Source:  John Strak, MEATINGPLACE, 7/21/11



Scientists at Aberystwyth University in Wales are developing a system to identify traces of fecal contamination on chicken carcasses in slaughterhouses.

The Improved Food Safety Initiative — a collaborative industrial research project undertaken by the University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) — aims to develop a natural additive to poultry feed that will result in ultra-violet fluorescence of feces.

The additive, a water-soluble, chlorophyll-based marker approved by the Food Standards Agency, would be fed to poultry during the last few days of finishing. When screened in slaughterhouses using fluorescence imaging, the markers would show up and identify any contamination.

Private sector partners involved in the project include the supermarket Waitrose, Castell Howell Foods, food wholesalers from Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire, Randall Parker Foods, a regional slaughterhouse in Llanidloes, Wynnstay Group PLC of Llansantffraid, leading producers and retailers of animal feeds and British Chlorophyll Company Limited, Europe’s leading manufacturer and supplier of chlorophyll .

The project builds on novel technology IBERS is currently developing to detect fecal contamination of red meat. That project has developed markers that can be added to the diet of ruminants to increase fluorescence of fecal matter that can be detected when screened. A patent application has been filed for this technology and has resulted in requests to take up licensing of the technology in China and India, as well as interest from the US and Latin America.

The Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales, Professor  John Harries, said the project had the potential to make a significant impact on food safety while also creating economic benefits for the food industry in Wales.

“It also clearly illustrates the value of collaborative industrial research between business and academia, aimed at turning good ideas into commercial propositions, bringing new products and processes onto the market,” said Professor Harries.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.