A new online course at Queen’s University Belfast is set to examine global food fraud.

The five week course entitled ‘Tackling the Global Food Crisis: Supply Chain integrity’ will examine the complex area of food security, with a focus on how a sustainable future can be achieved.

The five-week online course which is free and open to anyone, anywhere in the world will cover topics including food fraud, pollution and climate change. The course will also explore the implications of an increasing population, the increasing affluence of South East Asia and the competition for 'high quality foods' which previously went to Europe and the United States.

Delivered by a team of academics, the course will be headed up by Professor Chris Elliott, Director of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University. Professor Elliott recently completed the Government report on the UK’s food supply chain published by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the wake of the horsemeat scandal.

Professor Elliott, Director of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University, said: “Many complex factors are playing a role in food security or as some prefer to call it now, food insecurity. Throughout this five week course we will investigate the pollution of our soils and waterways as well as looking at the challenges for the future to supply food of sufficient amounts, safety, quality and authenticity.

“We as consumers have a heightened awareness of what is in our food, where it comes from now and in the future. The globalisation of food production and threats from climate change means that the risk of contamination, due to accidental or deliberate acts have heightened substantially. We will delve into these issues and are looking forward to a lively debate throughout the five weeks of the course.”

The course, which is the third Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to be delivered by Queen’s, begins on 17 November 2014 with support from the Centre for Educational Services and Information Services.

To watch the trailer and register for the course visit: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/global-food-crisis