POC Testing in the Food Sector

The modern food industry is a rapidly evolving sector with complex supply chains that utilises a wide variety of analytical tools to support food integrity and authenticity. Devices that allow diagnostic tests to be performed at or near the point of need, often termed Point-of-contact (POC), represent a growing area within the food sector with the potential to provide real-time monitoring of input materials and the production process. POC devices can range from handheld spectroscopic devices such as Raman and FT-IR instruments to desktop portable systems such as compact mass spectrometry and NMR systems.

This questionnaire has been devised by LGC as part of a Defra funded project (FA0178: Point of Contact Testing) tasked with reviewing the application of POC technology to food authenticity testing and evaluating a limited panel of instrument systems representative of the current testing marketplace. The questionnaire is targeted at individuals involved in the food supply and associated diagnostics sectors, including primary production, supply and manufacturing. Your participation in this questionnaire will directly help inform the direction of the project and contribute to guidance within the sector.

Please do not provide any information that could be used to identify you. Thank you for participating in our questionnaire which should only take around 15 minutes to complete. Your feedback is important.