Funviralpark The UK Food Safety Research Network (FSRN) will fund six projects ranging from £30,000 ($36,100) to £62,000 ($74,700).
Each project involves researchers affiliated with companies in the food sector and government agencies.
They include the development of rapid diagnostic tests and high-tech biosensors to detect food pathogens throughout the farm-to-table chain, and microbial contamination of fresh and minimally processed foods, seafood and raw pet food. includes new ways to combat the threat of
Sponsored by the Quadram Institute, the FSRN was established in June 2022 by the Food Standards Authority (FSA) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to tackle foodborne illness in the UK. The FSA and BBSRC have invested £1.6m ($1.9m) in this initiative.
Matt Gilmour, group leader and network director at Quadram Institute, said: These projects not only help consumers make the safest food choices possible, but also support sustainable economic growth, and we look forward to deploying the technologies developed in the coming years. to ”
project overview
The UK estimates that there are 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness each year at an annual cost of £9 billion ($10.8 billion), including £6 billion ($7.2 billion) of unknown causes. increase. Campylobacter and Salmonella cause the greatest economic impact, while Listeria causes the highest mortality.
One project involves developing a bacteriophage cocktail to reduce Salmonella contamination of raw pet food. Quadram Institute’s Rob Kingsley partnered with raw pet food manufacturers on interventions used during processing. Humans can become infected when handling pet food.
Sudhakar Bhandare, University of Nottingham, in partnership with Margaret Crumlish, University of Stirling, with support from seafood processors and Food Standards Scotland, has trialed the use of bacteriophages in post-harvest biocontrol of Listeria in salmon and trout products. I’m here.
Edward Fox of Northumbria University is collaborating with Prima Cheese on a rapid, antibody-based biosensor that has been lab-validated for sensitivity to key pathogens as part of an environmental surveillance program. Its purpose is a more proactive approach and real-time monitoring.
The University of Reading and a company specializing in shelf-life extension technology are trialing techniques that are less harsh than current disinfection methods that use chlorine. and its potential use with ozonation.
Enrico Ferrari of the University of Lincoln and Rosario Romero of Fera Science hope to provide a proof-of-concept of a rapid test based on gold nanoparticles to detect food-borne microorganisms. The technology is scalable to multiple pathogens and can be used throughout the food production chain without specialized labs or experts to understand when and where contamination occurred.
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