This week is National Science Week (15–23 August), and as the campaign unfolds, the Food Safety Information Council is urging Australians to brush up on the fundamentals of food hygiene — habits the Council says are grounded in science, even as technology reshapes how outbreaks are detected.
Science and tech transforming outbreak detection
The Council’s Scientific Director, Associate Professor Julian Cox, says health authorities once relied almost entirely on interviews to trace foodborne illness back to its source. That’s changing.
“In the past, health authorities have relied heavily on interviewing people to tell them what they have eaten, in hope of identifying the food associated with their illness,” he says.
“Luckily, these days we have new technologies that assist us in connecting those suffering illness with foods.”
Associate Professor Cox points to social media monitoring and whole genome sequencing, which can match the DNA “fingerprints” of pathogens found in unwell people to those in suspect foods.
“Trawling social media posts is helping to quickly identify potential outbreaks. Whole genome sequencing highlights ‘fingerprints’ — unique DNA patterns of the viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites that cause foodborne disease — which can then be compared among organisms isolated from ill people and suspected food sources, if available,” he says.
“If the same fingerprint is found in organisms from the food and ill people, it suggests strongly that illness was initiated by eating that food.
“The outbreak of food poisoning can then be managed by removal of those foods from the food chain, which might include the home environment.”
The basics still matter most
Despite these advances, Associate Professor Cox says prevention still comes down to consumer behaviour.
He points to 4 core practices:
- Washing hands for 20 seconds with warm soapy water before drying for a further 20 seconds (and repeating after handling raw meat, produce, pets or the toilet).
- Refrigerating perishables at or below 5ºC promptly after purchase.
- Cooking meat and poultry to 75°C, using a meat thermometer to check.
- Keeping raw and cooked foods strictly separate to avoid cross-contamination.
The Council also confirms that this year’s Australian Food Safety Week, running 7–14 November 2026, will focus on the risks of raw and undercooked foods.
