Dear friends, colleagues, scientists,
I took over the MoniQA presidency from Dr. Bert Popping and I am pleased to announce that I will act as MoniQA President for the coming period 2021-2022. Due to the restrictions of the pandemic, we did not manage to meet in person but in the meanwhile we have intensively worked within the Association and met frequently to pave the way for future activities within MoniQA Association.
Recently MoniQA supervisory board has been renewed with two new members joining, Dr Kristie Laurvick (FCC, US) and Prof. Maria De Angelis (University of Bari) the current supervisory board: Thomas Gude (Deputy President), Bert Popping (Past President), Richard Cantrill and Cesare Varallo. We are already hands on to launch future intitiatives within the Association; setting up WGs focused on the hottest topics/analytical challenges encompassing methods for detection of food allergens, mycotoxins, food authenticity, Covid detection, microbiome analysis etc;
These topics will form part of the forthing MoniQA virtual event to be held on September 2021; strenghtening collaboration and interaction with international bodies / organization for method harmonization.
If you are a stakeholder in the food industry, patient groups, laboratories, assay providers and equipment manufacturers or academic institution join the Association to get the chance to contribute to the activities and initiatives to be shortly launched by this non-profit organization. Come on board and join MoniQA!
I wish you a fruitful and prosperous time together,
Linda Monaci
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CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19
9-11 November 2020, MoniQA will return to Rome, where our first international conference was held in 2008. The 6th MoniQA International Conference “The Future of Food Safety - Emerging challenges and innovative solutions for the changing food systems” (https://foodsafetyrome2020.moniqa.org/) will be organized in cooperation with various international organizations (about 250-300 participants are anticipated). It will be based on the 2019 joint FAO/WHO/WTO conferences in Addis Ababa and Geneva.
MoniQA members will enjoy discounted registration fees and are invited to consider exhibition and sponsoring opportunities.
Built on our successful previous conferences “The Future of Food Safety” will further develop the themes launched by the two FAO/WHO conferences "The First FAO/WHO/AU International Food Safety Conference ADDIS ABABA, 12–13 February 2019” (https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/resources/draft-programme-addis-...) and "International Forum on Food Safety and Trade 23–24 APRIL 2019 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND" (https://www.who.int/foodsafety/events/programme-geneva.pdf).
With the aim of ”Transforming Knowledge into Action for People, Economies and the Environment”, the two UN-sponsored conferences discussed new challenges and new opportunities in food safety implicated by the changing food systems. “Ongoing changes in climate, global food production and supply systems affect consumers, industry and the planet itself: food safety systems need to keep pace with these changes. The burden of unsafe food disproportionally affects vulnerable and marginalized people and poses sustainability and development challenges. Despite the growing recognition of the fundamental role food safety plays in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the main objectives of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition, efforts to strengthen food safety systems remain fragmented and the gains, particularly in many developing countries, have been well below expectations.” The 6th MoniQA International Conference plans to take these themes and invite participation from a broader forum including:
Around the main conference with oral presentations, panel discussions and poster presentations, satellite workshops and a technical exhibition will give participants the opportunity to dig deeper into specific food safety subjects or get hands-on experience of new analytical and electronic tools relevant to today’s food safety assurance. This multi-disciplinary approach will give all participants a profound insight in emerging food safety issues and the associated challenges in risk management. Representatives from international organizations, such as FAO, IAEA, WHO, UNIDO, World Bank, and the European Commission, will place research results and scientific information in the context of political and societal challenges for the 2020’s and beyond. Furthermore, several international consortia, research teams and projects will use this event to announce new findings and reveal new food safety management tools.
The conference is organised by the MoniQA Association (http://www.moniqa.org/), in cooperation with other international organisations. The international scientific committee of key scientists in the field of food safety and related areas anticipates an exciting and highly relevant programme.
We hope to see you in Rome, Italy, 9-11 November 2020!
On behalf of the Organising Committee
Bert Popping (President) and Roland Ernest Poms (Secretary General)
Conference Secretariat:
MoniQA Association
Europastrasse 1
A-7540 Güssing
Austria
W: http://www.moniqa.org/
E: rome2020 [at] moniqa [dot] org
We regret to inform you that the MoniQA Workshop on “Food Fraud Prevention and Risk Based Food Allergen Management scheduled for 10 May 2020 in Budapest, Hungary, has been cancelled due to the corona pandemic. Last week Hungary declared a state of emergency for the entire country. As such, all meetings are suspended.
We will update you on possible rescheduling as soon as we have more information. At this time there is no information on new dates. Thank you for understanding. The preparation for the international conference on “The Future of Food Safety” https://foodsafetyrome2020.moniqa.org/ planned for 9-11 November 2020 in Rome, Italy, will be continued, however, if emergency measures in Italy (and globally) continue beyond the summer, the organizers will offer free cancellation of registrations and hotel reservations.
This cancellation concerns the following meetings in Budapest, Hungary:
Cancelled! Inter Agency Meeting (IAM) scheduled for Friday, 8 May 2020
Cancelled! Methods Endorsement Meeting scheduled for Saturday, 9 May 2020
Cancelled! MoniQA Workshop for Codex Delegates on “Food Fraud Prevention and Risk Based Food Allergen Management” scheduled for Sunday 10 May 2020
Cancelled! CCMAS 41 – The Codex Committee Methods of Analysis and Sampling scheduled for Monday through Thursday 11-15 May 2020
The Codex Secretariat, in agreement with the respective host secretariats of the Codex Committee Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) has regrettably cancelled the upcoming 2020 sessions due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
The chairpersons of the committee are in consultation with the chairpersons of Electronic Working Groups (EWGs) and the Codex Secretariat to explore the possibility of working by correspondence with a view to progressing some of the work in the step process for consideration by CAC43 in July 2020.
The Codex Secretariat will also seek to establish a mechanism whereby EWGs can continue their work through to the next session of the respective committees.
Thank you for understanding.
Budapest, Hungary
10 May 2020, 13:00-17:00
POSTPONED!
MoniQA Workshop supported by IAM (Inter Agency Meeting)
Pre-CCMAS meeting for Codex Delegates
Workshop venue (Danubius Hotel Helia, Budapest)
The meeting space is limited to 120 participants. Early registration secures your place at the event.
We would like to inform you that the display of any promotional material is reserved exclusively for the organizer and the sponsors of the event. We would like to ask for your understanding.
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.
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.
Membership in MoniQA Association
The membership fee of € 1000.- for institutions/companies and € 500.- for micro-companies/consultants are unchanged for the annual membership in the MoniQA Association for the upcoming calendar year (01 January, 2020 – 31 December, 2020). For your convenience we now also offer easy credit card payment by VISA or MasterCard. To check out your benefits, please refer to https://www.moniqa.org/membership/signup.
MoniQA Sustaining Membership category to be launched in 2020
The MoniQA Sustaining Membership category will be a new way for organisations to financially support MoniQA’s activities in return for a variety of benefits determined by the level of support. Details of the new category and the special benefits for the different levels of support will be elaborated in early 2020 in response to the needs and preferences of our members.
MoniQA’s Task Forces and priorities for 2020
Task Force on Food Allergen Reference Materials: In 2013 MoniQA initiated a task force on the development of food allergen and gluten-free reference materials. The MoniQA Task Force comprises an international group of experts from several SDOs (Standardisation Organisations), industry, policy, regulatory bodies, test kit providers and method developers, analytical companies, as well as representatives from various universities. This initiative has led to the production of the first consensus reference materials for allergen and gluten-free analysis. Our latest meeting in Rockville, MD, USA, alerted the community to the need to further discuss the issue of conversion factors and to develop a guideline how to best determine them. Expression of results and the use of reporting units in communication from laboratory to client will be part of our work in 2020.
Task Force on Food Authenticity: In 2016 MoniQA started its activities in the form of a food authenticity task force to support governments and industry to raise awareness and to provide insight in analytical methodologies to detect food fraud. Consumers, food producers and food vendors can be affected by food fraud. With the growing number of adulterants linked to food fraud, concerted efforts and multi-disciplinary approached are needed to prevent food fraud. Non-targeted methods, their power to help prevent food fraud and concepts for their validation have been in our major interest. In 2020 we would like to provide a platform to collect information on existing databases, analytical methods and published literature to detect and prevent food fraud.
Contaminants: Since the beginning of MoniQA, this international group focused on rapid methods to analyse for chemical and microbial contaminants. Even though we have not initiated a relevant task force yet, we would like to consider new work items in the area of affordable rapid test systems for less developed countries. Proposals and ideas from the MoniQA membership and the extended community of interested stakeholders are very welcome and appreciated.
Postponed: 9. Akademie Fresenius-Praxistage "Allergenmanagement"
Dortmund, Germany
26-27 March 2020
https://www.akademie-fresenius.de/veranstaltungen/detail/produkt/9-akademie-fresenius-praxistage-allergenmanagement/
Postponed: MoniQA Workshop at Codex Alimentarius, Food Fraud Prevention and Food Allergen Management
Budapest, Hungary
10 May 2020
http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/meetings/en/
Postponed: Food Contamination and Traceability Summit
Munich, Germany
26-27 May 2020
https://contaminationsummit.com/
7th International Food Safety Congress, "Safe food for now and future"
Istanbul, Turkey
4-5 June 2020
https://www.foodsafetycongress.org/
AOAC 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition
Orlando, Florida, USA
11-17 September 2020
https://www.aoac.org/annual-meeting-exposition/2020-annual-meeting-exposition/
The Future of Food Safety, 6th MoniQA International Conference, Emerging challenges and innovative solutions for the changing food systems
Rome, Italy
9-11 November 2020
https://foodsafetyrome2020.moniqa.org
4th MoniQA International Symposium on "Food Fraud Prevention and Effective Food Allergen Management"
Vienna, Austria
April 2021
After the 77th Session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCEXEC77) had reviewed the application of the MoniQA Association for observer status with Codex, CCEXC77 recommended that the Directors-General of FAO and WHO grant observer status to the MoniQA Association.
On 29 October 2019 Roland Poms, Secretary General of MoniQA Association, was officially informed that MoniQA Association has been granted observer status to Codex as an International Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). As an international network of food safety and food quality professionals, we can now more directly interact with committees and working groups at the Codex Alimentarius Commission. We will continue our work providing knowledge and tools to assure safety and quality of foods on a global basis and now also contributing to the work of Codex Alimentarius, the joint programme of FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) and WHO (World Health Organization) of the UN (United Nations).
The Codex Alimentarius http://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/en/, or "Food Code" is a collection of standards, guidelines and codes of practice adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Commission, also known as CAC, is the central part of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme and was established by FAO and WHO to protect consumer health and promote fair practices in food trade.
Codex standards ensure that food is safe and can be traded. The 188 Codex members have negotiated science-based recommendations in all areas related to food safety and quality. Codex food safety texts are a reference in WTO trade disputes.
About 70 international participants joined the exciting discussions at the 3rd MoniQA International Symposium on Food Fraud Prevention and Effective Food Allergen Management, Rockville, MD, USA, 30 October – 1 November 2019! https://rockville2019.moniqa.org. In the food fraud sessions on day 1 the speakers gave practical insights in litigation cases, class actions, and strategies and methods for detecting and combating food fraud. Some of the cases might give great themes for crime TV series with the difference that the cases presented are real. The symposium audience appreciated the presentations on the legal regulations and the sophisticated tools to detect food fraud. On day 2 newly developed food allergy and food allergen management tools and innovative analytical methods were presented and discussed.
A special thank you goes to all presenters of posters and talks, which stimulated food for thought and diverse views on various matters concerning food fraud prevention and food allergen management.
Day 1: Sally Greenberg, National Consumers League, USA; Bert Popping, MoniQA President and FOCOS, Germany, Richard Cantrill, MoniQA Past President and IAM, Canada; Michael Walker, LGC, UK; Manuela Beatrisotti, Technical Regulatory Manager, Barilla, Italy; Amanda Manolis, Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA; Atef Idriss, MEFOSA, Lebanon; Steven Gendel, USP, USA; Ricardo Carvajal, Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C., USA; Glenford Jameson, G. S. Jameson & Company, Canada; Allison Fulton, SheppardMullin, USA; and Cesare Varallo, foodlawlatest.com, Italy.
Day 2: Jupiter Yeung, Nestlé, USA; Clare Mills, University of Manchester, UK; Melanie Downs, University of Nebraska, USA; Anthony Flood, International Food Information Council, USA; Ronald Niemeijer, R-Biopharm, Germany; Eric Garber, FDA, USA; Martin Chapman, INDOOR Biotechnologies Inc, USA; Rakhi Panda, FDA, USA; Katherine Fiedler, FDA, USA; Anne Eischeid, FDA, USA; Weili Xiong, FDA, USA; Cesare Varallo, foodlawlatest.com, Italy; Bert Popping, MoniQA President and FOCOS, Germany; Gill Holcombe, LGC, UK; Michael Walker, LGC, UK; and Roland Poms, MoniQA Association, Austria.
The Book of Abstracts for all oral and poster presentations can be found at https://www.wageningenacademic.com/toc/qas/11/Supplement+1 published in the peer-reviewed online journal of QAS (Quality Assurance and Safety ,of Crops & Foods, which offers the entire supplement as open access. Please feel free to share this link with anyone in your network or also on your websites.
All presentations of the event are available for viewing for the participants of the event and for MoniQA members. We are already planning our next event, the 4th MoniQA International Symposium on Food Fraud Prevention and Effective Food Allergen Management will be scheduled in early 2021, the location has not been confirmed yet, but is tentatively planned to be in Vienna, Austria.
Please stay also tuned for upcoming meetings which MoniQA is organizing:
Thank you to our sponsors of the symposium in Rockville, MD, USA, who made this event feasible and affordable. Thank you to USP for hosting the event and thank you to the conference management team on the ground comprised of USP and MoniQA staff who did an excellent job in making everyone feel comfortable and by taking care that management processes ran smoothly in the background.
We hope to see you again soon! If you have any questions or if you are interested in getting involved more in MoniQA activities, please do not hesitate and contact us at moniqa@moniqa.org.
On behalf of the organizers
The MoniQA Association is a leading international organization in developing and providing tools for food allergen management. MoniQA is considering to complement its food allergen reference material programme and its information network by extending its food allergen management tool box with a food allergen proficiency testing scheme. For this matter we would like to get your input and invite you to participate in an online survey. Please note that the survey will close on 15 November 2019, 17:00 CET.
MoniQA and LGC are exploring a joint project to improve the offer of proficiency samples for food allergen testing. In order to best meet the requirements and expectations of laboratories, we would like to know more about your needs. We would like to invite you to complete a short feedback survey. To do so please click on the following link or alternatively copy and paste this into your internet provider address bar. You may forward this email also to your colleagues or trusted clients. The more input we receive the better we can shape our offerings in the future.
Here is the link to the survey (deadline 15 November 2019):
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QPNSZCY
Your help in this matter is highly appreciated.
Transforming knowledge into action for people, economies and environment
About 650 participants from some 130 countries were witnessing a strong determination to scale up food safety in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the First FAO/WHO/AU International Food Safety Conference, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 12-13 February 2019, which was organized by the United Nations to discuss the future of food safety and how to best transform knowledge into action for people, economies and environment http://www.who.int/food-safety/international-food-safety-conference. Priorities were discussed so that food safety strategies and approaches can be aligned across sectors and borders, reinforcing efforts to reach the Sustainable Development Goals and supporting the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition.
Several key areas were identified where knowledge must be transformed into action:
In a second meeting at the FAO/WHO/WTO International Forum on Food Safety and Trade, Geneva, Switzerland, 23-24 April 2019, the trade-related aspects and challenges of food safety will be addressed. The two meetings will result in a high-level statement advocating for increased and better coordinated collaboration and support to improve food safety globally.
Resources:
Contact:
FAO: Food Safety and Quality Unit, Rome, Italy, food-quality [at] fao [dot] org
WHO: Food Safety and Zoonoses Department, Geneva, Switzerland, foodsafety [at] who [dot] int
The past year has been an interesting and exciting one! The topics MoniQA covers have never been more current: food allergens, food fraud and reference materials. No matter which jurisdiction you turn to, all of them have food fraud and food allergens high on their agenda. This also became apparent during the successful MoniQA conference held in Austria, and attended not only by the food industry, patient groups, laboratories, assay providers and equipment manufacturers but also by high-level FAO representatives. And as a not-for-profit organisation, MoniQA is well-placed to address challenging aspects of these topics in an independent manner.
Richard Cantrill, the outgoing president, has clearly shown his leadership, guidance and commitment over the past year and I would like to thank him on behalf of the advisory board and the MoniQA member companies and organisations.
In the coming year, MoniQA will continue on the path, helping stakeholders to address food safety challenges. The MoniQA team is already working on a number of new initiatives.
If you like to learn more, I cordially invite you to join the organisation and help pave the road to safer foods! Wishing all members and supporters a happy and prosperous 2019!
Bert Popping
I am certain as I hand over the Presidency of the MoniQA Association to Bert Poepping that the future for the organization is very bright indeed. With the help of the Supervisory Board and Secretary General Roland Poms, we have been able to broaden our horizons in the areas of food fraud and allergen management. I was involved with MoniQA from its start as a Network of Excellence and now as a member-driven organization and am proud to have served as President. Now as immediate Past President, I have taken on the role of Editor-in-Chief of QAS (Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops and Food) and encourage you all to support this flagship MoniQA publication by submitting papers and also providing peer-reviews for our many submissions.
Thank you for your commitment to the Association and I wish you a successful and prosperous 2019.
Richard Cantrill
The first 2019 issue of QAS – Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, the official international journal of MoniQA Association published by Wageningen Publishing – is now available online https://www.wageningenacademic.com/toc/qas/11/1. The editorial by Richard Cantrill, Past President of MoniQA Association and the new Editor in Chief of QAS is offered as open access paper and the full version can be downloaded at https://www.wageningenacademic.com/doi/pdf/10.3920/QAS2019.x001.
Here you can find an excerpt from the editorial by Richard Cantrill outlining the slightly refined scope of the journal and the new emphasis and expansion in a few new areas:
“Following my review, the editorial board and MoniQA supervisory board have agreed to small but significant changes to the scope of QAS. The revised scope and submission requirements can be found online (https://www.wageningenacademic.com/journals/qas/general-information). As a result of this review, we will maintain our current core subjects related to crops, crop improvement and conversion of crops to food, but will also place a greater emphasis on food composition, food safety and quality and the interaction between food quality and the regulation of global trade. To illustrate this broader coverage of food safety and quality, QAS is publishing a special issue in 2019 consisting of papers from the Global Harmonization Initiative which advocates for ‘science-based food safety law and trade’.
Again this year Roland Poms, Secretary General of the MoniQA Association gave lectures on "Reference Materials and Method Validation in Food Safety Assurance" at BOKU - University of Life Sciences and Natural Resources, Vienna, Austria, http://www.boku.ac.at/en/, in the week from 25 February to 1 March 2019, 12:30-16:30 each day. The lectures were specifically designed for international students to meet their curricula requirements for their Master Studies “Safety in the Food Chain” and for PhD students in the areas of food safety, food analysis, reference materials and measurements, and quality control. Participation in the course and passing a final written or oral exam were awarded with 3 ECTS. This course offers theoretical and practical content and is perfectly fit to complement your CPD (continued professional training) for QC personnel in food industry and auditors. In addition to enrolled MSc and PhD students at BOKU – the University for Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, students of the European Master Studies “Safety in the Food Chain” and international exchange students, there are a maximum of 10 places reserved for MoniQA members (discounted fee for the one week course is € 120,-) .
The aim of the course/workshop on "Reference materials and method validation in food safety assurance" is to describe the issues and challenges involved in the international comparability and validity of analytical results in the assurance of food safety and quality. On the basis of practical examples the focus was on current hot topics, such as mycotoxins, food allergens, authenticity testing, pathogenic micro-organisms, GMOs, etc., the analytical possibilities (including rapid methods), and the corresponding EU regulations. Additionally, an overview of international standardization bodies and examples of international validation studies was to be given.
The course was offered in the framework of the international Master programme “Safety in the Food Chain (SIFC)”, http://www.safetyinthefoodchain.com/, which includes 5 participating universities across Europe. This international Master programme was developed to provide a profound academic MSc programme concerning all areas of food safety. It offers a high level study course by combining all the existing expertise of European universities. The content of the curriculum is focused on the whole spectrum of the food chain (regarding supply and production).
The course is offered in English and was originally compiled in the EU funded MoniQA Network of Excellence FOOD-CT-2006-036337 and further developed by Dr. Roland Poms at BOKU and MoniQA.
Location:
BOKU – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna
Muthgasse 62
1190 Vienna
Austria
The 2nd International MoniQA Symposium on Food Fraud Prevention and Effective Food Allergen Management in Vösendorf-Vienna, Austria, 7-8 June 2018, attracted 77 delegates representing all aspects of the agrifood sector. The event was organised by Roland Poms, Secretary General, MoniQA Association, Austria, and his team along with Richard Cantrill, President, MoniQA Association, Canada. The book of abstracts is published as volume 10, supplement 1, in the journal QAS - ‘Quality Assurance and Safety of crops and foods’, and can be accessed free of charge at www.wageningenacademic.com/foodfraud2018. The 3rd MoniQA International Symposium of this series is planned in latter half of 2019.
Down below a detailed summary of the meeting is given, thanks to Michael Walker, LGC, United Kingdom, who provided his personal report.
The organisers thank all speakers and poster presenters for their excellent contributions. Furthermore, we thank the sponsors of this event and all participants for their active participation!
Roland Poms and Richard Cantrill welcomed the delegates and introduced the conference which was an exciting programme of talks mixing cutting edge science with examples of litigation and enforcement. Strategies and methods for detecting and combating food fraud were presented as well as discussion of food allergy and coeliac condition, including precautionary allergen labelling, ‘free from…’, thresholds, laboratory accuracy and class action litigation.
The speakers represented the United Nation’s FAO/IAEA, IFS, LGC, USP, MoniQA, as well as industry including Nestlé, SQTS, Imprint Analytics, law firms and food research institutions, regulators, academics and nongovernmental organizations.
On 5 February 2018 the election of MoniQA Supervisory Board 2018 was closed. We thank the elected officials for their support and leadership in MoniQA:
President:
Richard Cantrill, Canada (2018)
Vice President:
Bert Popping, Germany (2018)
Elected Supervisory Board (SB) Members:
Richard Cantrill, USP/MoniQA/IND, Canada (2018-2020)
Bert Popping, FOCOS, Germany (2018-2020)
Thomas Gude, SQTS/MIGROS Switzerland (2018-2020)
Linda Monaci, ISPA-CNR, Italy (2016-2018)
Sabine Baumgartner, BOKU, Austria (2017-2019)
Scientific Advisory Panel:
Sigrid Haas-Lauterbach, R-Biopharm, Germany (2017-2018)
Paul Dewsbury, Thermo Fisher, United Kingdom (2017-2018)
Samuel Godefroy, Laval University, Canada (2017-2018)
We thank Marina Carcea, CREA, Italy, and Paul Finglas, QUADRAM, United Kingdom, for their support and service in the MoniQA Supervisory Board in the past years.
Association Auditors:
Carmen Diaz, FOCOS, Germany (2017-2018)
Gerhard Schleining, BOKU, Austria (2017-2018)
MSc Chemical Food Safety and Integrity - A part-time MSc in Chemical Food Safety and Integrity is a largely distance learning course aimed at aspiring factory or company quality managers who want to develop the knowledge, techniques and skills needed to deliver safe food products. It includes the following units:
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”.
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.
The MoniQA Food Allergen Reference Materials Task Force met on 27 September 2017, 14:00-17:00 at the 131st 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.
The first validated Reference Materials for Food Allergen Analysis are now available and can be ordered from MoniQA Association by using the online order form and return the completed, signed/stamped form to moniqa [at] moniqa [dot] org.
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