29 September 2009
The new world-class Centre for Assured, Safe and Traceable Food (ASSET) was officially opened on Tuesday 29 September 2009, and was sponsored by Connected the Department for Employment and Learning’s knowledge transfer project.
The new Centre will harness scientific knowledge on the island of Ireland to develop evidence based approaches for assessing risks and hazards associated with agri-food supply chains. This cutting-edge research will ensure that the safest and highest quality food in the world is produced across Ireland. The initiative is led by Professor Chris Elliott, Director of the Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use (School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University of Belfast).
Speaking about the Centre, Professor Elliott said:
“Food is now a true global commodity and we are in competition with the rest of the world. We know other places can produce food cheaper, but our opportunities lie in producing the safest, highest quality and most traceable food in the world. At ASSET we are using emerging technologies to deliver high-level traceability to detect and predict problems. We want to let local companies know how they can tap in ASSET’s expertise and compete in the global marketplace.”
Professor Peter Gregson, Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast, welcomed delegates from across Ireland to the Food Conference and invited Mr Andrew Hamilton, Deputy Secretary for the Department for Employment and Learning to deliver a speech on behalf of Sir Reg Empey, MLA (Minister for DEL).
The conference was attended by many local companies including Fane Valley, Dunbia, Kerry Group and TraceAssured. Local and international speakers informed delegates of the global issues with regards to food traceability and authenticity. The recent dioxin crisis in Ireland and the contaminated milk scandal in China were highlighted as two specific examples of major concern for agri-food industries. South Eastern Regional College was also invited to speak at the event engaging the delegates on the food verses energy debate.
Speaking at the conference, Lynn Connaughton, Business Development Manager of Connected said:
“Companies across Northern Ireland face the difficulty of networking their way through our Higher and Further Education sectors and creating direct links to academia. It is events such as this launch today that allows a two-way transfer both of skills and knowledge between industry and the universities, for the ultimate betterment of both Northern Ireland’s industry and economy. Today’s conference was used as an opportunity to demonstrate the research being conducted at Queen’s University through the new ASSET Centre and also to inform the agri-food industry of how they can become involved in ensuring that local produce, fresh and processed, is the most assured in the world”.
A key focus of ASSET is the formation of strategic linkages with an array of local agri-food industries, multi-national retailers and international research groups thus ensuring that it will not only be sustained into the long term, but will grow to become recognised as a global centre of excellence in food safety and traceability.
For further information on the Centre please visit www.qub.ac.uk/research-centres/ASSET
