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The last decade has witnessed significant advances in analytical technologies with the capabilities to support food integrity and authenticity testing within the rapidly evolving food industry. Devices that allow diagnostic tests to be performed at or near the point of need, often termed Point-of-contact (POC), represent a growing area within the food sector with the potential to provide real-time monitoring of input materials and production process. POC devices can range from handheld spectroscopic devices such as Raman and FT-IR instruments to desktop portable systems inclusive of compact mass spectrometry, NMR and next generation sequencing (NGS) systems.

UK National Measurement Laboratory at LGC

The term Point of Contact (POC) testing relates to a mode of analytical testing that can be conducted at the point of sampling, with a minimal requirement for analyst training, providing easily interpreted results in real-time.

This e-seminar provides an overview of POC testing, describes the range of analytical techniques that have been adopted, and lists examples of current and emerging devices for use with POC testing; It has been added to the e-seminars part of the Training section.

The e-seminar is intended for individuals working in academia, the food industry and those involved with the UK official control system.

The production of this e-seminar was funded by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, BEIS, via the Government Chemist, under the Joint Knowledge Transfer Framework for Food Standards and Food Safety Analysis. Cofunding was provided by the Scottish Government's National Transition Training Fund programme in collaboration with the Manufacturing Skills Academy at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.

The modern food industry is fast moving with complex supply chains that utilises a wide variety of analytical tools to support food integrity and authenticity. Devices that allow diagnostic tests to be performed at or near the point of need, often termed Point-of-contact (POC), represent a growing area within the food sector with the potential to provide real-time monitoring of input materials and the production process. POC devices can range from handheld spectroscopic devices such as Raman and FT-IR instruments to desktop portable systems such as compact mass spectrometry and NMR systems.

A questionnaire looking at POC testing in the food sector has been devised by LGC as part of a Defra funded project (FA0178: Point of Contact Testing) tasked with investigating the application of POC technology to food authenticity testing. The questionnaire is targeted at individuals involved in the food and associated diagnostics sectors, including primary production, supply and manufacturing.

The project team would greatly appreciate your participation in this questionnaire, which will directly help inform the direction of the project and contribute to guidance within the sector.

POC Questionnaire: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/J8L8N3X

We thank you in advance for your assistance and kindly request that the survey is completed by Friday 31st July 2020.

Kind regards

Food Authenticity Network Executive Management Team