Jan Schages was awarded the Heinrich Stockmeyer Foundation’s Young Researchers’ Prize, worth 2,500 euros, for his research into microbial contamination in water tanks in fully automatic coffee machines and reusable cups.
“I am delighted to have made a small contribution to food safety through my work. This award is a great honour and, by encouraging a more critical approach to our household appliances, is certainly a further step towards raising public awareness of the issue,” says Schages, who now works as a research assistant specialising in hygiene and microbiology at the Faculty of Life Sciences at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, whilst simultaneously pursuing his PhD through a collaborative programme with the University of Bonn.
Through its funding programmes and awards, the non-profit Heinrich Stockmeyer Foundation aims to promote work with a strong practical focus and applied research to achieve greater food safety, thereby helping to strengthen consumer confidence in the quality of food. In his final dissertation for the Master’s programme in Food Sciences, which he submitted last year at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Centre, Jan Schages investigated the levels of microbial contamination in fully automatic coffee machines. In particular, he repeatedly found the same bacteria in the water tanks, many of which also end up in the coffee. As the brewing temperatures and dwell time in fully automatic machines are insufficient to reduce bacterial contamination, the researcher advises cleaning the tank more frequently and changing the water daily. The young researcher focuses primarily on the cups used, as the microbiological contamination of reusable cups brought in by customers was also examined in random samples as part of his study. Schages concluded that, at a temperature of at least 68 degrees Celsius, the microorganisms present in the coffee are sufficiently inactivated. He concluded that the main source of contamination stems from inadequate cleaning of the machines, not from the cups.
The Heinrich Stockmeyer Foundation’s Young Researchers’ Prize is awarded every two years to scientists and members of scientific institutions, professional associations, public authorities and scientific editorial teams. Nominations may be made for individuals or groups who are active in research in Germany or abroad and are aged 30 or under. The work (e.g. a Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis) must not be more than two years old and should demonstrate a strong practical and applied focus, as well as contain the candidate’s own, up-to-date research findings.
