The Musgrave Inaugural Guest Lecture on Food Authenticity will take place at UCC’s new Centre for Executive Education on February 28.
Part of a collaborative research project titled “Protecting Irish agri-food Chain Integrity”, the lecture will be delivered by Dr John Spink, Director of the Food Fraud Initiative at Michigan State University and a global thought leader in the area of policy and strategy of food fraud prevention.
Welcoming the announcement of the Musgrave Guest Lecture on Food Authenticity, Dr Seamus O’Reilly, Senior Lecturer in the Department Food Business & Development at Cork University Business School, believed it would help raise awareness
While food supply chain stakeholders are well accustomed to food safety and quality risks arising from unintentional acts, they are becoming more familiar with management approaches to deal with ‘vulnerabilities’ due to intentional acts, such as fraud. It is also critical that there is greater information sharing and collaboration among stakeholders at all levels of the supply chain.
The eagerly anticipated lecture will be of interest to those working in the Irish food industry, which supports over 163,000 jobs across the island of Ireland.
As Ireland’s oldest and largest indigenous economic driver, the industry represents a way of life, where everyone involved, from famers to manufacturers, recognise that they are custodians of a tradition and an identity that has come to symbolise the Irish food brand.
Synonymous with quality, Irish food and drink products are enjoyed in more than 180 countries, and the value of Ireland’s food and drink exports have increased by more than 64% in the last eight years.
However, as the industry’s supply chains lengthen, the risks associated with protecting the integrity of the Irish food brand multiply. Given the complexity of modern cross border supply chains logistics, combating food fraud requires co-operation between industry and enforcement bodies.
UCC, Musgrave, Teagasc and Michigan State University are collaborating around the “Walsh Fellowship PhD fellowship supported by Musgrave”.
The objective of the fellowship is to explore what policies and practices in Ireland are adequate to protect “Brand Ireland”, including Irish food exported abroad under Origin Green and other marketing banners, as well as food produced in Ireland that is consumed domestically.
Ray Bowe, Head of Food Safety at Musgrave said: “Musgrave is a proud supporter of Irish communities through our Brands and network of retailers, producers, suppliers across Ireland and have worked with Dr Spink since 2014 in developing systems in the area of food fraud protection.
“Musgrave is committed to the development of knowledge and research in this area to protect the “Ireland Food Brand”.
The linkage between Musgrave, UCC, Teagasc and MSU is an exciting platform for future development of expertise in this area with which Musgrave is proud to support.”
Register to attend the event here