“The recent outbreak of melamine contamination has highlighted the need for testing labs to address the import and export of potentially tainted food,” Schwartz says. “Efforts to protect the global food supply more effectively in the future will hinge on food manufacturers being able to better comply with food safety standards country by country, while governments maintain the ability to scale testing capabilities on short notice.”
Applied Biosystems is working with government and industry in China, the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world to use scientific advances to improve compliance and food safety testing. One example of this effort involves using easier and more efficient methods to analyze food for melamine contamination, Schwartz says.
“Solutions will be needed for emerging problems, both chemical and biological,” Schwartz says. “The food lab of the future will require a wide range of real-time identification systems that can quickly identify both known and unknown contaminants. A complete system will include robust sample preparation, DNA-based assays, instruments, and software, all designed to work together. Applied Biosystems is focusing its bioinformatics, sequencing, assay design, and chemical analysis capabilities on developing new ways for food labs to address emerging food safety threats.”
An intergalactic food industry is likely light years away, but globalization is playing a key role today and will have a big impact on the food lab of the future, Dr. Vasavada says. “The scope of a global company’s lab will be a bit different and more complex than a present day lab. Besides conducting routine quality control and food safety testing, the future lab will have to coordinate testing activities with vendors and suppliers all over the world and, hence, will not have a centralized focus like today’s corporate laboratory,” he says.
“We may not be ready to have robots like Rosie single-handedly operating our food labs, but we are already embracing Jetsonesque space technology to improve pathogen detection on our planet,” Dr. Vasavada says. “These are exciting times, and the best is yet to come. Stay tuned.”
Leake is a food safety consultant and writer based in Wilmington, N.C. Reach her at [email protected] or (910) 799-4881.
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