University of Cape Coast launches AI centre to combat food fraud

The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has inaugurated the Africa Centre for Food Integrity (AFIC) to address food safety, quality, and counterfeiting challenges across Ghana and the African continent. Established by the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, the centre aims to develop portable, AI-enabled technologies that provide rapid, non-destructive testing closer to farms, markets, and processing points.

A key innovation being developed is the “Food Oracle,” a technology designed to mimic the five human senses through electronic nose, electronic tongue, acoustic sound, computer vision, and near-infrared spectroscopy. This allows for food authenticity and safety assessments to be completed in under one minute, significantly faster than conventional testing methods.

The AFIC intends to collaborate with stakeholders such as the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Ghana Standards Authority. Current research includes the “Spice Check Technology” for market authenticity and portable devices for analyzing palm oil to detect adulteration, such as the use of Sudan IV dye.