Centre for Food Safety, Stellenbosch University

08/05/2025

Student highlight! 🦠🌱

Denise Coetzee presented her poster at the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) 2025 European Symposium yesterday.

Denise, an expert in foodborne pathogens associated with leafy greens, is delving into biocontrol within hydroponics systems as a way to control .

If you would like to know more, or connect with us, please feel free to email us at [email protected].



Stellenbosch University - Faculty of AgriSciences
Department of Food Science, Stellenbosch University

07/05/2025

Student highlight! 🦠🦌

Michelle Gouws, a PhD student focused on , is presenting a poster at the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) 2025 European Symposium in Madrid, Spain.

This study highlights the prevalence of in food-producing animals and wild game within South Africa, and we are excited to present these preliminary results.

If you would like to connect, please feel free to email us at [email protected].

Stellenbosch University - Faculty of AgriSciences
Department of Food Science, Stellenbosch University

07/05/2025

The CFS is out and about!

Dr Diane Rip, PhD student Michelle Gouws, and Prof Pieter Gouws visited Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) last week.

Michelle gave a short talk on her PhD project, which investigates Clostridioides difficile in the Agri-Food sector of South Africa.

She will also be presenting a poster at the IAFP 2025 European Symposium in Madrid, so come say hello!

Stellenbosch University - Faculty of AgriSciences

07/05/2025

Excited to share that Denise Coetzee, a PhD student working on Biocontrol in hydroponics, recently had the opportunity to visit PhageGuard in the Netherlands. During this visit, she received hands-on training in bacteriophage laboratory techniques. 🧫🧪

She was later joined by Prof Pieter Gouws and Michelle Gouws, another CFS PhD student for a tour of the PhageGuard facilities and process.

A big thank you to the PhageGuard team for their hospitality, knowledge, and support—this experience has been incredibly valuable.

Denise is presenting a poster on her work at the IAFP 2025 European Symposium in Madrid, Spain - so please make sure to stop by!

Stellenbosch University - Faculty of AgriSciences

09/04/2025

International Alumni Event

All Department of Food Science and Centre for Food Safety Alumni that currently reside abroad, are invited for a casual get-together in Amsterdam on the evening of Saturday, 3 May 2025!

Please scan the QR code in the image below, or send an email to [email protected] for more information.

We are looking forward to see many of you there!!

16/07/2024

🚨 Conference highlight!

Prof Pieter Gouws, MSc student Jacques Olivier, and PhD student Michelle Gouws recently attended the Food Micro 2024 Conference in Burgos, Spain. All presented posters based on current research, which received great interest and sparked valuable conversations.

This was a wonderful platform for young scientists, and it was a great to see global, relevant research in the field of food microbiology. The flash presentations and poster sessions were of very high quality, and we are glad to have both Jacques and Michelle represent the CFS at this level.

The conference further enabled the CFS to reconnect with old friends and colleagues, and we are looking forward to see everyone again in 2026!

For more information, please send us an email at [email protected]

Poster presentation titles:
1. Genetic diversity of Listeria monocytogenes from the fish industry in the Western Cape, South Africa using whole genome sequencing
2. The efficacy of metal-free photocatalysts for the solar-driven elimination of Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes from water
3. The influence of essential oil compounds in animal feed on the presence of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli after continued exposure to subtherapeutic antimicrobials within food production systems

06/06/2024

World Food Safety Day is celebrated every year on June 7. This year's theme is "Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected". Food safety incidents can range from minor events to major crises. Thank you to all food safety professionals who face these challenges to help provide the world with safe food and better health.

A special thanks to all the staff, as well as past and present research students at the Centre for Food Safety, Stellenbosch University for your hard work and dedication. Through innovation and collaboration, we have been a major player in food safety!

25/04/2024

This week the CFS team is out and about! 🦠

Dr Diane Rip, MSc student Clio Sass, and PhD student Michelle Gouws attended the AFMA-SAAHA Antimicrobial Resistance Workshop hosted by the Animal Feed Manufacturers Association (AFMA).

It was good to see how the various livestock, companion animal, and governmental sectors mitigate AMR challenges within South Africa, as well as where future research could expand. Understanding how animal production practices may influence the AMR profiles of certain microorganisms of concern, is crucial.

This workshop was a great initiative from industry, encouraging key players to bring their insights to the table. We hope to see many more!

22/01/2024

This week, the Centre for Food Safety, Stellenbosch University in collaboration with the University College Dublin (UCD) is hosting a Workshop on Advanced application of in Food Safety, which has been off to a great start!

Professor Séamus Fanning and Dr Guerrino Macori from UCD Ireland, led the workshop with introductory sessions on bioinformatics and the benefits of precision food safety. The day ended with an industry talk from Whitehead Scientific (Dr Tynan Marais), as well as Karin Carstensen (Woolworths).

The attendees participated in the interactive sessions with great enthusiasm, and a promising week lies ahead!

22/12/2023

Free Workshop Alert 🚨

You are invited to attend a Next-Generation Sequencing Workshop: Advanced Applications of WGS in Food Safety. The workshop will take place from 22 - 25 January 2024 at the Department of Food Science, Stellenbosch University.

This workshop will be presented in collaboration with University College Dublin, Centre for Food Safety.

Space is very limited, so please send an email to [email protected] before 8 January 2024 to reserve your spot!

09/06/2023