Food Safety Analysis – a Risky Business?
Matthew Sharman,
Head of Science,
Fera Science Ltd, The Food and Environment Research Agency
Ensuring the safety, quality and authenticity of food is a daily challenge and consequently an operational risk for the worldwide agri-food industry. Mitigation against these potential risks can be a huge technical challenge and extra cost for food business operators (FBOs). This is because new threats can arise from a wide range of sources (such as climatic changes, new processing methods, deliberate or malicious acts and even world economics) and it is often unclear how to best assess these risks and to identify what mitigation strategies (if any) are needed.
Historically FBOs have been responsive to each new threat to their products through the application of additional targeted analytical methods. The introduction of these new testing methods is often based on a reactive or partially proactive control strategy - which may not be a totally effective means of protecting both Brand reputation and the consumer. Furthermore, the introduction of more and more targeted testing methods can also increase operating costs for the FBO. To overcome this challenge a new system of ‘Untargeted’ or ‘profiling methods’ are therefore being utilised by more and more by laboratories, but knowledge of their capabilities and effectiveness is not that well understood.
This presentation will challenge current thinking with regards to analytical testing of the food supply chain. In particular it will review how the 5T’s - Technology and alternative approaches to Testing can help improve Trust, Traceability and Transparency of the food supply chain.
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