Research on the microbiological safety of food
Warriner’s Lab performs short- and long-term projects in the primary area of food safety. We have worked with a diverse range of industry and stakeholders to develop and validate novel processing technologies (e.g. high hydrostatic pressure, UV technologies, ozone applications and bacteriophages). The results of our studies are used to promote technologies to commercialization and to provide validation data for approval by regulatory bodies. Mainstream academic research is focused on determining the dissemination of emerging pathogens within the food chain, water treatment/recycling technologies, produce decontamination technologies and biosensor development. The research is primarily focused on fresh produce (including sprouted seeds) and meat. Additional research is looking at the prevalence of emerging pathogens (non-O157 STEC; Clostridium difficile), the dormant state in bacteria and interventions to control them.
Process validation and verification, shelf-life stability testing, molecular source tracking, micro-ecology, electrochemical biosensor development, pathogen diagnostics, UV-based treatments, high hydrostatic pressure, water-treatment and recycling technologies
- Agriculture, animal science and food
- Chemical industries
- Clean technology
- Education
- Energy
- Environmental technologies and related services
- Healthcare and social services
- Life sciences, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment
- Manufacturing and processing
Specialized labs and equipment
| Equipment | Function |
|---|---|
| DiversiLab bacterial bar codes | Electrocapillary electrophoresis for generating virtual gels from PCR products; primary use is microbial source tracking |
| 16S rRNA-DGGE | For separating PCR products from 16S rRNA typing; primary use is probing the microecology of food and environmental matrices |
| AC impedance spectroscopy | Solartron impedance analyzer with a working range of 0.01 kHz to 100 kHz can be applied to determine corrosion rates of metals or transduction signal for biosensors |
| Potentiostat | Solartron and epsilon potentiostat for developing electrochemical diagnostic devices |
| UV reactors | Based on the Taylor-Couette, Taylor-Dean and thin-film flows for treating opaque liquids, these reactors are specifically designed to ensure efficient mixing when UV treating opaque liquids |
| Advanced oxidation process reactor | Bath reactor for treating foods with a combination of UV and hydrogen peroxide; unit has primarily been applied for decontaminating fresh produce |
| Forced Air Ozone Reactor | Unit to apply ozone gas for decontamination of fresh produce and low moisture foods |
Private and public sector research partners
- Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food
- Center for Produce Safety
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
- Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems
- National Research Council
- National Center for Food Protection and Defense
- National Science Foundation-Guelph Food Technology Centre
- Gridpath Solutions Ltd.
- Mushrooms Canada
- Maple Leaf Foods
- Pillers Ltd.
- Trojan Technologies
- Sunkist
- Moyers Apple Products
- Clean Works Coporation
- Metropolitan Tea Ltd
- Agri Neo Ltd