Biography

Prof Korsten is currently a co-Director of the DSI/NRF Centre of Excellence Food Security.  She is also responsible for the food safety programme within the CoE and actively interact with other researchers in various institutes.  She is an editor for Food Security from Springer and Chair of the International Society for Plant Pathology Task Force on Global Food Security.  Prof Korsten has addressed Parliament on Food Safety Control and has developed a national framework for the Government to develop a Food Control Authority. Prof Korsten has established a core of researchers and support staff that has been with her for the past 20 Years totally funded by the Industry. She has supervised 51 MSc students, 20 PhD students and 11 Post Docs.

Discipline/s

Food environment

Food Safety

Environmental safety

Human health

Research description

Prof Korsten has focussed her research mainly on complementary fields of postharvest technology and food safety as related to international trade in fresh produce. As a team, her group has been able to develop several innovative technologies to reduce disease and prevent product contamination. The value of her research programmes can best be illustrated by the sustained industry financial support, student training and publications.  Her specific research programmes focus specifically on the one health paradigm with a link from water health for crop health to secure safe, nutritious food.  The more recent shift of antimicrobial resistance prevalent in water-crop-fresh produce systems have raised alarm bells and call for extraordinary measures to track and trace sources of pollution and mitigate interventions to protect human health. Agricultural chemicals such as pesticides, disinfectants and sanitisers are key in crop protection and human health and require effective use and regulatory control. The more recent COVID-19 provided unprecedented circumstances, and the use of hand sanitisers has been instrumental in fighting the disease.  Yet in this context, lack of effective regulation and absence of legislation and policies threaten the safe use of these chemicals potentially negatively impacting on human health. 

Orchid ID