Research Projects

Current research projects

Funding body Projects Completion Further information
Hort Innovation Pathogen Persistence from Paddock to Plate  (VG16042) 2020 Contact us
Australian Research Council 9 projects as across three themes; (1) on-farm environment; (2) postharvest environment (3) risk assessment 2020 freshfoodsafety.org

Completed research projects

  1. The Guidelines for Fresh Produce Food Safety (Guidelines) provides Australian and New Zealand fresh produce industries with practical, up-to-date information on assessing and managing food safety risks for fresh produce. Incorporating the latest in scientific research and industry experience, it harmonises fresh food safety practices and programs, detailing good food safety practices for entire fresh produce production and distribution chains from growing through to receival at retail.
  2. The Understanding the Gaps literature review project (UtG) examines five priority areas identified by the FPSC in consultation with industry, government and the research community. It provides fresh produce industries in Australia and New Zealand with an up-to-date examination of the scientific literature and highlights priority questions for industry for further research.
  3. Hort Innovation Food Safety in the Australian Mushroom Industry (MU16005) was completed in 2018. This project investigated food safety risks within mushroom production systems. It brought together existing research and information on food safety in Australia’s mushroom industry, and on foodborne pathogens including listeria species, salmonella species and coli. Surveys were conducted on mushroom farms to look at pathogen loads in compost, on casing and on fresh mushrooms over a 12-month period. Finally, it used a lab-based trial to investigate the potential for change in microbial loads over time for a range of processing and food chain scenarios. This project has been funded by Hort Innovation.

These projects were funded directly by retailers, growers, service providers and regulators in Australia and New Zealand. The Guidelines and UtG projects, delivered in August and October 2015 respectively, conclude the first round of FPSC coordinated research activities.

If you are interested in participating in future FPSC coordinated research projects, please subscribe to the FPSC A-NZ newsletter where announcements about future requests for proposals and project sponsorship opportunities will be announced. You can also contact us to discuss any specific suggestions or concerns.