College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences

Striving to maintain a high research standard

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Prof Frederick Tabit

Prof Frederick Tabit of Unisa’s Department of Life and Consumer Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (CAES) recently received a C2 rating from the National Research Foundation for the quality and impact of his research in the field of food science and technology. "This rating means that the reviewers were convinced that I am an established researcher in the field," he says.

Tabit remarks: "Considering that it was my first application, it means that I have set a minimum standard for myself and must strive to get higher ratings in the future so that I do not fall below my own standard." The C2 rating also means that Tabit can be counted among research leaders in his field and may enjoy international recognition.

"My current research focuses on the microbial quality and safety of food, food safety awareness and implementation, as well as some elements of food product development," he explains. "The safety of the food we eat from formal and informal sectors may have been subjected to contamination, time or temperature abuses during processing and display, besides poor hygienic practices by processors and vendors." Tabit further explains that consequently, contamination by microorganisms, especially pathogens, could pose a serious threat to the health of the consumers.

Tabit’s research goal is to investigate and analyse food safety hazard exposure and provide recommendations for preventive solutions that can be implemented in the food processing chain. Then again, his future research will focus on food safety awareness and training of stakeholders in the informal sectors.

Elaborating on his future research, Tabit says: "At the end, I envisaged compiling a food safety manual for the training of food handlers in the food processing and vending sector in South Africa, and a process document for the implantation of a hazard analysis and critical control points safety system for the informal food processing and vending sector."

For Tabit, his research highlight was when he and his PhD student conducted a study on the hygiene status and the incidence of pathogens of food contact surfaces in the food preparation facilities of some schools offering feeding programmes. He states: "We found that only 16.2% of the food contact surfaces had a satisfactory hygiene status. Listeria monocytogenes and staphylococcus aureus were the most detected pathogens on food contact surfaces with 53.1% and 25.5% incidences respectively." The pair provided recommendations to the relevant authorities on how to improve the sanitary conditions of the food preparation facilities.

* By Nancy Legodi, Acting Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement

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Publish date: 2021-06-01 00:00:00.0

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