Graduation 2016 - Stephanie Bayford Noble Foods FTS award

Posted 24 October 2016

Stephanie Bayford from Leeds has been awarded the Noble Foods – Food Technology & Science Award.

The 22-year-old BSc (Hons) Food and Consumer Studies graduate won the award because she produced the best Food Technology dissertation.

Dr Annette Creedon, from the food department, said: “Stephanie completed an industry-sponsored microbiology Honours Research Project to validate a novel portable test for Campylobacter detection. 

“Campylobacter is currently the most common cause of bacterial food poisoning in the UK, and the poultry industry in particular has been under significant pressure to control Campylobacter contamination of chicken meat. However, companies can only do this effectively when they know what the extent of Campylobacter contamination is through their production chain. 

“Steph’s research, supervised by Dr Lynn McIntyre, demonstrated that the novel method she assessed was able to reliably detect and quantify Campylobacter contamination on retail chicken thighs faster than standard methods, and has the potential to be used at different stages in the poultry supply chain.”

The award was presented by Sarah Baldwin, Noble Foods.