Better factory hygiene: microbial population dynamics in food factories

Advanced microbial profiling allows the environmental (microbial) load of a factory (or other premises) to be easily analysed in detail - including the presence of organisms that are difficult to culture. This extra information has the potential to deliver insights into the microbial ecology of a factory, insights previously unobtainable, which should facilitate better control of microorganisms. This project will investigate the microflora of factories making different product categories including the changes in microbial populations over the course of a year during normal operation. Experiments will measure the microbial flux of the factory over a typical working day, and the impact of cleaning. This will improve our understanding of microbial populations in a variety of food production environments and improve methodology used in factory investigations.