Agri-tech firm Cibus Analytical has secured £570,000 in funding to develop new testing technology to help combat food fraud.
The food and drink industry is big money, and like any major global industry it's seen its fair share of fake products and compromised supply lines. Products marked as sustainably sourced or organic are sometimes found to be coming from alternative sources, and a percentage of fish tested in the UK was discovered to be a different species than advertised.
The agri-tech industry has been fighting back against food fraud and contamination in recent years, with the World Wildlife Federation putting considerable resources behind blockchain technology last year to see if it could be used to establish authenticity in the complex food supply chains that every product goes through to get to the consumer.
Belfast-based food testing tech firm Cibus Analytical has entered the arena with its suite of tests for food safety and authenticity of ingredients throughout the food supply chain. The company has just annoucned a successful funding round of £570,000 to help it expand its operations and develop innovative new portable testing tools that could let customers test their own food for authenticity and safety.
The funding was supported by Innovate UK and led by QUBIS, the Queen's University Belfast organisation that focuses on commercialisation of ideas resulting from research with the university. Cibus will be commercialising research developed by the Queen's University Institute for Global Food Safety (IFGS) and was founded by institute researchers Prof Chris Elliott, Dr Terry McGrath, Dr Simon Haughey and Mrs Pamela Galvin-King.
Clive Black, Chairman of the Industry Advisory Board at the IFGS commented: "Food safety and food integrity have been growing issues for policy makers, reputable food systems and consumers for some years. [...] Cibus Analytical, which has emerged from the world renowned Institute for Global Food Security, has a rapidly growing capacity to quickly, conveniently and cost effectively improve intelligence around food integrity and so the reputation and effectiveness of food supply chains."
Source: Written based on press release
