The Quality Food Theme brings together expertise from the natural sciences, engineering, health sciences, social sciences, economics and business disciplines to holistically understand the processes involved in food production and consumption, from the farm-gate to the dinner plate and beyond.
The Theme provides a portal for strategic partnerships in multidisciplinary research to address industry priorities and challenges.
There are efforts to understand the industrial ecology of production, and to improve sustainability by reducing environmental footprints, increasing process efficiencies, and developing co-products from waste streams.
Meanwhile social, economic and business researchers seek to understand the perceptions, attitudes and behaviour of stakeholders throughout the food system.
Activities range from profiling the determinants of individuals’ food preferences and purchase behaviour, to exploring the impacts of advertising on nutrition, the market impact of regulations and labelling, and the adoption of new technologies by organisations.
The scope of research is broad. We have researchers working to establish new directions in quality differentiation and control.
Little is documented about the viability of grains from Australian native grasses for commercial food applications and how this is influenced by plant growth environment. This project aims to fill this gap in our understanding by co-designing and disseminating knowledge with Gomeroi researchers.
The project expects to develop recommendations for native grain production based on insights into the environmental effects on grain quality for four native grasses, train research students, and enhance Indigenous partnership on Gomeroi Country in northern NSW. Benefits resulting from the project are the promotion of best-practice management of native grasslands and support for the development of an Indigenous-led native grains industry. This project is supported by ARC DP250101050 (July 2025 to June 2028).
This project aims to build knowledge and skills in the Australian and New Zealand fresh produce industry to raise the standard of food safety. It builds knowledge and links between food safety researchers, regulators and food safety managers in horticultural businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
The project brings together a consortium of partners from Australia and New Zealand. Funding partners include FPSC-ANZ, University of Sydney, NSW DPI, Agriculture Victoria, South Australia Health, Coles, Zespri NZ, New Zealand Food Safety Science & Research Centre, Vegetable Research and Innovation Board, and Hort NZ.
This project is supported by Horticulture Innovation Australia (July 2023 – June 2026)
Australian grain production not only supplies the local population but also provides food for millions worldwide. The increasing frequency of climate-related events such as heatwaves and droughts has serious implications for crop yields and quality. However, limited knowledge exists about how these environmental factors influence quality in major crops, including wheat, barley and canola.
Our research focuses on understanding how climate-related events affect crop quality, which in turn impacts the quality of food products. Our efforts aim to assist in developing resilient varieties that reduce the harmful effects on quality, thus protecting this vital food source and economic sector.
·¡³¾²¹¾±±ô:Ìýthomas.roberts@sydney.edu.au
