A Novel Integrated Process Monitoring Approach to Enhance Food Safety through On-Line Analysis of Allergens

This project aims to develop an on-line allergen sensor to enable detection of allergen materials in processing equipment where the elimination of allergen contamination from one production run to another is paramount. The allergen measurement will be complemented by additional processing information as part of an integrated process monitoring package to enable greater speed and accuracy of allergen determination and enhanced food safety. Through pilot plant evaluation the project will look to prove the technology in both dry and wet processing equipment where allergens are processed. Key objectives are to develop technology that allows a move away from precautionary labelling, enabling improvements in manufacturing efficiency through tailored cleaning programmes and the development of a technology approach that is capable of reducing the number of product recalls within the FMCG industry. There are no known examples of in-line allergen sensing technologies. If successful this project will bring about a paradigm shift in the way that food processes are operated with greatly improved levels of quality assurance and food safety.