2010/765 Visit by Dr Paw Dalgaard, Danish Technical University, Denmark

By Tom Ross

Dr. Paw Dalgaard of the Danish Technical University is internationally recognised for his work on microbial quality, spoilage and safety of fish. His research studies are made accessible to industry through internet software that can be used to predict the growth of bacteria of interest on seafood from measurements of temperature, pH. salt-in-water, organic acids and gaseous atmosphere in the case of modified atmosphere-packed seafood. Those computer models can be accessed, free-of-charge, and are known as the Seafood Spoilage and Safety Predictor (‘SSSP’; http://sssp.dtuaqua.dk/). They are widely used in Europe and internationally.

Dr. Dalgaard’s visit was an opportunity to deliver a number of master classes in Australia, and to showcase the newly developed Australian Oyster Refrigeration Index (an analogous tool to assess microbiological safety and quality of oysters) developed in Australia with Seafood CRC funding.

The visit occurred from 29 May to 10 June 2011, and involved visits and discussions with staff from various seafood business, research and regulatory organisations. Furthermore, Dr Dalgaard presented two master classes on predictive microbiology for seafood and one symposium on management of Listeria monocytogenes in ready to eat foods.

Overall, approximately 80 stakeholders in the Australian seafood industry interacted with Dr. Dalgaard, and a further 100 food safety managers in government, retail, consultants etc. attended lectures by Dr. Dalgaard at the Listeria management symposium.