Laboratory of Food Microbiology & Food Preservation

                                                    
The Laboratory of Food Microbiology and Food Preservation focuses on gathering knowledge (know how but especially know why) on the microbial behaviour in food products during harvesting/slaughtering, processing, storage, distribution and preparation. For this purpose, predictive microbiology and microbial analysis are considered as two essential areas of the research concept. Also mild preservation and decontamination techniques are examined to prolong the shelf life and to increase the microbial safety of food products. Packaging is one of the most important preservation techniques investigated by the laboratory. Quality assurance systems are implemented and analysed to enhance microbial food safety and quantitative data are collected in view of exposure assessment to allow more accurate microbial risk evaluations. The laboratory is accredited for the analysis of the most important microbiological parameters. Due to the economical interest, special attention is given to the mechanisms of microbial spoilage of food products.

Key words:

Preservation
Microbiological Safety
Packaging
Quality Assurance
Predictive Microbiology
Pathogens
Viruses
Spoilage
Moulds Meat
Fish
Vegetables
Fruit
Ready to Eat Meals
Risk Analysis
Analysis