Lab on a Chip - Early-warning platform for food safety

The Lab on a Chip project aims to develop a system for precise and rapid analysis of food contamination, which can be done on-site at the production stage. 

Every year, over 23 million people across Europe fall ill from eating unsafe food, which results in 5,000 death cases.  

Food contaminations are mostly monitored in the production phase, for instance in factories, using time-consuming methods with analysis taking up to a week. This delay in identification of contaminated products means that some are released to the market and consumed. This food testing paradox is demonstrated by the enormous rate of 50 weekly recalls across the EU and the USA.  

The Technion Israel Institute of Technology have developed an innovative technology, which provides sensitive, real-time detection of contaminants. The technology is based on several concentration techniques using a ‘lab on a chip’ format. The project aims to use this technology to develop food safety products and services which obtain testing results in real time. Ultimately, this work will improve food safety and minimise food product recalls.