Food Microbiology

The Food Microbiology sector was individualized in October 1996 in order to distinguish it from the Hygiene and Inspection of Food sector. It originated in the designation, in September 1995, of the Department as a National Reference Laboratory in Food Microbiology by the Institute of Veterinary Expertise and then by the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain.

As such, the sector participated in setting up interlaboratory tests, a national classification system for analytical methods and microbiological criteria applied to food, a first national quality monitoring system microbiological food. It also assisted the Belgian authorities in charge of public health with the adaptation and application of new national legislation, in coordination with the Community Reference Laboratories. These reference tasks strongly guided the activities for 14 years, until the resumption of activities by the Scientific Institute of Public Health.

At the same time, the microbiological analysis laboratory, set up by Professor Léon Fievez in the Faculty to meet the needs of the Authorities and the agri-food sector, grew in the nineties, years marked by its accreditation in accordance with the EN45001 norm. This laboratory was at the origin of the creation in January 2000 of the spin-off company "Quality Partner s.a.", a company specializing in quality control for the agri-food sector. This company, with more than 50 people employed, has, in 2011, become one of the Belgian leaders in its field and all its activities are carried out under quality assurance, ISO17025 for microbiological and genetic analyses, ISO17020 for inspections and ISO17021 and EN45011 for certification. In July 2003, the Department created a second commercial company, “Food Safety Consult s.a.”, dedicated to consulting and training in the food sector and certified ISO9001 and QFor. These companies carry out service tasks based on already well-established methodologies, often developed in the Department, and represent an important outlet for our young graduates. Their creation allowed the Microbiology sector to concentrate on its teaching and research tasks.

The research was originally mainly oriented towards the development of research and counting methods in bacteriology and food virology. Another axis aimed to study the sources of contamination or multiplication of pathogenic germs in the food chain, with a set of projects dedicated to the study of Salmonella in the pig industry. Since 2009, the sector has focused its research on three main areas. The first aims to characterize the anaerobic flora of foods, whether they are pathogenic, spoilage or even beneficial to consumer health. As such, the sector has identified two new species of Bifidobacterium whose probiotic applications are protected by patents. The second part develops skills to model the evolution of microbial populations in the food chain and quantitatively assess the risks of alterations or harm to consumer health. Finally, new technologies for high-throughput parallel sequencing of nucleic acids will make it possible, in the next decade, to revolutionize food microbiology. Indeed, metagenomics makes it possible to identify and quantify all the flora of a food in less than 24 hours and without resorting to culture. The applications are numerous, from fundamental research on the dynamics of microbial populations to the resolution of specific problems in industries. The provision to the Department, since March 2010, of a new state-of-the-art laboratory for molecular characterization under L2+ biosafety conditions enables these experiments to be carried out under optimal conditions.

Finally, this cutting-edge research combined with concrete experience of the needs of the agri-food sector ideally feeds the teaching of food microbiology, in particular through the specialized teaching of the Complementary Master in Veterinary Public Health: Food Sciences.

Contact : Georges DAUBE