Two postgraduate students from the University of Malta recently took part in a workshop in Athens, Greece, as part of the European project ‘Sustainable Intervention Technologies for controlling food Safety and Stability’ (Suit4Food) on the training the next generation of food technologists. They were accompanied by two resident University academics, Prof. Vasilis Valdramidis and Dr Edward Duca.

People are demanding higher quality food that tastes better and stays fresher for longer. Also, food-borne disease outbreaks are a constant treat that needs vigilance to prevent and control.

Suit4Food was set up to bring together teaching and industrial staff who are currently working on different aspects of food technologies, food safety, kinetic modelling, harmonisation of global food safety regulations and legislation, public engagement for food technology uptake, knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship development.

The workshop dealt with the development of sound standard operating procedures (SOPs), optimisation of alternative sustainable intervention technologies for food processing, transferring knowledge to industry to support food industry and food management on topics such as traceability and food safety.

The activities of Suit4Food will ensure further visibility of University of Malta students’ capabilities to the industrial world.

Suit4Food is a University of Malta project funded by Erasmusplus Key Action 2: Strategic Partnerships of the European Union, funded by the European Union Programmes Agency (EUPA). This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.