University of Otago Launches Food Safety Culture Lab

The Centre congratulates the University of Otago on the launch of their Food Safety Culture Lab, “a multidisciplinary research group that focuses on human behaviours in the food industry which can lead to foodborne illnesses.

“The Lab will investigate how people working in the food industry navigate safety systems, balance operational pressures, deal with uncertainty, and respond to risk.”

Co-lead Professor Miranda Mirosa, a behavioural scientist from Otago’s Department of Food Science and member of the NZFSSRC Science Leadership Team, says “while the industry has strict rules and policies around safety, staff don’t always adhere to them.

“When we look at how people get sick, it is often because someone hasn’t followed the rules. It may be that they don’t have the knowledge or skills, there may be language barriers, they may have no motivation to follow the rules, or their workplace set-up doesn’t make doing the right thing the easy option.

“The research team will work with companies to determine any issues and what can be done about them.”

Professor Mirosa says there is a strong focus globally on food safety culture, and the NZFSSRC has reflected this by running workshops for members led by international food safety culture guru, Frank Yiannas.

The Lab is co-led by Distinguished Professor Phil Bremer, the NZFSSRC Chief Scientist. There will also be another close connection with the Centre through researcher Dr Wendy Newport-Smith, who is Associate Director (Operations), NZFSSRC.  Wendy specialises in food safety culture and ethical leadership.

Director of NZFSSRC, Dr Marie Bradley, welcomes the focus on food safety culture, and the Lab’s intention to work closely with industry to understand why, even with the best of intentions on all sides, people may not be incentivised to follow the rules. 

Published on: 1 April 2026