Staff Profile

Graham Fletcher
Team Leader
Seafood Technologies

More information about our Seafood Technologies research

Graham Fletcher

Qualifications

BSc, Biochemistry/Cell Biology, University of Auckland, New Zealand
BCom, Information Technology, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Research Interests & Activities

The safety, spoilage, shelf-life, processing and packaging of chilled seafood and other foods. Current projects include:

• Seafood safety. Focused on understanding factors contributing to risk and on developing controls for Listeria and Vibrio organisms.
• Seafood packaging. Evaluating novel antimicrobial films and thermally efficient packaging.
• Optimisation chilled fish. Developing quality index assessment (QIM) scoresheets for whole fish, applying modified atmosphere packaging and soluble gas stabilisation to fillets and evaluating options for thawed fillets.
• Ultra high pressure processing (HPP) of seafood and horticultural products. Determining and modelling the effect of HPP parameters on unique food characteristics, safety, quality and texture.

International Collaboration

School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kodiak Seafood & Marine Science Center, Alaska, USA
DTU Aqua, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Danish Technical University, Lyngby, Denmark
IRTA (Institute for Food and Agricultural Research and Technology), Monells, Spain
Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia

Honours & Awards

2010–12 Fellow, New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology.
2007–12 Board of Editors, Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology.
1997 Senior prize in Management Science & Information Systems, University of Auckland.

Professional Memberships

2002–2012 Professional member, Institute of Food Technologists (International).
1995–2011 Professional member, NZ Institute of Food Science and Technology.
1982–2011 Member, New Zealand Microbiological Society.

Key Publications

Cruz CD, Win JK, Chantarachoti J, Mutukumira T, Fletcher GC 2012. Comparing rapid methods for detecting Listeria in seafood and environmental samples using the most probably number (MPN). International Journal of Food Microbiology 153: 483-487.
Fletcher GC 2011. Using predictive models for the shelf-life and safety of seafood. In: Alasalvar C, Shahidi F, Miyashita K, Wanasundara U eds. Handbook of seafood quality, safety and health applications. Chichester, West Sussex, UK, Wiley-Blackwell. Pp. 237–250.
Naila A, Flint S, Fletcher GC, Bremer PJ, Meerdink G 2011. Chemistry and microbiology of traditional Rihaakuru (fish paste) from the Maldives. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition 62(2): 139–147.
Cruz CD, Fletcher GC 2011. Prevalence and biofilm-forming ability of Listeria monocytogenes in New Zealand mussel (Perna canaliculus) processing plants. Food Microbiology 28: 1387–1393.
Fletcher GC 2010. Research of relevance to histamine poisoning in New Zealand – A review. http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/elibrary/industry/2011-70-histamine-poisoning.pdf. NZFSA, translator. Auckland, The New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited.
Fletcher GC, Summers G, Youssef JF, Lu G 2008. Very low prevalence of Clostridium botulinum in New Zealand sediments. Report prepared for the New Zealand Food Safety Authority http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/science-risk/project-reports/biological-hazards/other-agents.htm. Christchurch, Crop & Food Research.
Naila A, Flint S, Fletcher G, Bremer P, Meerdink G 2010. Control of biogenic amines in food – existing and emerging approaches. Journal of Food Science 75(7): R139–R150.
Fletcher GC, Youssef JF, Gupta S 2008. Research issues in inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes associated with New Zealand Greenshell™ mussel meat (Perna canaliculus) using high-pressure processing. Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology 17(2): 173-193.
Weirda RL, Fletcher GC, Xu L, Dufour J-P 2006. Analysis of volatile compounds as spoilage indicators in fresh king salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) during storage using SPME-GC-MS. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 54: 8480–8490.
Fletcher GC, Summers G, Corrigan VK, Johanson MR, Hedderley D 2004. Optimizing gas mixtures for modified atmosphere packaging of fresh king salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology 13(4): 5–28.
Fletcher GC, Corrigan VK, Summers G, Leonard MJ, Jerrett AR, Black SE 2003. Spoilage of rested harvested king salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Journal of Food Science 68(9): 2810–2816.
Fletcher GC, Hay BE, Scott MG 2002. Reducing neurotoxic shellfish poison (NSP) in Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) to levels below 20 mouse units per 100 g. Journal of Shellfish Research 21(3): 465–469.
Fletcher GC, Summers G, Corrigan V, Cumarasamy S, Dufour J-P 2002. Spoilage of king salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) fillets stored under different atmospheres. Journal of Food Science 67(6): 2362–2374.
Hough A, Harbison S-A, Savill M, Melton L, Fletcher GC 2002. Rapid enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes in artificially contaminated cabbage using real-time PCR. Journal of Food Protection 65(8): 1329–1332.
Gibson AM, Ellis-Brownlee RCL, Cahill ME, Szabo EA, Fletcher GC, Bremer PJ 2000. The effect of 100% CO2 on the growth of nonproteolytic Clostridium botulinum at chill temperatures. International Journal of Food Microbiology 54: 39–48.
Bremer PJ, Osborne CM, Kemp RA, van Veghel P, Fletcher GC 1998. Thermal-death times of Hafnia alvei cells in a model suspension and in artificially contaminated hot-smoked kahawai (Arripis trutta). Journal of Food Protection 61(8): 1047–1051.
Fletcher GC, Hay BE, Scott MG 1998. Detoxifying Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) from the neurotoxic shellfish poison (NSP) produced by Gymnodinium breve. Journal of Shellfish Research 17(5): 1637–1641