Monitoring of contaminants in UK cereals used for processing food and animal feed

AHDB is highly valued by the cereals industry for its independent work on monitoring agrochemical residues and contaminants, since the mid-1980s. The current AHDB ‘Investing in Innovation‘ Research and Knowledge Transfer Strategy (2015-20) has highlighted the need for continued investment in ensuring the safety and quality of the major UK cereals for human consumption and animal feed. Such an activity falls into one of the pillars of the new Strategy – Improving Business Opportunity. One of the objectives is to improve grain quality, with a priority target - to coordinate and integrate supply chain demands for reliable and consistent quality and safety. Furthermore, recent industry consultations have highlighted:

• The importance of continued monitoring of contaminants in cereals across the supply chain in order to provide customer confidence. • The importance of optimising market opportunities for improving the end-use quality of food and feed crops. • The need to help the UK grain supply chain to prepare for new legislation and growing demands on supply.

AHDB is looking for a contractor to undertake this study over the next 5 years (1 August 2016 to 31 July 2021).