Agrifood Technology Station (ATS) offers a wide range of services that can assist food and related companies in developing, enhancing and maintaining safe, efficient and cost-effective food production. The University has a host of highly qualified and experienced staff, including scientists, technologists and technical assistants to deliver this service to companies. Where any specific expertise does not exist in the University, the academic and industrial networks of the above staff are also called in to assist on a consultancy basis.

Considering that the production of good, wholesome food is critical in terms of maintaining public health and that foods not produced according to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP’s) can make people sick or even result in deaths, it is essential that all companies ensure the safety of their products. In an ideal world, all the raw materials would in themselves be wholesome and safe but, since there are always a number of links in the supply and production chain, checks and balances need to be implemented all along the way.

For smaller companies in particular this may be burdensome in terms of costs. This is where ATS can assist. The services offered by ATS include a range starting from farm to fork and sometimes even further. Typical areas of approach include the following:

• Advising on harvest and immediate post-harvest treatment of raw materials;
• Checking raw materials for conformance to specifications;
• Quality control checks during production as part of good practice;
• Analyses related to shelf-life and conformance with labelling requirements;
• New product development, modification of existing products and production of new variants of existing lines;
• Training of relevant staff regarding all of the above by way of short courses (non-formal and formal);
• Auditing and advising on preparing for audits by prospective clients.