiddy, D.R. (1998) Nuts. In: The microbiology safety and quality of foods, eds. Barbara M. Lund, Tony C. Baird Parker and Grahame W. Gould (0-8342-1323-0) An Aspen Publication.

Adams, M.R. and Nicolaides, L. (1997) Review of the sensitivity of different food-borne pathogens to fermentation. Food Control 8 (5/6):227-239.

Wareing, P.W. 1997 Isolation and detection of thermotolerant and thermophilic fungi from maize with particular reference to Thermoascus species. International Journal of Food Microbiology 35, 137-145.

Westby, A., Reilly, P.J.A. and Bainbridge, Z.A. (1997) Review of the effect of fermentation on naturally occurring toxins. Food Control. 8, 329-339.

Dawlatana, M., Coker, M. D., Nagler, M. J., Blunden, G. (1996). A Normal Phase HPTLC Method for the Quantitative Determination of Ochratoxin A in Rice. Chromatographia 42, No.1/2, 25-28

Phillips, S.I., Wareing, P.W., Medlock, V. Panigrahi, S. & Dutta, A. 1996 The mycoflora and incidence of aflatoxin and zearalenone in dairy feed and forage samples from eastern India and Bangladesh. Mycopathologia 133, 15-21.