Welcome to the Food Research Directorate
The Food Directorate embraces Moorepark Food Research Centre (MFRC) and Ashtown Food Research Centre (AFRC). The Directorate undertakes a comprehensive range of activities, including public and private research, training, consultancy and technical services. Programme themes include food safety, food ingredients, meat technology, prepared food, dairy products and functional foods.
Our mission is to provide leadership in research, consultancy and training to the food sector, thereby encouraging product innovation and enhanced food safety and quality.
The Teagasc food research programme, carried out at the Ashtown Food Research Centre in Dublin and the Moorepark Food Research Centre in Moorepark, Co Cork, aims to underpin the growth of a competitive, consumer-oriented and added-value food product manufacturing and marketing sector. The main thrust of the food programme is directed towards developing the base of expertise and information in generic technologies to assist the Irish food industry to achieve consistent quality and guaranteed safety, allied to product and process innovations. The programme covers the full spectrum of the innovatory process, ranging from market studies through strategic research to technology development services and training programmes.
The comprehensive R&D programme at the two centres is funded under the Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM) of Ireland’s National Development Plan, from central Teagasc funds as well as from the food industry and the EU Framework Programmes.
Food Research Goals
Teagasc's food research goals are to support the development of a market oriented, competitive and innovative food sector, particularly in the growing’foods for health sector’, which meets the highest standards of quality and safety.
Food Processing
The objectives of Teagasc's food processing research, technology development services and training programmes are to ensure that the highest standards of safety, quality and nutrition are consistently achieved in food products and to provide the necessary scientific and technological enabling capacity in food products and ingredients. It comprises the following seven sub-programmes.
Food Safety:
- Develop preventative measures to ensure the microbiological and chemical safety of Irish food products
- Assist the industry to put in place effective food safety assurance systems both on farms and in food companies
Cheese and Fermented Dairy Products
- Improve the consistency, flavour, texture, functionality and yield of cheeses and fermented dairy products and the stability, shelf life, microbiological quality and safety of short life cheeses and fresh dairy products
- To harness advances in biotechnology to develop improved food cultures and novel enzymes to enhance the quality and safety of food products
Food Ingredients
- Identify the compositional and processing determinants of the functionality of food ingredients
- Develop technologies, which improve the functional and nutritional attributes of ingredients
- Use recent developments in biotechnology to produce nutritional and functional food ingredients.
Meats Products
- Develop technologies for the efficient production of fresh meat products of consistent quality, and convenience meat products that are both wholesome and nutritious
- Investigate the influences that are forming consumer attitudes and are determining the demand for specific foods in different export markets
- Improve the texture, flavour, colour, safety and nutritional attributes of beef and lamb produced from grass
Prepared Consumer Foods
- Identify the major factors which determine the quality of prepared food products
- Evaluate processes and functional ingredients for the improvement of existing products the development of new products, including ready prepared foods, chilled foods, frozen pizzas and pasta
Nutrition
- Investigate new technologies for the nutritional enhancement of food products.
- Support product development and marketing strategies that are better informed of diet-health relationships.
Technology Transfer
- Raise the innovative capacity of the major food companies
- Support the development of small and medium scale food businesses through training; contract research and consultancy services
