Mr Niko Dadios
Lecturer in Production Animal Health and Food Safety
Department: Pathobiology and Population Sciences
Campus: Hawkshead
Research Groups: Sustainable Food Systems, Food Safety, IRLFS (Research Programme)
Research Centres: Veterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health
Niko works as a lecturer in farm animal health and food safety. His main responsibility in these areas is teaching but he contributes also in research.
Niko graduated in 1996 from the Veterinary School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. After a short time in mixed practice clinical work he moved to the UK in 2001 to work as Official Veterinarian in the supervision of meat producing establishments. Since then he has worked in many different roles and capacities in and around meat production and safety and also in related research programmes at the RVC. In 2003 he completed his MSc in Food Technology and Quality Assurance at the University of Reading. He is the author and co-author of a number of scientific reports and other publications, some of which had had significant impact in the modernisation of EC regulations in meat inspection throughout the European Union.
Niko's main areas of expertise are summed up below:
- Official Veterinarian / Food legislation and enforcement (>15 years)
- Technical management and consultancy in the meat industry (HACCP, BRC, RTA etc.) (>10 years)
- Meat quality, pathology and microbiology (>15 years)
- Data analysis & Risk Assessment in food business environments (>10 years)
- Research and scientific projects in meat production and safety related subjects (>10 years)
- Animal welfare at slaughter (>15 years)
Niko's main research interests and activities are around farm animal production and meat production, meat inspection and meat safety. He is also interested in the production health and safety of other animals and animal products, like bees, honey etc. Furthermore he is interested in animal welfare in general, and at slaughter in particular.
Within the context of IFSTAL Niko wants to learn and understand the complexity and interactions of food systems in general, and meat and other animal products in particular. He is especially interested in food sustainability and the environmental impact of foods of animal origin, particularly meat, but also in the economic and other drivers that affect and influence these systems.
In his career in the meat industry Niko has worked a lot on business performance, productivity, efficiencies etc. and would like to continue this in his current role, potentially in partnership or other cooperation forms with this industry
Papers
- Probabilistic modelling of events at evisceration during slaughtering of pigs using expert opinion: Quantitative data in support of stochastic models of risk of contamination. Crotta, M. et al (2019). Microbial Risk Analysis.
- Cross-Sectional Study of T.gondii Infection in Pig Farms in England. Limon, G et al. (2017). Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.
- T. gondii detection in cattle – A slaughterhouse survey. Hosein, S et al (2016). Veterinary Parasitology.
- Effect of neck cut position on time to collapse in halal slaughtered cattle without stunning. Gibson, T et al (2015). Meat Science.
- Green offal inspection of cattle, small ruminants and pigs in the United Kingdom: Impact assessment of changes in the inspection protocol on likelihood of detection of selected hazards. Blagojevic, B et al (2015). Research in Veterinary Science.
- Strengths and weaknesses of meat inspection as a contribution to animal health and welfare surveillance (2014). Staerk, K et al. Food Control.
Scientific reports
- Contribution of meat inspection to animal health surveillance in Farmed Game. Dadios, N et al (2012). External Scientific Report. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
- Contribution of meat inspection to animal health surveillance in Sheep and Goats. Hardstaff, J et al (2012). External Scientific Report. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Books
- Dadios, N. et al (2014). ‘Chapter 4 - Disease monitoring in farmed game: The role of the abattoir meat inspection’, in Paulsen, P, Bauer A and Smulders, F.J.M. (ed) Trends in game meat hygiene. Wageningen Academic Publishers, pp 77-88.
BVetMed Undergraduate teaching in production animal health and food production and safety related subjects
Farm animal practicals teaching to undergarduate BVetMed students
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Interdisciplinary Food Systems Teaching and Learning (IFSTAL)
The food system is not functioning the way it should anymore, IFSTAL is designed to bring about the systemic change that the food system requires in order to limit the negative outcomes its currently delivering and prepare for the future.
IFSTAL is an interactive training programme designed to improve knowledge and understanding of the food system. It brings together expertise and experience of faculty and students from five leading higher education institutions (RVC, LSHTM, SOAS, The University of Oxford and The University of Warwick). IFSTAL addresses the urgent lack of a workforce skilled in food systems thinking.