Nexxus Scotland

Kofi Aidoo, Professor of Food Safety and Microbiology, Glasgow Caledonian University

Q: So, for those of us who don't know, what does a Professor of Food Safety and Microbiology in Glasgow Caledonian University actually do?

The Food Science Laboratory here is part of the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences within the School of Life Sciences. Glasgow Caledonian University is the only UK University to have a United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accredited laboratory and I am responsible for the laboratory which offers analytical services to the food industry and waste management companies. The services we provide include nutritional and compositional analyses of food, microbiological examination of foods, fungal and bacterial toxins in food, foreign body identification to determine whether contamination was accidental or sabotage, analysis of industrial effluents and waste material, compost.

We also offer a range of short courses organised under the auspices of professional bodies such as the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) and the Royal Society for Public Health.

Q: Tell us about a typical day (or is there no such thing?)

A typical day involves meeting with the UKAS team and evaluating quality systems in the laboratory. At present I am supervising 3 PhD students who are working on various aspects of food safety and I deal with enquiries from food manufacturers and processors on analytical services. Also, I teach on our postgraduate and undergraduate programmes and hold regular meetings with students.

We are currently conducting research on the occurrence of fungal toxins (mycotoxins) in imported foods and food ingredients. This is a follow up to research commissioned by the Scottish Executive in 1999/2000. Mycotoxins, particularly aflatoxins, are carcinogens so our research focuses on frequency of occurrence, levels of the toxins in food and growth conditions to minimize toxin production by the fungi.

The research team is also investigating detoxification of aflatoxins in milk and dairy products using probiotic bacteria.

Q: So what's taken up most of your time recently?

Research and commercialisation generally take up about 80% of my time.

In the laboratory, the teams test for macro- and micro - nutrients of foods for labeling purposes; these normally appear as nutritional information on some food products in supermarkets and retailers such as M&S, Sainsbury's, Co-op, Asda, etc.

UKAS accreditation is a key tool for our analytical services which are used by many SMEs and blue chip companies including William Grant & Sons Ltd, Girvan; Scotbeef, East Kilbride; Grampian Country Foods, Bathgate; and Moorhead and McGavin, Motherwell. Other tests performed in the laboratory are shelf life determination of food products, use of food additives, chemical and microbiological profiling and sensory evaluation.

Most recently I've just returned from an international conference in Aberdeen (Food Micro 2008) which was attended by over 800 delegates from 43 countries.   I presented a paper on recent developments in detoxification techniques of mycotoxins in dairy products being carried out in the Food Science Laboratory.

Writing applications for research grants and evaluating internal quality systems internally and for external bodies has also been keeping me busy. 

Q: What's on the cards for the next few months?

I serve on various committees including REHIS, The Institute of Food Science & Technology, Central Science Laboratory (CSL's FEPAS), the Food Additives and Contaminants committee of FAO/WHO and these meetings are spread over the year.

However I also have to prepare my teaching materials for next semester. I am preparing for an international conference on food mycology in 2009 and also contributing to publication of two books on microbial food safety due to come out in 2009.

Every year my European colleagues and I organise an EU funded international programme on Food Safety and Risk Assessment (FRSA) within the SOCRATES/ERASMUS programme of the European Commission.   Involving 12 Universities, the FRSA programme addresses the diversity of approaches to food safety and risk assessment throughout the EU. Glasgow Caledonian University hosted the programme in 2006, this year it took place in Amsterdam and next year it's taking place in Budapest.   Our application for EU funding for the 2009 international programme needs to be completed by March 2009 so that will also occupy a lot of my time over the coming months.

Q: What would you want to do if you weren't doing this job?

I would most likely be doing arable farming.

I have a passion for growing my own plant crops including the cultivation of some of the lesser-known and medicinal mushrooms such as shitake.  I'd also like to produce my own compost to help regenerate soil nutrients.

For more information contact Kofi
T: 0141 331 8014
E: k.aidoo@gcal.ac.uk

Or for more information on Glasgow Caledonian University generally, see www.gcal.ac.uk