PHF Science's Nikki King has developed expertise in taking amounts of data that would daunt others and converting it into useful information. One of Nikki’s earliest examples of this was a publication entitled Review of non-commercial wild food in New Zealand (2005). At almost 200 pages, this publication remains a landmark for describing the potential food safety issues associated with wild foods.
Nikki then turned her expertise to producing risk profiles for the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). These profiles involved reviewing pertinent information on a food safety issue, such as Salmonella in poultry, and synthesising a summary to support regulatory decision-making. Her collection of risk profiles of microbial pathogens in raw milk contributed to the evidence MPI needed to underpin new safety regulations.
Alongside her colleagues, Nikki continues to wrangle scientific evidence into a form that supports actions by those responsible for managing food safety and environmental health, be it prioritising fresh produce food safety risks, assessing the health risks from beach sand or supporting a refresh of food safety advice for pregnant women.
The food industry can suffer major financial and reputational risks if they are ‘blindsided’ by a new food safety issue. A well-calibrated and focussed crystal ball is required. Starting in 2021, Nikki has lead a food safety issue horizon scanning project, that came to be known as the Emerging Risk Identification System (ERIS), funded through the New Zealand Food Safety Science and Research Centre (NZFSSRC). Many countries have similar concerns and Nikki soon established strong international networks.
These networks resulting in her chairing an international food safety foresight framework meeting, convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2025, and being an international participant in the European Food Safety Authority’s Stakeholder Discussion Group on Emerging Risks (StaDG-ER), and a contributor to horizon scanning activities involving Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) and MPI.