To apply food safety knowledge and new tools to ready-to-eat foods we aim to:

  • test microbes and interventions for ready-to-eat foods
  • understand why best practice is not taken up
  • develop training on validated interventions

Examples of problems the network can address in this area

  • Understand the social and economic factors of why some food safety best practices are not being taken up by some food business operators
  • Understand the microbial burden and assess interventions (e.g. bacteriophage applications) identified in the other priority areas in a manner appropriate for ready-to-eat foods
  • Develop validated methods for the investigation and detection of foodborne viruses (e.g. norovirus, hepatitis E, rotavirus)
  • Promote the implementation of validated interventions and microbial monitoring approaches that are fit-for-purpose for ready-to-eat producers by building digital training, knowledge exchange platforms or other educational approaches