Nanotechnology has been touted as the next revolution inmany industries, including food manufacturing. It holds the promise of helping manufacturersproduce novel products and improve their processes and packaging.
However it is alos a sector that has become a hot consumerissue due to fears over the unknown consequences of digesting nano-scaleparticles designed to behave in specific way in the body
The EU grant was given to the university's nanobiotechnologyresearch group. They are part of a wider EU consortium tasked with developingand integrating novel technologies to improve safety and quality assurance forthe chilled and frozen food supply chain.
"New materials andchemistry being developed at the University of Kent will significantly improvethe efficiency of food testing for identity and therefore improve consumerconfidence and choice," stated Ian Bruce, a professor of nanobiotechnology andleader of the research group.
Professor Bruce joined the University of Kent from theUniversity of Urbino, Italy, in 2004. Since then he has won grant funding ofabout €2m from the European Commission for research.
The nanobiotechnology research group conducts work in thegeneral area of nanotechnology. The group project includes collaborating withmainstream process engineers, biochemists, molecular biologists, geneticists,microbiologists, software engineers and statisticians.