Integration of new/rapid methods and ICTs to improve food safety and quality

摘要

Rapid methods and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems are among the most valuable tools available to companies for the implementation of food safety management systems. However, the use as well as the need and preparedness of food industries to implement them in their routine is unascertained. In order to gain further information about developed rapid methods of analysis and their validation status, as well as ICT systems that can be adopted by the food industry a questionnaire-based survey was conducted in the framework of MoniQA project “Towards the harmonization of analytical methods for monitoring food quality and safety in the food supply chain”. According to the results, several rapid methods have been developed for microbial, mycotoxins and food allergens analysis, while few focus on the analysis of chemical contaminants. Many rapid methods for microbial analysis are validated and validation of methods for mycotoxins and food allergens is ongoing. The survey among food companies showed that the most common type of rapid analysis used was for microbiological analytes, while a smaller percentage of respondents used mycotoxin and allergen related rapid methods. Furthermore, companies stated that they use and need automatic on/in line monitoring systems mainly for temperature control, as temperature is a critical parameter for the safety of the product, and also indicated a high demand of automatic on/in line foreign body detection systems. Regarding ICT-based management systems, there is interest in their use mainly for product and raw material traceability and for storage area management, while ICT is also used to source information about local legislation and regulations, existing suppliers and customers.