By Ewoenam Kpodo, GNA
Ho, Nov 14, GNA – “Before you taste it, look at it. Smell it. Listen to it. Feel it” was the blunt warning given to the public in detecting food fraud and unsafe food.
Food fraud is the intentional deception, substitution, dilution, or mislabeling of food products for economic gain while accidental contamination and/or poor hygiene fall under general food safety.
Prof Ernest Teye, Vice Dean of the School of Agriculture, University of Cape Coast in his keynote address at the second opening of Food, Agriculture, Technology and Sustainability Conference at Ho Technical University said food fraud was no longer a distant problem but could be found in markets, shops, and on tables, and there was the need to refuse food fraud and assure quality in the food sector.
The Professor of Agri-food Integrity Engineering and Executive Director of AfriProduct Integrity Group Ltd, a research and innovation organisation dedicated to advancing product authenticity, food integrity, quality assurance, traceability, and regulatory compliance across Africa through cutting-edge analytical technologies and artificial intelligence stressed, “use your five senses as your first line of defence.”
To keep safe from everyday foods, among the most fraudulently presented items to end-users as genuine, he advised, “See it. Read the label. Check the packaging. Check the integrity of the seal. Hear it. Listen to the sound of the food. It can flag a problem. Smell it. Taste it. Feel it. Your nose, tongue and touch can catch the first signs of spoilage, adulteration or contamination.”
Prof Teye confirmed, “The senses cannot give you the full safety and quality picture, but they are your first sign.”
He touched on how he was turning his invention known as Food Oracle into artificial intelligence: Acoustic sampling for the ear. Electronic tongue for taste. Electronic nose for smell. Near Infrared Spectroscopy for the eye.
He disclosed that already, the tools were successfully testing honey, palm oil, cocoa beans, coffee and more, with future plans to scale them up into fast, point-of-contact kits that could detect unsafe food right in African markets.
“Food safety is only as strong as its weakest link. We must protect that link in Africa.”
Prof Teye anchored his talk in the seven pillars of integrity, one of which called for respecting those who produce the food – the farmer.
He challenged policymakers to match words with action — to engage the youth in farming and to end the narrative of youth unemployment by making farming dignified and rewarding.
Prof Christopher Mensah, Pro Vice-Chancellor of HTU stressed that agriculture’s future could not be built on old methods but required that “We must rethink how we produce, process, distribute and sustainably manage food by harnessing technology, digital innovation, production, entrepreneurship and sustainable resource management.”
He noted that despite significant agricultural potential, persistent challenges still held the sector back: low productivity, climate variability, post-harvest losses, limited mechanisation, insufficient value addition, youth disengagement and weak supply chains and called for bold thinking, technological innovation and stronger partnerships among universities, government, industries, farmers and development partners to address the challenges.
The conference themed: “Innovation for Resilient Futures: Integrating Food Systems, Technology and Sustainable Agriculture” tackled issues of agriculture through keynote presentations, panel discussions, technical sessions and knowledge sharing across all sub-themes
These discussions, Prof Mensah expected would go beyond academic discourse to yield practical ideas, research collaborations, policy recommendations and partnerships that meaningfully contribute to agricultural transformation in Ghana and Africa.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Ewoenam Kpodo, GNA
[email protected]