ProSafeBeef and anthelmintic drug residues—a case study in collaborative application of multi-analyte mass spectrometry to enhance consumer safety

Abstract

Collaboration is the bedrock of much of the research carried out by academia, industry, and government. Two heads being better than one is true in most areas of life, including science. Whilst working with collaborators often requires additional time, energy, and money (not to mention flexibility, diplomacy, and, occasionally, a thick skin), the benefits can be substantial, including access to otherwise unavailable expertise and equipment, sharing of ideas and workloads, greater scope to disseminate results, and, hopefully, establishment of fruitful networks and friendships which may lead to further funding, collaboration, and publications. Having had the pleasure of successful collaboration funded under the fourth, fifth, and sixth European Framework Programmes, we have seen the long-term benefits of such an approach in food safety; specifically the monitoring and control of veterinary drug residues in the food chain. Collaboration between European Union (EU) research partners in this field is a natural approach given that member states operate under common EU food safety legislation. In our experience, an appropriately sized research consortium funded under a European Framework Programme has proved to be an effective model for producing a meaningful impact on global food safety issues. What follows is an overview of the outputs of a recent Framework Programme collaboration and some personal thoughts on the operation of a diverse consortium of research partners to comprehensively address a veterinary drug residues issue.