MoniQA e-News Alert 2017-12-20

MoniQA 2017

Stay up-to-date with food safety and new trends in food analysis!

Content:

1. Mark your calendars! Food Fraud Prevention and Effective Food Allergen Management, Vienna, Austria, 7-8 June 2018! ...follow-up from Bari 2017

After the great success and extremely positive response after the 1^st MoniQA Symposium on Food Fraud Prevention and Effective Food Allergen Management in Bari, Italy, 26-27 January 2017, we would like to invite you to mark your calendars for the 2^nd MoniQA Symposium scheduled for 7-8 June 2018, in Vienna, Austria.

Food authenticity, food fraud and the need for simple labeling are major drivers for both the food industry and companies involved in rapidly developing new analytical technologies. The food industry must adapt to this changing landscape and be aware of the regulatory and legal issues that drive the change in the safety and quality of food. This workshop will bring together food industry experts, regulators, academics and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to discuss the latest information on the legal and other issues in the food space.

Issues to be covered:

What is on a label: "free from...", "may contain...", "processed in a facility..."
Interpreting legal limits versus laboratory accuracy
Litigation: class action vs consumer deception

Two topics that rarely share one event, but indeed food authenticity and food allergen management have a lot in common: both require appropriate labelling of foods, both are not always apparent to the consumer, both concern consumer trust, both need to be managed by the food industry, both may have strong impacts on the health and socio-economics of a society, both need adequate communication, both use comprehensive databases, both need sophisticated analytical methods, both require a collaborative effort from science, industry and the regulatory environment.

Last year’s programme, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors can be viewed at http://bari2017.moniqa.org/. Please mind that the symposium 2018 website will be up soon.

2. News! AOAC includes MoniQA Milk Reference Material in Food Allergen SMPR

In its latest session of the AOAC International Stakeholder Panel on Alternative Methods (ISPAM) MoniQA’s first allergen reference material validated for use in milk allergen detection methods was included in AOAC’s SMPR (Standard Method Performance Requirements) for the "Quantitation of Milk by ELISA-based Methods". AOAC SMPRs describe the minimum recommended performance characteristics to be used during the evaluation of a method. The evaluation may be an on-site verification, a single-laboratory validation, or a multi-site collaborative study. SMPRs are written and adopted by AOAC Stakeholder Panels composed of representatives from the industry, regulatory organizations, contract laboratories, test kit manufacturers, and academic institutions. AOAC SMPRs are used by AOAC Expert Review Panels in their evaluation of validation study data for method being considered for Performance Tested Methods or AOAC Official Methods of Analysis, and can be used as acceptance criteria for verification at user laboratories.

The first validated Reference Materials for Food Allergen Analysis are now available and can be ordered from MoniQA Association (http://shop.moniqa.org). The first set of materials includes testing materials for milk allergen analysis comprising a Positive Control (SMP-MQA 092014, characterized dried skim milk powder, validated protein content), Negative Control (BLANK-MQA 082015, based on a gluten free cookie), and 2 Incurred Materials: LOW-MQA 102016 (SMP incurred in gluten free cookies, milled, concentration approx. 3.5 ppm milk protein, validated) and HIGH-MQA 082016 (SMP incurred in gluten free cookies, milled, concentration approx. 35 ppm milk protein, validated).

The materials were produced by Trilogy Laboratories USA (MoniQA Member since 2013) and have been commercially available starting 01 January 2017 through MoniQA Association. All materials come with a data sheet and a reference certificate to the analytical results, a measurement uncertainty and validation information. Distribution and shipment of the materials is subcontracted to Authorized Distributors among the MoniQA Member Institutions.

Order the materials by using the online order form and return the completed, signed/stamped form to moniqa [at] moniqa [dot] org. The materials come in 5 g pouches (air tight sealed) and sold for 220.- Euro per pouch or 792.- € for the set of all 4 materials. The Reference Materials for Food Allergen Analysis can be ordered from MoniQA Association. MoniQA Members may also qualify as Authorized Distributor of these reference materials and receive a distributor/re-seller discount (170.- € per pouch or 612.- € for the set of all 4 materials). If your company/organization is interested to become an authorized distributor, please contact roland [dot] poms [at] moniqa [dot] org. Draft sales agreement templates have been drafted and are currently reviewed. Further reference materials are in preparation (gluten, egg, soy) and will become available shortly.

The design and production of these materials was in response to the urgent need for reference materials expressed by the food industry and food analytical laboratories, as well as providers of food allergen test kits and other methodologies, and national authorities. An international initiative (since 2013) led by MoniQA Association discussed and agreed upon the requirements for food allergen reference materials. For this purpose MoniQA has liaised with the EU funded project iFAAM, the Prolamin Working Group, Health Canada, FARRP, Australia’s Allergen Bureau (Vital), and others. The initial group of 15 experts from the global analytical community grew over time to a group of some 50 institutions contributing to the design of the materials and giving scientific and technological input during the testing and production phase of the materials.

3. Register now! Workshop on Innovative Food Allergen Management Based on Risk Assessment, Bologna, Italy, 21 February 2018

Hylobates and MoniQA are organising a workshop on Innovative Food Allergen Management and Risk Assessment, on 21 February 2018 (Bologna, Via Fanin 44). Please refer to the programme and the registration form at http://www.moniqa.org/workshop-bologna-2018. This one day workshop will offer interactive training and discussions for the advanced food allergen manager, lab technician, risk manager and food technologist, as well as provide important information to food producers, regulatory bodies, and consumer organizations:

panel discussions on labeling, comparability of results, communication and a glimpse into
hands-on session
Q&A
trouble-shooting

This workshop will be held in Italian and partly in English and will offer the participants an update on innovative food allergen management by international experts and up-to-date information on new risk assessment data and understand its implication for consumers, industry and testing laboratories. Furthermore, it will give answers to questions such as: What are new tools for allergy and allergen management? What are the new validated reference materials? How can you trust and read the laboratory test results? What are the new analytical techniques?

The programme includes two half-day separate sessions:

PART I – INNOVATIVE FOOD ALLERGEN MANAGEMENT: NEW METHODS FOR RISK MANAGEMENT AND VALIDATION (09:30 - 13:00)

PART II - FOOD ALLERGEN MANAGEMENT: ANALYTICAL METHODS AND RAPID TESTING (14:00 - 18:00)

The workshop will be mainly held in Italian and a certificate of attendance will be provided to participants.

For further information, please contact francescabucchini [at] hylobates [dot] it or roland [dot] poms [at] moniqa [dot] org

We appreciate sponsorships from:

Platinum Sponsor R-Biopharm Gold Sponsor Romer Labs

4. Enrol now! Chemical Food Safety and Integrity part-time MSc at Manchester University

Starting in January 2018 the Chemical Food Safety and Integrity part-time MSc aims to provide those in work with the opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills. Embedding analytical methodology within a risk assessment and management context the course has been designed to provide a flexible education suited to students who are in employment. It uses a range of teaching and learning methodologies, with on-line lectures and tutorials combined with face-to-face workshops, practicals and demonstrations. Individual taught units can also be taken as stand-alone continuing professional development courses. In the final year a workplace-based research project is undertaken with additional support and access to facilities at the University and its partners. This allows individuals to develop and expand their intellectual skills within a friendly, supportive environment. Informed feedback and support from academic staff will enable mature students to return to learning and help develop the critical and analytical skills expected for postgraduate studies.

For more information please refer to http://www.moniqa.org/node/922.

5. Mark your calendars! Symposium: Frontiers in Food Allergy and Allergen Risk Assessment and Management, 18-20 April 2018, Barcelona, Spain

Following the end of iFAAM – the EU funded collaborative research project on "Integrated Approaches to Food Allergy and Food Allergen Management", ILSI Europe is organizing a symposium 18-20 April 2018, in Barcelona, Spain. This symposium will provide an ideal forum to disseminate the evidence, knowledge and tools developed in the iFAAM project to stakeholders and actors involved in food allergen and food allergy management gloibally. The symposium will also identify key activities required for further implementation.

Themes addressed will include:

Patterns, prevalence and severity of reactions
Prevention of food allergy
Factors affecting sensitivity of allergic individuals and severity of reactions
Evidence based risk assessment
Allergen analysis in foods
Reactions in the community
Allergenicity risk assessment for novel foods and GMOs

Save the date and be part of this forum to address current and future challenges in food allergy and food allergen management.
The MoniQA Association is consortium partner of iFAAM and supports the international efforts to make precautionary food allergen labeling more transparent for consumers and to provide a sustainable online toolbox for allergen management along the food supply chain.

6. Update: MoniQA Food Allergen RM Task Force met at AOAC 2017, Atlanta (GA), USA, 27 September 2017

The MoniQA Food Allergen Reference Materials Task Force met on 27 September 2017, 14:00-17:00 at the 131^st AOAC Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The task force was attended by some 30 participants and discussed the progress and the next steps in the design and production of validated food allergen reference materials. After the first set of milk reference materials became available at the beginning of 2017 (see also http://shop.moniqa.org/), further materials are in preparation.

Roland Poms from MoniQA gave an update on the characterization activities for the wheat/gluten material and the soy material. Both materials will be prepared as commodity materials and incurred in a cookie material at a Low and High concentration at relevant analytical levels. The total egg and egg white materials will follow the lead of the milk materials and will also become available in similar protein standard concentrations. It was well accepted that the materials are validated in mg/kg protein and that results obtained with any analytical method shall be encouraged to express their results in mg/kg commodity protein also, which will help to facilitate communication between analysts, risk assessors, and regulatory bodies.

Members of the Task Force and MoniQA Members can access a full report and presentation of the meeting.

7. Update: MoniQA’s Gluten-Free Working-Group meets in Vienna, Austria, 14 November 2017

At the occasion of the Whole Grain Summit in Vienna MoniQA’s Gluten-Free Working Group, a subgroup of MoniQA’s Task Force on Food Allergen Reference Materials, met in Vienna to discuss the characterization and production of a new commodity Reference Material to complement the PWG gliadin standard. During the past 3 years TUM - the Technical University of Munich (Germany), BME - Budapest University of Economics (Hungary) BOKU - University of Life Sciences and Natural Resources Vienna (Austria) and HealthCanada (Canada) under the auspices of MoniQA Association have been working on the characterization of some 50 wheat flours to select most representatives wheat varieties to produce a reference material for gluten free analysis.

The meeting on 14 November 2017 in the Austria Centre Vienna, Austria, served to collect and discuss the recent research results and to decide on the next steps. The reference material shall become available in 2018.

If you are interested to sign up for this group or contribute as MoniQA Member, please contact moniqa [at] moniqa [dot] org.

8. Report: Food Authenticity and Food Fraud Prevention at the 10^th Turkish Food Technology Congress, Antalya, Turkey

Roland Poms, Secretary General of MoniQA Association was invited by the Ankara based Turkish Chamber of Food Engineers to give a talk on Food Authenticity and Food Fraud Prevention - Recent misleading claims related to food and nutrition at the 10^th Gida Mühendisligi Kongresi (10^th Food Technology Congress) in Antalya, Turkey. Some 400 food technologists and food scientists from industry and academia participated in this biannual event. It was a special privilege for Roland Poms and MoniQA to be the only invited foreign guest. The meeting gave great opportunity to network with Turkish scientists and food producers, as well as to meet with new and old friends of MoniQA.

9. Collaboration update: MoniQA to reaffirm collaborations in Turkey

Hacettepe University: Following an invitation by Hacettepe University www.food.hacettepe.edu.tr based in Ankara, Roland Poms had the chance to visit various companies and the university in Ankara. Hacettepe University was one of the original partners in the EU FP6 funded MoniQA Network of Excellence and it still maintains an active role in MoniQA's food safety educational, training and research activities. With Prof. Hamit Köksel and Prof. Ismail Boyaci MoniQA is proud to have two leading scientists as main contacts in Turkey.

Biasis Ltd: It was a pleasure to visit Biasis Ltd, a spin off company from Hacettepe University, and to meet with the whole team to discuss research collaborations and mobilisation of third party funding for the various innovations that are developed and tested in the main company building. Biasis Ltd was founded in 2005 at Hacettepe University Technopolis. Research studies in Biasis are mainly focused on rapid food analysis which are based on spectroscopic methods (LIBS, Raman, NIR and Fluorescence spectroscopy). The company has developed rapid spectroscopic solutions for measurements of wheat, milk, meat and egg samples. Biasis develops their own spectroscopic instruments for food analysis and offers several services, such as R&D consultancy, food analysis and 3D modeling services.

BASTAK: Roland Poms met with Zeki Demirtasoglu, General Manager and Owner of BASTAK Company www.bastak.com.tr/eng/, and Suzan Kucuk, International Sales Manager, to discuss method development, validation and international cooperation. BASTAK develops, produces and sells analytical appliances, mainly for cereal and flour analysis, but also other applications and services.

MEETINGHAND: A meeting with Dr. Esat Arber, Founder of Meetinghand www.meetinghand.com, was focused on a training on the use of a newly developed conference management tool to allow MoniQA a more efficient event management and optimized monitoring of registrations, fee payments and post event follow up. MoniQA will evaluate the use of meetinghand software in its 2018 events.

10. Project update: MoniQA at OLEUM first annual project meeting held in Thessaloniki, Greece, 4 – 6 October 2017

OLEUM

On 4 - 6 October 2017, OLEUM partners met in Greece for a project meeting to mark the end of the first year of the project and discuss progress and future plans. The meeting was hosted by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Roland Poms is member of the Advisory Panel and attended the meeting on behalf of MoniQA Association. The Multi-stakeholder Advisory Board (MS-AB) of OLEUM met for the first time. The MS-AB will meet annually to act as discussion platform to consult in different aspects of the project.

Starting in September 2016, the OLEUM project will develop new and improved existing analytical methods for detecting fraud and ensuring quality of olive oil. The project will address the four main gaps in the current knowledge: legislation and regulation, analysis, harmonisation and coordination, consumer and market confidence.

During the 2 day meeting all work packages presented updates of their activities. The partners also discussed specific issues related to sampling and analytical activities, validation of the analytical methods and reference standards, and progress towards the establishment of the OLEUM Network. Stay tuned for more updates in the near future and various upcoming presentations at conferences and workshops.

11. Association news: MoniQA Elections for Officers 2018-2020

It is time again to elect various officers for service in the MoniQA Association. MoniQA Members are asked to nominate potential candidates for the MoniQA Supervisory Board for the term 2018-2020 . Eligible nominations are among the membership and a limit of only one candidate per member organization applies. Nominations can be made from the current Strategic/Technical Advisory Boards or the membership in general. Suggested candidates will elected for a three year term 2018-2020 via online vote in January 2018 by the General Assembly/main contacts of all members. Results will be communicated by the end of January 2018.

Eligible to serve on the Supervisory Board are founder members and full members (= ordinary members with a minimum of a three-year membership in MoniQA Association, valid membership at least since 2015). The Supervisory Board is the highest decision making body for operational issues of the organization and consists of up to five representatives, including the President and Vice-President, elected from among the members. In addition, the Secretary General is an ex officio, non-voting member of the Supervisory Board. Please check the tasks of the Supervisory Board under article XVI of the statutes.

Nominations are accepted until end of December 2017.

For your information you can view the current officers in MoniQA Association and summarized below:

Supervisory Board 2017:

Richard Cantrill, Canada, 2015-2017
Marina Carcea, Italy, 2015-2017
Paul Finglas, UK, 2014-2017
Sabine Baumgartner, Austria, 2017-2019
Linda Monaci, Italy, 2016-2018

Strategic Advisory Board 2017:

Bert Popping, Germany
Thomas Gude, Switzerland
Samuel Godefroy, Canada

Technical Advisory Board 2017:

Sigrid Haas-Lauterbach, Germany
Paul Dewsbury, UK

Auditors 2017-2018:

Gerhard Schleining, Austria
Carmen Diaz, Germany

Thank you for your support and your active participation in the MoniQA Association's activities.

12. Members update: Congratulate new Full Members in MoniQA

It is our great pleasure to announce the following members within MoniQA Association who have been members of the Association for a period of at least three consecutive years. In addition to the rights you have as an Ordinary Member (vote at the General Assembly, nominate a Founder member representative as a member of the Supervisory Board, submit proposals to the General Assembly, be elected to the Scientific Advisory Committee) Full Members have the right to stand for election to the Supervisory Board. We appreciate having your expertise and knowledge on board:

Organisation: ELISA Systems Pty. Ltd, Australia
Primary contact: Michael Ryan
http://www.elisasystems.com/

Organisation: Imprint Analytics GmbH, Austria
Primary contact: Bernd Bodiselitsch
http://www.imprint-analytics.at/en/

Organisation: Mérieux NutriSciences, France
Primary contact: Samim Saner
https://www.merieuxnutrisciences.com/corporate/

Already Full Member since last year:

Organisation: University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy
Primary contact: Maria De Angelis, Danilo Di Bona, Marco Gobetti
http://www.uniba.it/

13. Members update: Welcome new member in MoniQA

It is our great pleasure to announce the following new member within MoniQA Association who has joined the association lately. We would like to offer a warm welcome to our new member institution and we look forward to working with you and having your expertise and knowledge on board:

Organisation: Biofront Technologies, USA
Primary contact: Jason Robotham
http:// www.biofronttech.com

Membership in MoniQA Association is open to all institutions interested in food safety and quality related issues. MoniQA – the International Association for Monitoring and Quality Assurance in the Total Food Supply Chain is an international and interdisciplinary network of professionals from institutions working in food research, regulatory bodies and trade, providing solutions to promote a safer and secure food supply worldwide. MoniQA facilitates international research collaborations to enable services and products for food safety & quality assurance, progress and validation of analytical methods, training and continuous professional development, consultancy and socio-economic impact assessment.

14. Sign-up now! MoniQA Membership offers you a variety of benefits

Sign up for Membership in MoniQA today and start benefiting from the association’s international network and a variety of activities and services: www.moniqa.org/about/association. To date more than 40 institutions from some 20 countries from 5 continents are members of the association and some 8000 professionals from over 80 countries are linked to the association’s activities, providing a global network which has established an efficient and effective collaboration culture. Membership is open to institutions involved in food safety http://www.moniqa.org/membership/signup.

MoniQA has a special offer for consultants and for micro-companies! A special membership category was initiated in 2016 to better meet the needs of small companies (one-man-company, consultants, company with max. 2 employees). Micro-companies can enjoy the full suite of benefits of a regular membership in MoniQA at half price (500.- € per year) including all services listed at http://www.moniqa.org/membership/signup.

The MoniQA Association undertakes research, coordinates and manages various working groups in areas such as food authenticity, food allergens, chemical and processing contaminants, mycotoxins, and microbiological contaminants. MoniQA Association is a publisher of harmonized protocols, new methods and food safety research results. MoniQA’s training programme includes workshops and courses, eLearning and webinars. MoniQA Association provides validated information, databases and on-line tools, training and continuous professional development, and a network of highly qualified institutions dealing with food safety research and assessment. The partners have successfully worked together on method validation studies, ring trials and proficiency tests, production of reference materials and advising CEN and ISO and the European Commission in food safety issues. Since 2008 MoniQA has been the official organiser of the technical training session for the delegates of the yearly meeting of the joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Committee on Methods and Sampling. Additionally, MoniQA provides robust policy support and socio-economic impact assessments. MoniQA has contributed to several high-level events, such as the World Expo in Shanghai (2010) and in Milan (2015). MoniQA has a very effective and efficient dissemination network (not least with other EU projects).

You can view and download the full newsletter at www.moniqa.org/enews-alert-2017-09-01

15. Calendar update: Upcoming Meetings and Events

Biofach 2018, World’s Leading Trade Fair for Organic Food
Nuremberg, Germany
14-17 February 2018

Gulfood 2018
Dubai, UAE
18-22 February 2018

MoniQA-Tecna-Hylobates joint workshop on Innovative Food Allergen Management and Risk Assessment
Bologna, Italy
21 February 2018

Food Fraud 2018
London, UK
01 March 2018

4th Latin America Cereals Conference, LACC4
Mexico City, Mexico
11-14 March 2018

CIMMYT – International Gluten Workshop
Mexico City, Mexico
14-17 March 2018

ILSI Symposium – Frontiers in Food Allergy and Allergen Risk Assessment and Management
Barcelona, Spain
18-20 April 2018

10th Food Allergen Methodologies Workshop
Toronto, Canada
07-09 May 2018

2nd MoniQA Symposium on Food Fraud Prevention and Effective Food Allergen Management
Vienna or Zurich
07-08 June 2018

5th International ISEKI_Food Conference 2018
Stuttgart, Germany
03-05 July 2018

Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo
Chicago, USA
15-18 July 2018

132nd AOAC Annual Meeting & Exposition
Toronto, Canada
26-29 August 2018

2018 AACC International Annual Meeting
London, UK
21-23 October 2018

19th World Congress of Food Science and Technology
Vashi, Mumbai, India
23–27 October 2018

12th Conference RME 2018
Amsterdam, Netherlands
05–07 November 2018

32nd EFFoST International Conference
Nantes, France
06-08 November 2018

16. Imprint and Disclaimer

MoniQA eNewsAlerts and Newsletters are published by MoniQA Association quarterly and additional issues may be distributed based on demand. Traditionally the eNewsAlerts are written by the Secretary General. MoniQA’s eNewsAlerts reach close to 9000 contacts in over 85 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Americas and Australia-New-Zealand. As international and interdisciplinary network of professionals from institutions working in food research, regulatory bodies and trade, MoniQA aims at providing solutions to promote a safer and secure food supply worldwide. MoniQA facilitates international research collaborations to enable services and products for food safety & quality assurance. MoniQA contributes to the development and validation of analytical methods, provides training and continuous professional development (CPD), consultancy and socio-economic impact assessment.

You can view and download the full newsletter at www.moniqa.org/enews-alert-2017-12-20

17. Your feedback is important to us

We value and appreciate your feedback and suggestions in order to improve our services and the way we communicate. Please feel free to send us your thoughts and suggestions to moniqa [at] moniqa [dot] org.

Stay connected with MoniQA and enjoy reading this MoniQA eNews Alert 2017-12-20!

18. Best wishes for all of you!

We would like to wish you a blessed Christmas time and good success in the New Year! We are looking forward to working with you in 2018.

On behalf of the MoniQA Association

Richard Cantrill (USA), President
Roland Poms (Austria), Secretary General

PS: Please mind that the MoniQA Headquarters will be closed over Christmas and New Year and that responses to emails might be delayed.

© 2017, MoniQA - International Association for Monitoring and Quality Assurance in the Total Food Supply Chain, General Secretariat, Europastraße 1, 7540 Güssing, Austria, www.moniqa.org. Email: moniqa [at] moniqa [dot] org.