The raw deal: Wknd interviews food safety researcher Sukhvinder Pal Singh

“People often do not think much about food safety in everyday life,” he says and points out how simple steps like washing hands before eating, keeping raw meat away from fruits and vegetables, storing food in the refrigerator, and cooking it well are more important than we realise.

“Fruits and vegetables are key parts of our daily meals. But they can also carry risks, such as small objects, chemicals, or germs like salmonella, listeria, and escherichia coli (E coli). These risks can make people sick and even cause death,” the 46-year-old food safety researcher says.

Singh’s method uses facts from studies to check practices, find problems and create fixes. His project on melons demonstrates this approach. Rockmelons, called muskmelons in India or cantaloupes in the US, can easily pick up dirt from the soil. They are grown near the ground, and people eat them raw. “These fruits are more likely to cause health problems because of how they grow and how we eat them,” Singh says.

Australia’s last foodborne health crisis was in 2018, when listeria in rockmelons made 22 people sick and killed seven across states like New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania. It also affected people in Singapore who had sourced the same fruits.

Desperate to fix this, Singh worked with farmers across Australia to study their methods and identify weak spots. It began with nationwide surveys, where his team visited farms to assess water sources, fertilisers, farming practices, harvesting and packing. “It was a big job for a large country like Australia,” he says.

It took years to collect the data and spot where contamination could happen. Once they knew the issues, they made plans to fix them. They came up with five main changes to make melons safer: ban untreated manure carrying germs like salmonella; cool fruits before washing to block pathogen entry into flesh; use drinking-quality water, requiring treatment systems in remote areas; avoid reusing wash water to prevent germ spread; maintain proper sanitiser levels like chlorine to kill germs.

Singh explains that these steps work together like barriers to block dangers and calls it a hurdle approach. He worked with farmers, packers, retailers, and industry groups to get them to implement these changes. “It was like a team effort to make melons safe,” he says. The farmers trusted the data and made the updates. The changes worked well. Since 2018, there have been no outbreaks or recalls linked to melons. “This is a big success,” Singh says. When compared to places like the United States, where melon contamination still happens, Australia’s industry stands out as a model. Singh does not take all the credit. “Without the farmers and packers following the advice, this would not have worked,” he says.

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Born in a small village in Una district of Himachal Pradesh, Singh was aware of a possible career in agriculture early on. His family farmed mango trees and citrus plants. “In rural places, you see signs for the department of horticulture, and you deal with them for seeds or supplies,” he says.

Village life had its perks, like the stunning valley surrounding it, but also its fair share of challenges. Access to good schools and learning tools was limited. Still, his parents supported him a lot. “They wanted me to think big and become a global citizen. They truly believed in me,” Singh says.

After finishing school, he could have become a local teacher. But his father pushed him to aim higher. An uncle, professor Kuldip Singh Sandhu, who taught soil science at Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana, helped shape his interest in in agriculture and horticulture.

Like many in India, Singh first set his sights on becoming a doctor. When he did not make it through the competitive exams for medicine, he chose horticulture. “My uncle showed me how this work helps society and the world,” he says. Even in school, lessons in botany taught him about food security and nutrition, which felt real in a farming area.

He graduated with a degree in horticulture by 2001 at the University of Horticultural Sciences in Solan near Shimla. Then, he completed a master’s degree at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru followed by a PhD at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Delhi.

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In 2006, Singh moved to Perth in Australia. It was his first time abroad. “I had to learn the accent, how people live, and how things work,” he says. But he adapted fast. His time at universities in different parts of India helped him get used to new places, food, and people. In India, research has to meet community needs, he says. His work in food safety grew from this. “Every study needs to help the people who use it,” Singh explains.

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Singh is aware of the growing concerns of food safety in India with allegations of adulteration and fake labelling. But he chooses to stay focused, tuning out the noise. “I only trust facts from certified bodies such as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) which started around 2008,” he says.

He points out that people worry about additives, adulterated products and unnecessary chemicals in food, but there is little talk about germs that actually cause sickness. “In Australia, with 27 million people, about 4.5 million cases of foodborne illness happen each year, which affects one in five people. The system tracks these, finds the causes, and fixes them,” he says.

He suggests building a similar national view of food safety in India. “Collect food safety practice data from all states, considering different foods, ethnic groups, and health issues. This would help make plans to improve the current situation,” he says.

Singh explains that low standards of food safety affect the poor the most as they can’t afford to buy imported or premium serviced food. Climate change makes things harder. For instance, the current floods in northern India, can heighten the risk of food and waterborne diseases. During heatwaves, while humans have access to air-conditioned homes, livestock, our source of dairy, eggs and meat products, experience that heat stress significantly. It’s also when they shed more pathogens into the environment setting off the transmission cycle of infection.

“These extreme weather conditions linked to climate change are really pushing the Indian food system towards a higher risk and a comprehensive plan to deal with it is an urgent necessity.”