A £2 million food safety centre that has created 20 jobs has been officially launched at Queen’s University.

The centre for Assured, Safe and Traceable Food (Asset) will offer direct help to the local agri-food industry, which generates £2.4bn in sales and employs 12 percent of the private sector.

To coincide with the opening, a conference was held highlighting the challenges and opportunities for agri-food industries in the global market.

The new centre will conduct cutting-edge research to ensure that the safest and highest quality food in the world is produced across Ireland. It is led by Professor Chris Elliott, director of the Institute of Agri-Food and Land Use, in Queen’s School of Biological Sciences.

Prof Elliott said: “Food is now a true global commodity and we are in competition with the rest of the world. We know other places can produce food cheaper but our opportunities lie in producing the safest, highest quality and most traceable food in the world.

“At Asset we are using emerging technologies to deliver high-level traceability to detect and predict problems. We want to let local companies know how they can tap in Asset’s expertise.”

Part-funded by the Department for Employment and Learning, the new centre has links with Ashtown Food Research Centre in Dublin, Dublin City University and University College Dublin.