KAPSURE project

KAPSURE project

Food chain safety is a fundamental prerequisite for good quality of life and public health. Nevertheless, the number of foodborne outbreaks is increasing, causing significant economic losses. While the operation of food business operators is becoming increasingly intensive and digitalised, food safety control still relies predominantly on manual processes. Laboratory analyses are costly and complex, therefore control is irregular and systematic, real-time microbiological quality monitoring does not take place. The regulatory environment increasingly expects decentralised, plant-level self-monitoring, yet there is currently no solution that supports this widely in a cost-effective and automated manner.

At present, an accredited, redox potential–based MicroTester system is in operation, enabling systematic, multi-point microbiological audits with a turnaround time within one day; the measurement principle and analytical performance have been demonstrated in laboratory and relevant test environments. However, sampling, sample preparation, loading the samples into the device and cleaning the instrument are still largely manual, and calibration covers only a limited number of food matrices and microbial groups. KAPSURE is the concept of a revolutionary food safety solution building on this technological foundation: its aim is to develop a unique Lab-In-A-Box device that applies an innovative, high-performance microbiological detection method, with the long-term goal of replacing traditional, manual laboratory screening tests. Currently, a partially automated set-up operating in laboratory and relevant test environments is available, in which measurement, detection, data collection and result display already work in an integrated manner, while several background processes (e.g. sample preparation, cleaning, certain calibration steps) remain manual or semi-manual.

The structural and analytical characterisation of the method at this stage already provides a suitable basis for subsequent ISO qualification and certification, but actual certification, broad matrix calibration and full automation are still outstanding. In designing the software architecture, the potential for later interconnection with modern, global food-tracking and supply chain systems has already been taken into account: the basic architecture, the main requirements of the integration interfaces and the conceptual data flow model are in place and have been partially validated in laboratory demonstrations. Cloud-based data management and blockchain-based front-end authentication have likewise been elaborated at a conceptual level, with laboratory demonstrations of limited functionality, whereas large-scale, plant-level integration has not yet taken place.

Studies carried out in laboratory and simulated practical scenarios indicate that the prototype is suitable for supporting early signalling of microbiological risks and the identification of critical points. The long-term goal of the technology is to establish a hitherto unprecedented, systematic monitoring system that enables preventive identification of critical food safety points and the planning of proactive interventions before problems actually appear in the supply chain. Building on existing service experience, a circular, service-based business model has also emerged, which could in the future offer low entry barriers, rapid market uptake and good scalability. At the current level of development, the primary achievements are the demonstration of technical feasibility and the preliminary identification of the main parameters of the business model; preparation of a detailed business plan, market validation and large-scale deployment will be the tasks of the next development phases.