Stay up-to-date with food safety and new trends in food analysis!
As of 5 May 2017 the Supervisiory Board approved the move of the MoniQA Headquarters to a new location within the Technology Centers of Burgenland (Austria) for reasons of convenience and efficiency. Please mind our new address:
MoniQA Association
Technologiezentrum Güssing
Europastraße 1
A-7540 Güssing
Austria
Contact details (email, website, and telephone numbers) of staff remain the same.
Your team at the MoniQA Headquarters:
Roland Poms (Secretary General)
Tina Reindl (Association Management and Project Support)
Gottfried Jelasits (Accounting and Office Administration)
Gunter Greil (IT Systems and Software Development)
The MoniQA Supervisory Board and the Strategic and Technical Advisory Panels met in Rome, Italy, on 27 June 2017, to discuss strategic plans for priority technical topics, contents for future workshops and symposia, and research activities. In the area of food allergen management a clear focus will remain on the production of further food allergen reference materials and the provision of online food allergen and food allergy management tools for the various actors and stakeholders based on the outcomes of the EU-funded iFAAM project. The second priority area will focus on food authenticity and food fraud prevention, especially on the development of guidelines on the use and validation of untargeted methods and determination of authenticity of spices, herbs, and food supplements. The SB underlined MoniQA’s strength to facilitate scientific and institutional collaboration, and its experience in managing international research projects.
Supervisory Board (SB) Members:
Richard Cantrill, AOCS, Canada (President)
Paul Finglas, EuroFIR, UK (Vice President)
Marina Carcea, ICC, Italy
Linda Monaci, CNR-ISPA, Italy
Sabine Baumgartner, BOKU-IFA-Tulln, Austria
Strategic Advisory Panel:
Bert Popping, FOCOS, Germany
Thomas Gude, SQTS, Switzerland
Samuel Godefroy, Laval University, Canada
Technical Advisory Panel:
Sigrid Haas-Lauterbach, R-Biophamr, Germany
Paul Dewsbury, Thermo Fisher, UK
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. 3.54 mg/kg milk protein, validated) and HIGH-MQA 082016 (SMP incurred in gluten free cookies, milled, concentration approx. 17.7 mg/kg 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.
The next MoniQA Food Allergen Reference Materials Task Force Meeting is scheduled for 27 September 2017, 14:00-17:00 at the 131st AOAC Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The task force will meet on the last day of the conference at 2pm – 5pm. Please find below the preliminary agenda.
Draft agenda:
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.
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: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.
It is our great pleasure to announce the following new members within MoniQA Association who have joined the association in 2017. We would like to offer a warm welcome to our new member institutions and we look forward to working with you and having your expertise and knowledge on board:
Organisation: University of Manchester, UK
Primary contact: Clare Mills
http://www.manchester.ac.uk
Organisation: FOCOS Food Consulting ... Strategically
Primary contact: Bert Popping
http://focos-food.com/
Organisation: Tecna s.r.l., ITALY
Primary contact: Maurizio Paleologo
http://www.tecnalab.it/en/index.html
Micro-Company
Primary contact: Yanli Xie (University of Henan, CN)
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. 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.
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. 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).
Australasian Grain Science Conference
Christchurch, New Zealand
20-22 September 2017
https://www.ausgrainscience.org.au/conference-home
131st AOAC Annual Meeting & Exposition 2017
Atlanta, GA, USA
24–27 September 2017
http://www.aaccnet.org/meetings/annual/Pages/default.aspx
MoniQA Food Allergen Reference Material Task Force
Atlanta, GA, USA
27 September 2017
OLEUM 2nd Project Meeting
Thessaloniki, GR
04-06 October 2017
http://www.oleumproject.eu/
AACC International Annual Meeting 2017
San Diego, USA
08-11 October 2017
http://www.aaccnet.org/meetings/annual/Pages/default.aspx
5th MS Food Day
Bologna, IT
11-13 October 2017
http://www.spettrometriadimassa.it/Congressi/5MS-FoodDay/
WGS 2017 - 6th International Whole Grain Summit
Vienna, Austria
13-15 November 2017
https://www.wholegrainsummit.com/
Close to 100 participants followed an exciting scientific and at the same time very practical and informative symposium on food fraud prevention and effective food allergen management in Bari, Italy, 26-27 January 2017, bari2017.moniqa.org. Due to the extremely positive feedback, we are considering to take the program on the road.
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. The symposium brought together participants from the food industry, ingredient suppliers, agricultural producers, retail and trade, consumer organizations, private and public analytical laboratories, representatives from R&D, marketing, quality control, legal departments, as well as food scientists, technologists, analytical method providers, regulatory bodies, authorities and the media. You may want to read the full report by Michael Walker, LGC, UK at http://www.moniqa.org/webfm_send/261.
You may also want to see some featured videos kindly provided by Thermo Fisher:
http://www.thermofisher.com/at/en/home/about-us/events/industrial/moniqa.html
Roland Poms from MoniQA Association lectured 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, between 28 February and 8 March 2017. The university course targets Master and PhD students in the areas of food safety, food analysis, reference materials and measurements, and quality control. The course is also offered as training workshop as part of CPD (continued professional training), for QC personnel in food industry and auditors.
The aim of the 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 programm 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 contents of the curriculum are focused on the whole spectrum of the food chain (regarding supply and production).
The course is offered in English and is usually scheduled in spring every year. For more information please contact the MoniQA Secretariat.
Roland Poms, Secretary General of MoniQA, was invited to give a talk on Food Allergen Management at an International Conference entitled “Food Safety and Risk Analysis” which was held in Sochi, Russia, 18-19 May 2017. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Rospotrebnadzor, the Russian Federal Agency for Wellbeing, Consumer Rights and Consumer Protection were jointly organizing this meeting. The conference drew an international audience and discussed global and regional food safety challenges. This international meeting brought together more than 350 delegates representing sectoral governmental agencies, specialized international organizations, the private sector, consumers’ associations and the scientific community. The conference was aimed at exchanging experiences and best practices on assessing multifaceted food safety risks, enhancing multilateral dialogue in the field of improved nutrition, expanding international and interregional sectoral cooperation, and promoting partnerships between different stakeholders.
The ICC Asia-Pacific Grains Conference (APGC) which was co-organised by ICC - The International Association for Cereal Science and Technology and CCOA - The Chinese Cereals and Oils Association (both MoniQA Founder Members), took place in Xiamen, China, a coastal city in Southeast China, May 21-24, 2017. On the theme "Science and Innovations in Grains: From Asia-Pacific to the World", the 1st APGC promoted scientific and technological knowledge and innovations related to the processing, utilisation, green storage, quality and safety, health and nutrition, and consumer needs of grains, oil seeds, pulses, and foods to help shape their future in the Asia-Pacific region.
Roland Poms from MoniQA gave a talk on Food Authenticity and Food Fraud Prevention utilizing highly sophisticated methods of analysis. MoniQA, together with BOKU Vienna, TUM Munich and BME Budapest also presented a poster on the characterization of wheat varieties for a new gluten reference material.
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-2017-09-01
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.
Dr. Roland Poms, Secretary General/CEO
© 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.
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