The Centre's annual symposium in Christchurch, on 1 July, comprised a rich menu of presentations on global and national food safety science, focusing on developments with whole genome sequencing, and emerging risks and opportunities.  It includes a statement by Chair Kevin Marshall about the outcome of the Centre's mid-term review. (view here)

The symposium was book-ended by a women in science breakfast and a panel discussion on the dilemma of plastic packaging, chaired by Kim Hill, which will be broadcast by RNZ National in the near future. (RNZ Web story - view here)  

Presentation videos

Welcome - Professor Juliet Gerrard (Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor), Dr Kevin Marshall (NZFSSRC Board Chair) & Professor Nigel French (NZFSSRC Director)

Session 1
Whole Genome Sequencing for Food Safety

Professor Martyn Kirk - Food safety benefits of harmonising genomics of pathogens across humans, animals and foods

Dr Pierre Venter - The application of Whole Genome Sequencing in Food Safety Risk Management: An Industry Perspective

Session 2
Whole Genome Sequencing for Food Safety

Professor Nigel French - Genomics for food safety: global and local perspectives

Professor Phil Bremer - What are the perceptions of the NZ food industry and regulators of WGS projects?

Dr Rob Lake - Databases and data controls for WGS

Nicola King - Summary of project: Horizon scanning for food safety

Panel Discussion  – ‘Emerging Food Safety Risks and Opportunities’ Panellists: Dr Anne Astin, Dr Roger Cook, Cathy Webb, Dr Pierre Venter

Gale Prince - Fifty Years of Food Safety and Now in the Fast Lane

Session 3
Three-minute thesis competition
 
Manasweeta Angane - Investigation of market access risk mitigation technologies using air blast freezing & frozen storage to eliminate Escherichia coli from seafood

Sam Murray - Ciguatera fish poisoning and associated toxins

Sree Soundarya Tejaswi Karamcheti - Bayesian approach to the microbial risk analysis of Listeria in sous-vide processed meat

Ayomikun Samuel Esan - Hydrodynamic flow focusing for single bacteria cell enumeration in a flow cytometry system using microfluidics device

Erin Young - Chinese consumers like intelligent packaging better than active packaging

Saili Chalke - Influence of Cation on Biofilm Formation and persistence of Listeria monocytogenes

Nilukshi Liyanagunawardena - Salmonella in poultry

Dominic Shepherd - Understanding NZ consumers' perceptions about the most important food risks

Yadnyavalkya Patil - Leaky gut microbiome omics in heat stressed pigs and food safety

Hannah Cotter-Cox - Industry and consumer perceptions of the environmental pros and cons of smart packaging technologies designed to improve food safety

Felicity Prendergast - Consumer perceptions of the safety of “upcycled” (i.e. food waste that is remanufactured into other products) foods

Session 4
Emerging Food Safety Risks and Opportunities
 
Alison Turnbull - Capitalising on market opportunities through pro-active management of food safety risk in the Australian seafood industry

Dr Cushla McGoverin - Shining light on food quality and safety

Peter Cressey - Biocides: Essential aids and nuisance contaminants

Dr Andrew Kralicek - Development of an aptasensor for the detection of L. monocytogenes…the journey begins!

Evening Panel Discussion – ‘Safe and Secure Food or Eco-Toxic Rubbish’

Chaired by Kim Hill and broadcast on Radio NZ National.
Panellists: Sharon Humphreys (Packaging New Zealand), Mike Sammons (Foodstuffs), Professor Juliet Gerrard (Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor), A/Professor Xiaomeng Wu (China Agricultural University)