Dr. Margaret Owusu, Head of Division
The Food Microbiology Division (FMD) has the main task of undertaking research and development activities in food safety and quality assurance for the food industries in Ghana. The Division is made up of two Units, namely the Industrial Services Unit (ISU) and the Mushroom Unit (MU).
The Industrial Services Unit of FMD carries out services for clients through analyses of samples submitted to the laboratory or sampled directly by staff.The ISU also advises clients and inspects food production premises of clients who include exporters of food products. The analyses carried out are thirteen accredited methods by South African National Accreditation System (SANAS).The unit is also involved in training entrepreneurs and students from tertiary institutions such as Polytechnics and Universities. Staffs are engaged in research activities including molecular biology/biotechnology activities, with production of technical reports and refereed scientific publications. The Mushroom Unit carries out research activities in indigenous and exotic edible and medicinal mushrooms. It disseminates results to stakeholders through training programmes, technical reports and scientific papers. The MU maintains a National Mycelium Bank which contains samples of mushrooms researched into. The Unit is also engaged in production and sale of mushroom spawns and compost bags to local farmers and researchers in some countries in sub-Saharan Africa like Cote d'Ivoire, Benin and Togo.
