University pioneers food quality improvements
The University of Wolverhampton’s School of Computing and IT is to embark on a new two-year pilot scheme helping to improve food quality standards.
The pioneering school will be using a system of Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) tags to trace and authenticate the source of food items, which are of increasing concern for retailers and consumers because of fears over quality assurance and food counterfeiting such as the use of low-grade meat.
The purpose of the project, named RFID-F2F and funded by the European Commission, is to demonstrate the use of RFID at all stages of the production and sales chain, allowing products to be tracked across Europe, from the producer to the end consumer.
The RFID technology enables all the details of a food item’s history to be stored on a database, including detail of the farmer, the manufacturer, the storage conditions and transportation.
The school was selected for the project because of its growing reputation for high quality work. IT Futures, an initiative set up by Advantage West Midland’s ICT Cluster, is based at the university and is renowned for its expertise in the use of RFID technology.
Mike Musson, ICT Cluster Manager, said: “There are huge potential returns on investment for RFID along the supply chain including reduced wastage, optimising logistics costs, improved quality of consumer goods and the provision of authenticated premium items.
“We aim to raise awareness among companies, in particular SMEs, of the potential benefits associated with the use of RFID technology, through live implementations in the region.”
Robert Newman, Professor of Computer Science, School of Computing & IT at the university, said IT Futures had been at the forefront of RFID technology for a number of years, and ne was delighted that its capabilities had been recognised by the EC for the project.
“Through the West Midlands Regional Centre for RFID, we have gained experience of tracing food and that has proved to be a decisive factor in gaining the project,” he said.
The project will involve international as well as West Midlands-based producers, processors, logistics and retail organisations. Businesses interested in participating in the project should contact Lynsey Jones on 01902 323396.
