The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has partnered with AI firm Aiimi to roll out a workplace search engine to find information from its vast data estate.
It has been developed under a two-year agreement, which could be extended up to five, to help FSA staff in processing new food product applications and identifying food safety risks.
Aiimi’s technology can classify and bring together information which currently exists in different formats across disparate sources, including data from local authorities, food businesses and sampling laboratories. It also makes it possible to extract data and enrich it through geotags and sentiment analysis.
Currently, FSA staff must work manually to analyse, cross reference, and validate vast quantities of data, in order to identify food risks and process new food product applications.
The company’s consultants are providing training and support.
Its CEO and founder, Steve Salvin, said: “The AI powered workplace search engine we’re rolling out at the FSA will help the regulator maintain the UK’s high food standards and public trust, and bring to market more sustainable emerging food products.”
