Aberystwyth scientists work to stop food poisoning
Scientists at Aberystwyth University are developing a system to identify miniscule traces of faecal contamination on chicken carcases in abattoirs that can cause deadly food poisoning outbreaks. Although invisible to the human eye, the smallest trace of contamination can harbour millions of potentially pathogenic micro-organisms and enter the human food chain. 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 faeces. 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 abattoirs using fluorescence imaging, the markers would show up and identify any contamination. The research project is supported with funding from the Welsh Government’s Aca...