The Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) is internationally renowned for its innovative research into food safety and microbiology.
We work closely with the Australian food industry and international partners, providing advice and developing food safety tools.
Within TIA’s Centre for Food Safety and Innovation (CFSI), we have researchers who are internationally regarded for leadership in modelling the ecology of bacteria in foods, a discipline called ‘predictive microbiology’.
Our research covers a wide range of topics, from fermentation, raw milk cheese safety, to microbial growth on red meat, and innovative ideas for premium fruit and vegetable products.
The CFSI is training the next generation of food scientists and our postgraduate students provide a valuable input into the Centre’s research.
Associate Professors Tom Ross and John Bowman are TIA’s food safety and microbiology experts.
Associate Professor Tom Ross leads TIA’s food safety research into red meat and was director of the ARC Training Centre for Innovative Horticultural Products. He has contributed to international food microbiology and food safety boards. In 2017 Tom was invited onto the Executive Board of the International Committee on Food Microbiology and Hygiene (ICMFH) and contributed to the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) food safety risk assessment software platform. Read about Tom here.
Associate Professor John Bowman is the leader of the Centre for Food Safety and Innovation. He is an expert in all things microbiology, including salmon, agriculture, red meat, barley-associated microbiology; marine, polar and soil systems-based microbiology; and also, prokaryote taxonomy. John is a an ARC College Member (BSB Panel), on the Bergey’s Manual Trust, a member of the International Committee on Prokaryote Systematics and the Microbial ecology Convenor for the Australian Society for Microbiology Read about John here.