Every year, the European milk industry processes about 152 tonnes of milk, either for direct consumption or for the production of food and medicine. There is a strong drive, on a European level, to ensure the safety of food products that make it to our tables.
A project led by a team of University of Malta (UM) researchers and financed to the tune of €195,000 by the Malta Council of Science and Technology (MCST) will ensure earlier food quality and safety inspection through hyperspectral imaging.
Project FIHI (Food Inspection Using Hyperspectral Imaging), which focused on fungi that slowly grow on milk products, involved a collaboration between the Centre for Biomedical Cybernetics, the Department of Food Sciences & Nutrition, and Farm Fresh Ltd.
Dr Owen Falzon, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Biomedical Cybernetics, said the consortium made use of these hyperspectral data analysis techniques to investigate the characteristics of and potential contamination of cheeselets.
Prof. Vasilis Valdramidis said this project addresses the needs of consumers as the monitoring of food quality is something we are all particularly concerned with. The developed methods can eventually help reduce time and cost associated with the inspection of food products.
Prof. Kenneth Camilleri also spoke at the dissemination event, and he talked about how the technology can be applied to other products and application areas.
The event can be watched below: