Project overview
Low-moisture ready-to-eat ingredients make up a significant part of the UK food market – from cereals to nuts and seeds, from herbs and spices to chocolate. Many of these ingredients come through complex global supply chains, and there is increased concern about microbiological risk in some of these foods and how it is managed (WHO 2022) [add link].
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Southampton and Newcastle University have come together in a project funded by the Food Safety Research Network (itself funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Food Standards Agency) to understand existing risk management practices and food technology processes that operate in the field of food safety of ready-to-eat (RTE) low moisture raw materials
We are undertaking interviews and site visits with a number of stakeholders across the UK to understand questions like these about risk management:
- How are low moisture ingredients in RTE products assessed for microbial risk?
- Where does responsibility for managing LM ingredients’ microbial risk lie in RTE supply chains?
- How is microbial risk in RTE supply chains understood, assessed, and mitigated, and by whom?
- What regulations and codes cover microbial risk management and decontamination, and how and by whom are they observed in practice?
We are also interested in industrial and supply chain practices, to answer questions like these:
- What practices (product testing or safe-by-design processes?) are in use to support the efficient, managed removal or inhibition of pathogens to reduce microbial risks?
- How and when do different LM ingredients generate microbial risks because of global supply chain features of RTE chilled or non-chilled products?
- How are mitigating practices and persistent sites of microbial risks located differently across RTE products and supply chains processes?
- How can best practice food safety communication in this space advance practical understanding of microbial activity and risk?
- What workforce skills are used in decontamination processes, and how are they honed?
The project was conceived in early 2023, and launched with two online and in-person workshops that brought together stakeholders from across the sector – businesses, regulators and academics. We are holding a further workshop in early 2024, after which we will share interim findings on the [MORE INFO- add link] page.
WHO, F. (2022) Ranking of low-moisture foods in support of microbiological risk management: meeting report and systematic review.
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Southampton and Newcastle University have come together in a project funded by the Food Safety Research Network (itself funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Food Standards Agency) to understand existing risk management practices and food technology processes that operate in the field of food safety of ready-to-eat (RTE) low moisture raw materials
We are undertaking interviews and site visits with a number of stakeholders across the UK to understand questions like these about risk management:
- How are low moisture ingredients in RTE products assessed for microbial risk?
- Where does responsibility for managing LM ingredients’ microbial risk lie in RTE supply chains?
- How is microbial risk in RTE supply chains understood, assessed, and mitigated, and by whom?
- What regulations and codes cover microbial risk management and decontamination, and how and by whom are they observed in practice?
We are also interested in industrial and supply chain practices, to answer questions like these:
- What practices (product testing or safe-by-design processes?) are in use to support the efficient, managed removal or inhibition of pathogens to reduce microbial risks?
- How and when do different LM ingredients generate microbial risks because of global supply chain features of RTE chilled or non-chilled products?
- How are mitigating practices and persistent sites of microbial risks located differently across RTE products and supply chains processes?
- How can best practice food safety communication in this space advance practical understanding of microbial activity and risk?
- What workforce skills are used in decontamination processes, and how are they honed?
The project was conceived in early 2023, and launched with two online and in-person workshops that brought together stakeholders from across the sector – businesses, regulators and academics. We are holding a further workshop in early 2024, after which we will share interim findings on the [MORE INFO- add link] page.
WHO, F. (2022) Ranking of low-moisture foods in support of microbiological risk management: meeting report and systematic review.
Staff
Lead researchers
Other researchers
