Meet Rozita Vaskoska: microbiologist and food scientist
Dr Rozita Spirovska Vaskoska is our team leader for food microbiology and helping to keep Australia’s food supply safe.
Dr Rozita Vaskoska is a microbiologist and leads our Food Microbiology team. You may remember her as having a real-life Barbie career.
Rozita is a trusted advisor to industry and government on matters of food safety. She helps ensure Australia’s food supply is one of the safest and healthiest in the world. She is passionate about managing food safety based on science.
“The food we eat contributes to our health. We need to make sure the way food is produced and handled doesn’t contain harmful micro-organisms and remains as safe as it can be,” Rozita says.
Saving lives, one microbe at a time
Rozita is based at our Food Innovation Centre in Werribee, Victoria. Her work covers many aspects of food safety.
“We help food products stay fresher for longer by extending their shelf life and allowing later use-by or best-before dates, for example,” Rozita says.
“Or I might play ‘detective’ and uncover hard-to-find sources of food manufacturing contamination.
“In my team, we also test the effectiveness of preservative methods and substances in food products. Or if a food company wants to bring a new product to market, I help them make sure the product and their process is safe.”