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A risk management tool called FoodRisk-Select will be developed and the feasibility of adding this database to the Local Authority Enforcement Monitoring System will be explored. The work will provide information to improve the decision making process for sampling imported foods and the ability to perform rapid screening of foods for contaminants.
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The work will assist in developing strategies to allow decisions to be taken by port health and local authorities in assessing that imported food is safe to eat by providing information to support risk-based and targeted checks.
Research Approach:<br/>
A database will be constructed to determine the types of foods that are the highest risk, the types of contaminants that are most likely to be present and the countries of origin of imported foods most often linked to particular food comtamination issues. Following on from this there will be a second stage where there will be development of a proof of concept of food fingerprinting methods for spices and oils that is capable of detecting contamination/adulteration with a range of illegal dyes. The fingerprinting method will be based on spectoscopic techniques including NIR and RAMAN.
<p> Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a
href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research
webpage</a>.