We end the year of 2021 by discussing our collaboration of work with SafeConsume as we go into the final year of the project.
SafeConsume is an EU Horizon 2020 project that addresses the top five domestic food hazards In Europe: Campylobacter, Toxoplasma, Salmonella, Norovirus, and Listeria. The aim is to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness, through analysis of risk and by creating information and interventions that help consumers to understand the risks and change their behaviour.
The 32 partners in the project are drawn from across academic, public sector and commercial organisations, and have carried out an extensive study, mapping food-handling behaviors and risks across Europe, including behavioural and microbiological aspects. The data has been used to create material to inform and educate consumers, make input to policy and education, and inform future research.
We have been leading a work-package on the subject of ‘Tools and Technologies’. In this part of the project five companies have developed technologies that address the identified risks in domestic food preparation. The technologies are improvements in refrigeration, food storage, surface cleaning, time and temperature monitoring, and defrosting. Our technology area in the project is the development of improved defrosting technology, using radio frequency (RF). RF is used industrially for food defrosting and heating. It has advantages over microwave technology because it penetrates further into frozen food and gives a more even heating profile. The challenge is to design a device that can be made at a low enough cost to make it accessible for domestic use.
Here at C-Tech Innovation we are expert at developing bespoke equipment, and one of our specialisms is in dielectric heating. In the project we have developed a new approach to RF defrosting that meets these requirements. Our aim for this in 2022 and the final part of the project is to partner with companies who will want to take the technology to market.
Dr. Bob Crawford, SafeConsume member and managing director of C-Tech Innovation said:
“Participating in an interdisciplinary project like SafeConsume has brought significant benefits to our technology development. Seeing a challenge from a variety of perspectives has helped us understand what the best outcomes from the technology development will be.”
Dr. Bob Crawford, SafeConsume member and managing director of C-Tech Innovation said:
Read more about our contribution to the project here:
*This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 727580.*