Food fraud testing service secures £570k investment
The completion of the seed funding round – led by QUBIS, the commercialisation arm of Queen’s University Belfast, and a number of angel investors in the food sector – will be used to develop new methods to test for food safety vulnerabilities.
Cibus will offer a laboratory testing service for food authenticity and safety, as well as extend its product offering to include portable testing tools to allow customers to rapidly test for food authenticity and safety at the point of sampling across global supply chains.
Research from the Queen’s University’s Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) – one of four global research institutes at Queen's University Belfast – will be commercialised by Cibus.
‘Needed commercial solution’
Professor Chris Elliott, founder of IGFS and Cibus, said: “I am delighted to see Cibus secure this funding round, as it will allow the development of a much-needed commercial solution to help protect the integrity of the global food supply system.”
Food fraud is a major issue that costs the industry up to £12bn a year, according to the EU Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. Foods such as grains, spices, coffee, wine, honey and fish are among the categories most commonly subjected to fraud.
Clive Black, chairman of the industry advisory board at the IFGS, commented: “Food safety and food integrity have been growing issues for policy-makers, reputable food systems and consumers for some years. The food testing provided by Cibus Analytical ensures food safety and boosts consumer trust across the supply chain.
Improve food intelligence
“Cibus Analytical, which has emerged from the world-renowned Institute for Global Food Security, has a rapidly growing capacity to quickly, conveniently and cost-effectively improve intelligence around food integrity – and so the reputation and effectiveness of food supply chains.”
Meanwhile, product recall guidance vital for tackling allergen contamination and labelling errors, plus advice on contingency planning and use of technology for cost-effective recall management are the key topics of our exclusive webinar.
Experts who have extensive experience in senior roles at top retailers, including Tesco, Waitrose, Marks and Spencer and Coca-Cola gave presentations for ‘Product recalls: prevention and cost management’.
