This project observes ‘living lab’ case studies in rural and island Scotland with a focus on dominant industries analysed through an innovative blend of micro- and macroeconomic concepts and methodologies to map an understanding of circular economy drivers and barriers such as behaviours (willingness) and socio-economic capacity i.e., technologies and green skills (readiness) under alternative scenarios depicting regional circular economy paths.

The consumer has a right to know what is contained within the food they eat. Allied to this, there is a significant risk in the food supply chain of fraud where a food is replaced by a cheaper or inferior alternative. This project will develop mass spectrometry-based approaches for determining the provenance of food and beverages. We are developing methods for determining the composition of whisky and meats to ensure their integrity.

Mycotoxins are toxic fungal contaminants which are often found in cereal foods. This project addressees an important food safety issue, the contamination of cereal foods with mycotoxins which are produced by fungi in agricultural production. This project aims to minimize the risk to consumers from mycotoxin contamination in cereal foods by improving our understanding of the sources of contamination in primary cereal production and processing and by assessing human exposure and risk through biomarker analysis.

This project is providing evidence for understanding factors leading to demonstrable change in innovation and investment in Scottish food supply chains, in particular the role of policy and government support through (1) mapping and (2) ranking incentives to innovation uptake by their effectiveness; and (3) developing models of support to innovation uptake at supply chain level feeding into an innovation uptake incentive framework at sectoral level.