Food2Know Bundled expertise from farm to fork

Food2Know was founded in 2008 at Ghent University as an industrial research consortium on animal nutrition, food and health. It is the central point of contact for industry, government and other stakeholders and guarantees high-quality research and advice.

The centre of excellence is located in the heart of the city of Ghent. It comprises some forty research groups and laboratories from Ghent University, Free University of Brussels, University of Antwerp, Hogeschool Gent and the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO). Each of them conducts research on the topics of feed, food and/or health. They work on the relationship between the composition of animal feed and the quality of meat or fish, on preservation and packaging techniques, on the structural composition of foodstuffs, the relationship between nutrition (including nutraceuticals) and health in humans and animals, up to and including consumer behaviour and perception. With their business development centres, they bring together complementary research departments for each field of application or area of expertise. Together they cover the entire food chain, from farm to fork.

Food2Know does not only work within a regional and national context, but also develops activities on an international level. Via Food2Know, companies, professional sectors, consumer organisations and government institutions have direct access to top expertise and advanced equipment, both for performing analyses, for scientific or business advice, and for setting up research projects.

Network

As a knowledge centre, it not only brings together top experts from across the food chain, but also increases interaction with industrial and societal stakeholders. It also works to align academic research with practice and to disseminate the acquired knowledge. Innovation and valorisation of the generated intellectual property are central to this.

Furthermore, Food2Know – together with its own and external partners – looks for project opportunities and funding. With its Industrial Liaison Network, it offers a supporting framework for cooperation between academia and industry.

Meat and weeds

One of Food2Know’s ongoing research projects is CUSTOMEAT (FWO-SBO S002821N), which focuses on the potential of new technologies for the introduction of ‘in vitro’ farmed meat. The development has been going on for more than ten years, but there is still a lot of work to be done. The production process needs to be improved in order to obtain a cost-efficient, safe and edible product. In addition, public perception remains a challenge. CUSTOMEAT must increase knowledge of the existing research deficits and integrate contributions from the biomedical research field with know-how from food technology.

One of the other numerous projects is WeLaser (Horizon Europe), which aims to use laser technology to find alternatives to chemical weed killers.