A sweet treat? Salmonella in raw egg based desserts
Combine your interest in food science, animal science and biomedical science by investigating the behaviour of Salmonella in mousse, tiramisu, and custard.
Many savoury raw egg based food items such as aioli, are acidified to control bacteria. We have found that the culturability the in vitro invasiveness of the bacteria is reduced over time.
Desserts, however, generally are not acidified and are frequently identified during salmonellosis outbreaks.
This project will explore the behaviour of Salmonella Typhimurium in sweet foods to determine whether the bacteria exhibits enhanced growth and/or increase virulence.
Key methodology:
- Preparation of raw egg based desserts
- Basic bacteriological culture
- Cell culture for in vitro invasion assays
Study pathobiology, infectious disease and public health
Our research is focused on understanding the behaviour of Salmonella and Campylobacter species in the poultry (layer and broiler) farm environment and how these bacteria are able to persist in the food chain.
Another aspect of our work is to understand virulence aspects of both Salmonella and Campylobacter which contribute to human disease.
Supervisors
- Dr Andrea R. McWhorter
- Co-supervisor: Associate Professor Kapil Chousalkar
- Research area: Pathobiology, infectious disease and public health
- Recommended honours enrolment: Honours in Animal Science