From the beginning of the pandemic, there have been questions concerning the ability of the virus to survive on surfaces and in foods. The latter raises the potential for foodborne transmission of the virus. Dr Jo Kingsbury has been responsible for preparing a series (seven so far) of reports on the state of play concerning the SARS-CoV-2 virus and food safety. In particular, these reports have considered:
Jo will highlight the key developments that have emerged in the 2+ years of the current pandemic.
Jo Kingsbury (PhD) is a senior scientist in the field of food microbiology, in the Risk Assessment and Social Systems group at ESR. Jo earned her PhD from University of Canterbury in Cellular and Molecular Biology. She worked at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina for 16 years, studying fungal molecular biology and models of disease. She transitioned to ESR six years ago and now focuses on projects related to detecting, describing, understanding and managing the risk of disease-causing microbes such as Salmonella and Campylobacter in food and food production environments. Jo has recently produced reports for NZFSSRC addressing the potential for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via food or contaminated packaging. She is also a collaborator on a MBIE-funded project researching the impacts and mitigation of microplastics in the environment.
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