Jem Freiesleben

2017 is being heralded as the 'year of transparency' in attempt to satisfy customers who want to know more about the content of their food and its origins. In latter months of 2016 there was an increase in recalls from sunflower seeds to flour to powdered milk.

Come and join us at IFE 2017 (The International Food & Drink Event) which is the UK's biggest and most important food & drink trade show. Taking place 19 to 22 March 2017 in London, you can find us in the Health & Wellbeing zone of the event at Stand Number N2332.

This major conference will bring together plant health professionals and invasive species experts from across Great Britain & beyond, to discuss novel strategies for improving plant biosecurity and establish a sustainable knowledge exchange. The conference is organised against the backdrop of the Plant Biosecurity Strategy for Great Britain, as released in 2014, and revisions to the EU Plant Health Regime, which are soon to be realised.

Globalisation of trade and climate change has facilitated the spread and establishment of non-native species across Europe, posing major challenges to plant health. The EU-funded Dropsa project is working with 26 partners in Europe, Asia, New Zealand and North America to find safe and sustainable ways to protect Europe’s fruit industry from pests and diseases.

The £1.6m investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Programme is to stimulate economic growth in agri-food sector Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in two Yorkshire LEP areas. The project will enable businesses to engage with applied science research, innovation expertise and facilities based around Fera Science Ltd, the National Agri-Food Innovation Campus and Science City York, part of Make It York.

The Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association (UMFHA), the independent industry body for Mānuka honey, today announced that it has validated a number of unique signature compounds found only in genuine Mānuka honey. These findings are the result of over five years of scientific research with UK-based Fera Science and other international research contributors.

Fapas, the proficiency testing arm of Fera Science Ltd, has launched a new range of allergen reference materials. The new materials will enable laboratories around the world to comprehensively evaluate and compare their methods and capabilities when testing food samples for allergens.

A seven-fold increase in soil samples testing positive for root-knot nematodes in cereals indicates that the pest may be more prevalent in the crop than previously thought, according to a leading expert at Fera.

‘70% of consumers in the ProteInsect second survey said it was acceptable to feed insect protein to farmed animals’ - That’s the preliminary conclusion of PROteINSECT, three-year study of whether feed based on fly larvae could help mitigate environmental problems caused by the rapidly growing global demand for meat and fish.

Fera became the first company in the UK to bring the ‘fingerprinting’ or full chemical profile technique to the food sampling arena, really challenging some of the issues being currently faced by the industry with regards to food fraud and authenticity.