Sensor solution chips in on food safety

Earlier this year the Food Standards Agency launched a campaign called “Go for Gold”, designed to alert consumers to the dangers of a carcinogenic substance called acrylamide. This can be formed when starchy foods such as potatoes and bread are cooked at high temperatures.

Now a new technique, developed by Lien Smeesters, a researcher in the B-PHOT Brussels Photonics Team at the University of Brussels, alongside Tomra Sorting Solutions, has been designed to spot potatoes that will go on to form high levels of acrylamide, before they are cooked.

A similar sensor can also detect other carcinogenic contaminants – mycotoxins - which can be found in food stuffs including cereals, nuts and dried fruits.

Existing chemical analysis techniques used to spot harmful substances are typically slow and destructive, meaning the product cannot be used once it has been tested.

What’s more, carcinogenic substances can form in localised areas of the product. “This means that you could take a sample of bread, and the sample could be completely healthy, while in another part of the same loaf, there could be contamination present,” she said.