TECHNOPOL - Modern bioanalysis for the safety of food and feed
Abstract
A whole series of food scandals in the last years has rocked consumer confidence in quality and safety of foods. The European Union is bound to restore people’s belief in the safety of comestibles from “the farm to the fork” (http://europa.eu.int/pol/food/index_en.htm). EU legislation has therefore implemented low threshold levels for contaminants in food and feed and additionally plans to enforce preventive checks of the produce by the manufacturer. The general policy of food and feed safety was set out for the first time in a regulation adopted in 2002 which is known as the General Food Law (VO (EG) Nr. 178/2002). The experience gained during the long line of food scandals showed that especially rapid analytical methods for the detection of contaminants in food and feed are required. This comprises analytical high performance instruments such as mass spectrometry as well as portable and good value in-field analytical systems like optical sensors or protein chips to name but a few. In this context there is also an enormous demand for suitable antibodies for rapid test kits and additionally, high quality reference materials are required that are of tremendous importance for tracing analytical results in the area of food and feed analysis. In said areas, the Center for Analytical Chemistry of the Department for Agrobiotechnology (IFA-Tulln) has already co-operated with a number of industrial partners, above all the companies Biomin, Romer Labs and Biopure, for over nine years. Main goals of the project on hand with the title “Modern bioanalysis for the safety of food and feed” are therefore the isolation and production of monoclonal antibodies and high quality reference materials as well as the development of innovative analytical methods for the rapid detection of biogenous and anthropogenic contaminants in food and feed. Apart from multi analyte methods for the simultaneous determination of several contaminants in food and feed by mass spectrometry, a number of immunological and optical rapid test kits should equally be developed as innovative protein chips for the detection of compounds with allergenic potential as well as mycotoxins. The latter test formats have already roused the interest of Agrana Zucker und Stärke AG, a sugar and starch industrial plant nearby. Due to the establishing of Romer Labs and Biopure on the premises of the Technopark Tulln and the intensive co-operation of the IFA-Tulln with new FH Studiengang Biotechnische Verfahren a number of new and interesting perspectives come into view. By means of specific measures in infrastructure in the forward looking R&D area of “Modern bioanalysis for the safety of food and feed” not only the establishing of new companies could be promoted but the lasting attraction of the Technopol site Tulln could also be raised for further industrial partners. The foundation of the first spin-off company in this area is already planned for 2005.
Publikationen
Project staff
Rudolf Krska
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Rudolf Krska
rudolf.krska@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-97301, 97302
Project Leader
01.12.2004 - 31.12.2008
Sabine Baumgartner
Ao.Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Sabine Baumgartner
sabine.baumgartner@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-97314
Project Staff
01.12.2004 - 31.12.2008
Wolfgang Kandler
Ass.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Wolfgang Kandler
wolfgang.kandler@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-97308
Project Staff
01.12.2004 - 31.12.2008
Rainer Schuhmacher
Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Chem. Dr.rer.nat. Rainer Schuhmacher
rainer.schuhmacher@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-97307
Project Staff
01.12.2004 - 31.12.2008