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At the end of an eventful and successful year, we would like to thank all our members, friends and collaborators for their support and involvement in 2018. As a global network for food safety monitoring and quality assurance, MoniQA www.moniqa.org - first funded as an EU Network of Excellence and then established as an international association - has been active since 2007. We are happy to see that MoniQA is growing in numbers of involved network partners and collaborators, as well as in strength of impact with a number of new activities and plans for the years to come.

We would like to wish you a blessed Christmas time and a successful start in the New Year! We are looking forward to working with you in 2019!

On behalf of the MoniQA Association

Richard Cantrill (USA), President

Bert Popping (Germany), Vice-President

Roland Poms (Austria), Secretary General

International Symposium

Food Allergens: regulation, management and detection

2nd edition

October 18, 2018 ● Finance Tower, Pacheco room, Brussels

Registration (before 10 October 2018): www.cergroupe.be
Participation fee (lunch included): EUR 100,00 VAT excl. – EUR 121,00 VAT incl.

Pacheco Center (entrance: Finance Tower)
Boulevard Pachéco, 13
B-1000 Brussels

For people with food allergies, please get in touch with us
For any further information please contact us at infolnr [at] cergroupe [dot] be or +32 (0) 84 658 090

Download the programme!

Every year EFFoST  organizes this prestigious international food science and technology conference, an important scientific event that brings together world-renowned researchers, scientists, policy makers, professionals and students from multidisciplinary food-related fields to share the latest developments, meet old friends and form new partnerships. See here for details of our previous conferences.

The 32nd EFFoST International Conference will be held in Nantes, France from 6-8 November 2018 under the theme: Developing innovative food structures and functionalities through process and reformulation to satisfy consumer needs and expectations.

Conference Topics

Abstract Submission Deadline: 27 April 2018

Oral and paper abstracts are now invited on the following topics. They should be submitted using the online abstract submission system.

• REFORMULATION and NEW SOURCINGS 
  Salt, sugar, lipids reduction, plant proteins, insects, etc 

• STRUCTURE and FUNCTION 
  2D and 3D – Tomography 
  Emulsions, Interfaces, foams, crystallisation, application in Dairy sector and others

• INNOVATIVE CONVENTIONAL and NON THERMAL PROCESSES
  Thermal processes, Refrigeration, HPP, PEF, PLASMA etc 

• ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

• CEREAL PROCESSING and BAKING (SPECIAL SESSION WITH ICC 
  (International Association for Cereal Science and Technology)
• BIOTECHNOLOGY, BIOPROCESSES IN FOOD and NUTRITION
  Probiotics, prebiotics, Microbiota, fermented foods, new strategies

• SAFETY, MICROBIOLOGY
  Food shelf life, innovative packaging, microbial stability

• MODELLING, and PROCESS CONTROL
  Sensors, CFD modelling, etc

• FOOD ORAL PROCESSING and SENSORY PERCEPTION
• THE FUTURE of FOODS: Education, Consumers science and emerging expectations, the factory of the future

When foods are pushed by objectives such as the clean label trend, vegan foods, ‘free from’ foods (gluten, lactose etc.), reduction of salt, sugar, lipids, and therefore when reformulation means less ingredients, food processing appears very often as the ultimate means to keep food safe, good and with adapted shelf life. In addition, consumers and industry expect sustainable solutions with reduced environmental footprint. 

All steps of food production are important: ingredients sourcing, assembly and process of transformation, packaging, cold chain etc. The industry is stretched between new sourcing, which is sometimes unsustainable and local sourcing, which has limitations. Minimal processing to keep the nutrition values of raw ingredients is often expected by consumers but again has limitations. Lastly, education and communication are of ultimate importance to achieve a trustable link between consumers and industry; this encompasses the development of the factory of tomorrow that must be as transparent as possible to the public.

At the 32nd EFFoST International Conference food scientists and food industry experts will gather to debate and discuss the recent trends in food science and food processing. The conference will also focus on re-establishing trust and mutual understanding between “industry” and “consumers” for the benefit of both parties and for the benefit of the health and wellbeing of the European consumers.

The ISEKI-Food Association (European Association for Integrating Food Science and Engineering Knowledge Into the Food Chain) and the University of Hohenheim are organising the 5^th International ISEKI_Food Conference (ISEKI_Food 2018) to be held in Stuttgart, University of Hohenheim, Germany, 3 - 5 July 2018.

This  5^th edition has as its driving topic “The Food System Approach – New Challenges for Education, Research and Industry“. A modern approach to face the societal, climate and nutritional challenges, impairing food security and the global sustainability of the food chain, has to consider all activities related to food production, processing, packaging, distribution, preparation and consumption.

Several poster awards are waiting for you as well as some very interesting workshops to attend like the  PhD workshop, the Food Waste Recovery Workshop and some free workshops.
Submit your abstracts and meet the ISEKI-network in Stuttgart!

For more information visit the conference website.

We look forward to welcoming you in Stuttgart!

Susanne Braun, Gerhard Schleining (chairs of the Organizing Committee)
Paola Pittia, Cristina L.M. Silva (chairs of the Scientific Committee)
Rui Costa (chair of the Industry Advisory Committee)
Anita Habershuber (Conference Secretariat)

TOPIC FOR THE DAY: Reference materials and reference methods for food allergen analysis

This is a stakeholder workshop for the recently awarded European Food Safety Authority funded project ThRAll (Detection and quantification of allergens in foods and minimum eliciting doses in food allergic individuals), led by Professor Clare Mills form the University of Manchester. Building on the outputs of the recently completed EU-funded iFAAM project and nationally-funded projects in Belgium, France and Italy, ThRAll will involve world leading experts from across Europe. They include Italy (Dr Linda Monaci, CNR-ISPA), Belgium (Dr Nathalie Gillard, CER and Dr Christoff van Poucke,  ILVO) and France (Dr Olivier Tranquet, INRA). The project also has additional co-funding from the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) in Belgium.

If you wish to enquire about the Manchester Food Allergy Network, please contact us by e-mail at mfan [at] manchester [dot] ac [dot] uk.

The link to the on-line booking and agenda can be found here.   

USP (Unites States Pharmacopeia, MoniQA Member since 2017) invites to an exciting workshop on Adulteration & Fraud in Food Ingredients and Dietary Supplements, 27-28 February 2018, Rockeville, USA. Speakers from Walmart, PepsiCo, the European Commission, as well as technical experts from the University of Guelph, FOCOS, and Fonterra are included in the programme. An optional olive oil tasting session will be held at the conclusion of the workshop.

Adulteration and fraud in food ingredients and dietary supplements are major concerns for industry, consumers, and regulatory authorities. USP's workshop brings together internationally recognized experts to discuss the current state of technologies for detecting economically motivated adulteration and minimizing supply chain risk.

Advance registration will be available through Friday, February 23, 2018. After that date, registration will be available on site at the USP Meetings Center.

For more information please follow the link http://www.usp.org/events-training/workshops/dietary-supplements-food-ingredients-adulteration-workshop?vsmaid=1144&vcid=62929.

Following 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, the MoniQA Association would like to invite you to join us for the Second MoniQA Symposium on Food Fraud and Allergens in Vienna, Austria, 7-8 June 2018.

This Second MoniQA Symposium will address food authenticity, food fraud and the need for simple labeling as 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, legal experts, regulators, academics and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to discuss the latest information on the implications of regulations and other burning issues in the food space.

Some of the areas we plan to cover include:

• 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

An exciting two days programme has been developed with speakers from e.g. Nestle, FOCOS, LGC, SQTS-MIGROS, USP, various law firms, associations and international organisations. Get an update on the newest science and technology involved in the analysis of food for authenticity, new regulatory developments, and firsthand experiences to combat food fraud. Case studies of successful brand protection, food fraud prevention and improved risk management will be provided in this timely and innovative symposium.

We warmly invite you to attend this meeting in Vienna, which brings together international experts in the fields of food authenticity and food allergens, as well as various food industries, SMEs, research institutions, associations and regulatory bodies, all having a different stake in food safety. This special mix of scientific and practical input to the symposium will be a valuable opportunity to grow your knowledge base, learn from practical experiences, and exchange ideas with peers. Vienna has earned an outstanding reputation as meeting destination and is ranked top every year in the statistics kept by the International Congress & Convention Association. The central location of Vienna in the heart of Europe is beneficial to all delegates who are able to reach Vienna easily with direct flights from any European capital as well as from many other cities worldwide.

We hope to see you in Vienna in June 2018!

Dr. Richard Cantrill
President, Canada

Dr. Roland Poms
Secretary General, Austria

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:

o   What is on a label: “free from…”, “may contain…”, “processed in a facility…”

o   Interpreting legal limits versus laboratory accuracy

o   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.

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.

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. 

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 the future of allergen management
• 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	Sponsor Tecna

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. 

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
Room: International 3, which is located on the International Level of the hotel

The task force will meet on the last day of the conference at 2pm – 5pm. Please find below the preliminary agenda.

Read more

The MoniQA Supervisory Board 2017 and the co-opted Advisory Panel 2017 met in Rome, Italy, 27 June 2017. This meeting was intended to draft some strategic plans for priority technical topics, contents for future workshops and symposia, and other activities. Some items on the agenda deal with food allergen reference materials, the completion of the iFAAM project and possible implications, new projects on the horizon, more specific activities in the area of food fraud prevention, the use and validation of untargeted methods, as well as future workshops and symposia. 

Please be informed that the current team of officials and advisors include the following individuals:

Supervisory Board: Richard Cantrill (President), Paul Finglas (Vice President), Roland Poms (Secretary General), Marina Carcea, Linda Monaci and Sabine Baumgartner

Co-opted Advisory Panel: Bert Popping, Thomas Gude, Samuel Godefroy (strategic advisory group)

Sigrid Haas-Lauterbach and Paul Dewsbury (technical advisory group)

New Address: The MoniQA Secretariat moved within the Technology Centers of Burgenland and has a new address as of 16 June 2017:

MoniQA Association
Technologiezentrum Güssing
Europastrasse 1
A-7540 Güssing
Austria

Web address, email addresses and telephone number are not affected by this change of address.

Your team at the MoniQA Secretariat: 

Dr. Roland Poms (Secretary General)
Tina Reindl, BA (Administration and Project Support)
Gottfried Jelasits (Accounting and Staff)
Gunter Greil, BA (IT Systems and Software Development)

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.

Please check the conference programme here.
To check the conference website please go to http://www.fao.org/food/food-safety-quality/events-projects/event/joint-faorussian-government-international-conference-on-food-safety-and-risk-analysis-18-19-may-2017-sochi-russia/en/

Globalization and international trade have drastically changed the way that food is produced, processed, transported and consumed. This has created the need for a more holistic and integrated approach to assuring the safety of the food chain. Additional pressures come from climate change, food security concerns, economic volatility and unknown risks related to changing agricultural practices or new production technologies. Modern approaches in risk assessment and risk management are needed to ensure public health. Harmonization of food safety standards and international collaboration are necessary to mitigate emerging and persistent food safety risks.

Many legislations use a risk analysis framework fostered by the World Health Organization (WHO), to ensure that regulatory decisions about foods are science-based and transparent. In recent years, many countries established distinct separate entities for risk assessment (science based) and risk management (policy based). Regional, national and trans-national food safety and consumer protection strategies may differ in focus and priorities due to traditional consumption patterns, geographic and climatic situations, and socio-economic considerations.

Basis for this conference are the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in September 2015, which sets goals to eradicate hunger, ensure access to safe and nutritious food, end all forms of malnutrition, combat communicable and non-communicable diseases. The achievement of these goals directly depends on ensuring food safety. As confirmed by the Second International FAO/WHO Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), improvements in diet and nutrition quality require relevant normative frameworks and control systems for food safety regulation.

Increasing global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a major threat to human and animal health. It endangers modern human and veterinary medicine and undermines the safety of our food and environment. Antimicrobials play a critical role in the treatment of diseases of farm animals (aquatic and terrestrial) and plants. Their use is essential to food security, to human well-being, and to animal welfare. However, the misuse of these drugs, associated with the emergence and spread of antimicrobial-resistant micro-organisms, places everyone at risk (FAO, 2016).

Declared goals of the jointly organized conference were 1) strengthening multilateral international cooperation on food safety, 2) improving nutrition on a global and regional level, 3) realizing the provisions of the 2030 Agenda and the ICN2 recommendations, and 4) a Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on antimicrobial resistance.

On behalf of the conference organizers.

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/en/, on selected days and times between 28 February and 8 March 2017. The lecture especially targeted Master and PhD students in the areas of food safety, food analysis, reference materials and measurements, and quality control. The course was also very useful as part of CPD (continued professional training), for QC personnel in food industry and auditors. Apart from enrolled MSc and PhD students, MoniQA members had access to a maximum of 10 places.

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 was offered in English and attracted a very international audience from various continents.

Location:

BOKU
Lehrsaal 3 (MGFH-EG/LS 3)
Muthgasse 62
1190 Vienna
Austria

Close to 100 participants followed an exciting scientific and at the same time very practical and informative symposium #MoniqaBari 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

The conference chairs, Roland Poms from MoniQA Association (Austria) and Linda Monaci from ISPA-CNR (Italy) would like to thank all speakers, poster presenters, exhibitors and sponsors for their support in making this event a great success!

Thanks to #ThermoFisher, #R-Biopharm, #Agilent Technologies, #LabInstruments, #USP, #Alfatest, #Waters, #Eurofins, and #ELISASystems

The first validated Reference Materials for Food Allergen Analysis have been presented at the latest AOAC Annual Meeting 2016 in Dallas, Texas, USA. The first set of materials includes testing materials for milk allergen analysis comprising a Positive Control (SMP-MQA 092014, characterized dried skim milk powder), 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. 5 ppm) and HIGH-MQA 082016 (SMP incurred in gluten free cookies, milled, concentration approx. 50 ppm).
The materials were produced by Trilogy Laboratories USA (MoniQA Member since 2013) and will be commercially available starting 01 January 2017 through MoniQA Association. Shipments will be coordinated by R-Biopharm Germany (MoniQA Member since 2011). The materials will come in 5 g pouches (air tight sealed) and sold for 220.- Euro per pouch or 792.- € for the set of all 4 materials. 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. Further reference materials are in preparation (gluten, egg, soy) and will become available shortly.
The 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. 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.

On 13 September 2016 MoniQA as part of two different international consortia – one led by the University of Bologna, Italy, and the other by Hellenic Institute of Transport, Greece - submitted 2 project proposals under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme. In both proposals MoniQA acts as Workpackage Leader. The following proposals successfully passed stage 1 and were submitted for stage 2 evaluation:

• SFS-37-2016: The impact of consumer practices in food safety: risks and mitigation strategies
• SFS-33-2016: Understanding food value chain and network dynamics

We are pleased to continue our success in expanding our involvement in EU projects. Involvement in collaborative research projects will increase the knowledge base, the international network of experts in the field of food safety and quality, and strengthen MoniQA’s offerings and services for its members and beyond.

Dr. Walter Mayrhofer from the FTI Burgenland (Research-Technology-Innovation Agency) opened the kick-off event on behalf of MoniQA’s new offices in Neutal, Austria (some 50 minutes’ drive South of Vienna Airport) with an appreciation of MoniQA’s initiatives in supporting the food industry and authorities to guarantee a high degree of food safety and quality, and by bringing new international expertise to Burgenland.

Representing the regional government of Burgenland, the most Eastern state of Austria, Mrs. Verena Dunst, officially welcomed MoniQA Association and emphasized the importance of international networks for Burgenland’s regional research and innovation activities, and a sustainable economic growth of Burgenland’s strong agricultural and food production sectors.

Dr. Roland Poms, Secretary General of MoniQA Association described the tools and vast information source that MoniQA offers and gave a glimpse into future research projects that MoniQA has submitted (together with various international consortia) within the frame of the European Commission’s Horizon2020 Programme.

Several members of MoniQA presented their institution joint activities at the event: Prof. Wolfgang Kneifel from BOKU – the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna explained the joint international educational and training programmes; BSc. Christoph Reiterich from R-Biopharm (a biotech company in food diagnostics, Germany) reported on the joint initiative to produce new reference materials for food allergen analysis and the validation of test kits. Finally, Dr. Rita Litauszky from FFG – the Austrian Research Promotion Agency appreciated MoniQA’s track of successful research proposals funded by the European Commission.

Dr. Walter Mayrhofer, Erich Trummer – Mayor of Neutal, Verena Dunst and Dr. Roland Poms.

Dr. Walter Mayrhofer from the FTI Burgenland (Research-Technology-Innovation Agency) (http://www.fti-burgenland.at/de/) opened the kick-off event on behalf of MoniQA’s new offices in Neutal, Austria (some 50 minutes’ drive South of Vienna Airport) with an appreciation of MoniQA’s initiatives in supporting the food industry and authorities to guarantee a high degree of food safety and quality, and by bringing new international expertise to Burgenland.
Representing the regional government of Burgenland, the most Eastern state of Austria, Mrs. Verena Dunst, officially welcomed MoniQA Association and emphasized the importance of international networks for Burgenland’s regional research and innovation activities, and a sustainable economic growth of Burgenland’s strong agricultural and food production sectors.
Dr. Roland Poms, Secretary General of MoniQA Association described the tools and vast information source that MoniQA offers and gave a glimpse into future research projects that MoniQA has submitted (together with various international consortia) within the frame of the European Commission’s Horizon2020 Programme.
Several members of MoniQA presented their institution joint activities at the event: Prof. Wolfgang Kneifel from BOKU – the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna https://www.boku.ac.at/en/ explained the joint international educational and training programmes; BSc. Christoph Reiterich from R-Biopharm http://www.r-biopharm.com/ (a biotech company in food diagnostics, Germany) reported on the joint initiative to produce new reference materials for food allergen analysis and the validation of test kits. Finally, Dr. Rita Litauszky from FFG – the Austrian Research Promotion Agency https://www.ffg.at/en appreciated MoniQA’s track of successful research proposals funded by the European Commission.

A short television spot (ORF) and a Press Release of this event (both in German) can be accessed on MoniQA’s homepage www.moniqa.org.

• ORF Burgenland Television News Spot – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WwNLL2Ky74
• Press Release Burgenland Heute - http://burgenland.orf.at/news/stories/2799686/
• Press articles Bezirksblätter Burgenland - https://www.meinbezirk.at/oberpullendorf/lokales/werkzeuge-fuer-die-gewa...
• Invitation and Programme of the event http://www.moniqa.org/sites/moniqa.org/files/file_upload/page/866/Einlad...
• FTI Report http://www.fti-burgenland.at/de/news-termine/detail/news/moniqa-internat...
  http://www.fti-burgenland.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Presseinformation_Auf...
• PPT presentation: http://www.fti-burgenland.at/fileadmin/user_upload/01_MoniQA_Introductio...

Since January 2015, MoniQA (International Association for Monitoring and Quality Assurance in the Total Food Supply Chain) maintains its offices in the Technologiezentrum Neutal, Austria (some 50 minutes drive south from Vienna Airport). The FTI Burgenland (Research-Technology-Innovation Agency) is inviting to a kick-off event held for the MoniQA Association. At the event you have the opportunity to learn more about MoniQA’s global network of experts from the fields of science, research, industry and regulatory bodies. The primary goal of the organisation is the facilitation of close collaborations and the resourcing of “tools” for granting food and nutrition safety. There are also offers for consulting services and education opportunities as well as organising conventions and workshops.

The FTI Burgenland is a member in MoniQA Association and represents on behalf of all food industry companies in the Burgenland area. At the event you will be able to hear more about MoniQA, its available services and you can learn first-hand through a personal talk how you could utilise the association’s offerings for your company and products. Take this opportunity to meet and learn more also about other food industry companies in Burgenland.

Participation is free of charge but we would kindly ask you to confirm your attendance at office [at] fti-burgenland [dot] at by 23rd September 2016.

MoniQA’s first food allergen QC materials, MoniQA SMP (skim milk powder, MQA 092014) and MoniQA BLANK (gluten-free cookie, MQA 082015) have recently undergone a first testing trial with some 40 laboratories involved worldwide. Most of the anticipated results have been collected and are currently evaluated. In a next step the completed materials of dried skim milk incurred in gluten-free cookies at various concentrations shall become available in summer 2016.

The materials are a result of an initiative that met in 2013 in Washington, MO, USA, which progressed into a MoniQA Task Force on the development of reference materials for food allergen and gluten-free analysis.

The Task Force is an international group comprised of several SDOs (Standardisation Organisations), industry representatives, policy makers, test kit providers and method developers, analytical companies, as well as representatives from various universities. This international group has been working towards consensus on the specific requirements and the design of globally acceptable reference/testing materials for allergen and gluten-free analysis. 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.

MoniQA is official supporter of the 4th International ISEKI_Food Conference to be held in Vienna, Austria, 6 - 8 July 2016 organised by the ISEKI-Food Association (European Association for Integrating Food Science and Engineering Knowledge Into the Food Chain).

From more than 500 submitted abstracts 88 oral and 255 poster presentations will be delivered.

Poster Awards will begranted, Pre-conference activities (Food Waste Recovery Workshop, a PhD workshop, a free presentation of the FooD-STA centre AUSTRIA and a free training workshop on entrepreneurship) enrich the 4^th International ISEKI_Food Conference in Vienna this year!

More than 300 people from all continents have already registered.
We look forward to welcoming you in Vienna in July 2016!

For more details please visit: http://www.isekiconferences.com/vienna2016/

MoniQA endorses and contributes to the First Food Chemistry Conference - Shaping the Future of Food Quality, Health and Safety to be held 30 October - 1 November 2016 in the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

This exciting new conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of the leading international journal Food Chemistry will bring together experts and young researchers from academia, research centres, and industry to debate on the latest scientific advances in the field of food chemistry that help to shape current and future challenges in food quality, food safety, and health aspects of the food chain. These challenges are also intimately linked to the wider EU Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges related to health, food security, sustainable agriculture, maritime research and the bioeconomy. Topics will include:

• Emerging non-nutrient bioactives in food - chemistry, analysis, function and health
• Chemical reactions in foods: mechanisms, kinetics and impact on quality and health
• Food structure, food quality and health including novel digestibility, processing technologies,
• Nanotechnology and food packaging
• Risk/benefits evaluation of food components
• Food authenticity and integrity
• Novel and rapid methods for food quality, integrity, and safety
• Future research needs and funding opportunities

Meet MoniQA in Amsterdam!

The aims of this workshop is to explore the requirements for a health claim on products including the human dietary studies likely to be necessary to generate the evidence required for positive opinion from EFSA.

The programme, speakers and registration can be found at http://bacchus-fp7.eu/best-practice-in-health-claims-bacchus-workshop

Also in 2016 MoniQA facilitates participation in collaborative research projects. In some selected calls MoniQA Association is involved as partner, workpackage leader or task leader. Please note that MoniQA may be able to involve its members as Third Party in various calls only if (according to EC rules) a valid membership pre-exists prior to the final submission of the proposal or the start of the project. If you are interested to get involved in MoniQA and/or any of the calls for research proposals below, please contact moniqa [at] moniqa [dot] org.

1)      The impact of consumer practices in food safety: risks and mitigation strategies

2)      Understanding food value chain and network dynamics

3)      Integrating Activities for Starting Communities

4)      Increase overall transparency of processed agri-food products

5)      Alternative production system to address anti-microbial drug usage, animal welfare and the impact on health

More details on the calls can be found on the official website of Horizon2020 of the European Commission https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/. MoniQA members may also access the call descriptions to the above titles here. (login required)

On 26 February 2016 the recently approved MoniQA Supervisory Board 2016 met in Neutal, Austria, to discuss the short and long term strategies and planned activities within the MoniQA Association. We thank the elected officials for their support and leadership in MoniQA:

Supervisory Board (SB) Members:

Richard Cantrill, USA ((2015-2017, President)
Paul Finglas, UK (2014-2016, Vice President)
Wolfgang Kneifel, Austria (2014-2016)
Marina Carcea, Italy (2015-2017)
Linda Monaci, Italy (2016-2018)

The following members were invited as Coopted Members 2016:

Bert Popping, France
Thomas Gude, Switzerland

Internal Auditors:
Gerhard Schleining, Austria (2015-2016)
Marco Gobbetti, Italy (2015-2016)

Furthermore Roland Poms, Austria, was confirmed as Secretary General 2016-2018.

The SB members present at the SB meeting in Neutal also used the opportunity to visit the new MoniQA Secretariat:

MoniQA Association
Werner-von-Siemens-Strasse 1
A-7343 Neutal
Austria

At the end of an eventful and successful year, we would like to thank all our members, friends and collaborators for their support and involvement in 2015. As a global network for food safety monitoring and quality assurance, MoniQA www.moniqa.org - first funded as an EU Network of Excellence and then established as an international association - has been active since 2007. We are happy to see that MoniQA is growing in numbers of involved network partners and collaborators, as well as in strength of impact with a number of new activities and plans for the years to come.

For more details please see MoniQA eNews Alert 2015-12-22

We would like to wish you a blessed Christmas time and a successful start in the New Year! We are looking forward to working with you in 2016!

On behalf of the MoniQA Association

Richard Cantrill (USA), President

Paul Finglas (UK), Vice-President

Roland Poms (Austria), Secretary General

Please feel free to join any of MoniQA’s current activities. The invitation is open to all MoniQA Members and to those who are planning to sign-up in the near future.

MoniQA 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. MoniQA contributes to the development and validation of analytical methods, provides training and continuous professional development (CPD), consultancy and socio-economic impact assessment.

1) Preparation and exploring research proposals for EU’s Horizon2020 Funding Programme. Examples of past and current project involvements of MoniQA are MoniQA NoE (FP6), PlantLibra (FP7), Connect4Action (FP7), iFAAM (FP7), and others. Currently MoniQA is facilitating project participation for members in Horizon 2020 calls for 2016.

2) Join MoniQA’s task force on emerging food safety and quality issues: discussion forum and exchange of experience to benefit MoniQA’s research agenda and collaboration agreements, new call texts (e.g. EU projects), workshop/conference themes, joint publications and opinion papers and support to other international organisations such as AOAC, AACCI, Codex, DIN, etc…

3) Join MoniQA’s task force on method validation:  Preparation of guidelines and protocols for validation of screening methods, validation of binary methods, validation of mass spectroscopic methods, current focus on mycotoxins, allergens, and authenticity issues. MoniQA contributed in the past to AOAC guidelines and EU directives.

4) Join MoniQA’s task force on Food Allergen Reference Materials:  Preparation, design and production of allergen and gluten-free reference materials for milk, egg, peanut, hazelnut, wheat, barley, rye, oats, a.o. MoniQA’s first allergen reference materials (dry skim milk and a gluten free matrix material) are currently being tested by an international ring trial.

5) Selected MoniQA supported meetings and/or with MoniQA contributions:

- 19-24 February 2016: IAM – Inter Agency Meeting and Codex CCMAS, Budapest, Hungary

- 28 February-1 March 2016: iFAAM Consortium Meeting, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

- 4-8 April 2016: EuroFir Food Forum 2016, Brussels, Belgium

- 18-21 April 2016: 15^th ICBC – ICC Cereals and Bread Congress in Istanbul, Turkey

- 4-6 May 2016: 9^th Workshop on Food Allergens Methodologies will be May 4-6, 2016 in Ottawa, Canada

The conference programme of the the 5^th MoniQA International Conference "Food and Health - Risks and Benefits" will become available soon. Poster abstracts will still be accepted until 15 July 2015.

We are proud to introduce some of the keynote speakers:

• Samuel Godefroy, World Bank, Washington DC, USA, and Faculty of Agriculture & Food Science, University Laval, Quebec, QC, Canada:
  Food Safety Capacity Building Needs and Opportunities to Support Convergence with International Standards
• Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy:
  Food, Safety and Health - Societal Changes and Trends
• Bernd Appel, Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany:
  Microbial risks - New tools for risk assessment along global food chains
• Franz Ulberth, Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Belgium:
  Future Research Needs and Funding Opportunities
• Cristina Silva, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Portugal and GHI - Global Harmonisation Initiative:
  Harmonisation: Feeding People, Fueling Innovation
• Speaker (to be confirmed), Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA:
  Emerging Issues in Food and Health - Risks and Benefits

Conference website: porto2015.moniqa.org
Registration: porto2015.moniqa.org/register. Early Bird Registration ends on 15 July 2015 (received fee)!
Abstract submission for posters: porto2015.moniqa.org/abstract_submission ends on 15 July 2015!
Make your hotel room reservation now at porto2015.moniqa.org/accommodation
Become an official sponsor: porto2015.moniqa.org/sponsoring

The 5^th MoniQA International Conference "Food and Health - Risks and Benefits" on "Innovative Technologies for Food Quality and Safety Management" porto2015.moniqa.org will focus on technological and analytical challenges and new developments in assuring food safety and quality linked to risk assessment, health concerns, consumer preferences, and clinical implications. Unique insights in the global scope of these matters by renown speakers, invited papers and most recent advances in science and technology generated by the next generation leading scientists will make up an exciting programme.

Abstract submission for posters is open until 15 July 2015 porto2015.moniqa.org/abstract_submission! Please mind the new deadlines for the conference:

• 15 July 2015: Extended deadline for abstract submission for posters.
• 15 July 2015: Deadline for Early Bird registration (received fee).
• 10 September 2015: Deadline for online registration.

Attention: We would like to encourage students and young researchers to submit abstracts and be part of the MoniQA competition for best abstract/poster and most cutting-edge research. MoniQA with the support of selected conference sponsors will provide travel support grants and other awards to the best abstracts evaluated by a small independent committee. 3 Travel grants of a minimum of 300.- € each are available on a competitive basis: Submit your abstract, register and be part of the competition for the following awards:

• Best Abstract Award *: min. 300.- €
• Highest Impact Award *: min 300.- € OR an Open Access publication of the related research by Wageningen Academic Publishing www.wageningenacademic.com/action/showPublications?pubType=journal in the value of 1,800.- €
• Best Poster Award **: min. 300.- €

* Eligible are registered students (Bachelor, Masters and PhD; student ID required!). Submissions must be received by 15 July 2015 the latest. The award can be redeemed in the awarding ceremony at the 5^th MoniQA International Conference on 18 September 2015, in Porto, Portugal.

** Eligible are all registered participants who present a poster at 5^th MoniQA International Conference in Porto, Portugal. Posters will be selected during the Poster Viewing and Lunch on 17 September 2015, with the presenter available at his/her poster between 12:30-14:00. The award will be given during the awarding ceremony at the 5^th MoniQA International Conference on 18 September 2015, in Porto, Portugal.

Online Registration is now open! Benefit from early bird and membership discounts!

Register now at porto2015.moniqa.org/register and benefit from a 15% discount on the regular registration fee. Members of the MoniQA Association, ICETA and EuroFIR, as well as students enjoy a special registration fee, respectively.

Become a sponsor! Check out our offerings and your opportunities!

Select a sponsor package that may be suited for you at porto2015.moniqa.org/sponsoring. Please mind some additional benefits were recently added for Platinum Sponsors (only one available) and Gold Sponsors.

Join the current group of sponsors:

MoniQA (Organiser) www.moniqa.org
ICETA (Co-organiser and local host) www.iceta.up.pt
R-Biopharm (Gold Sponsor) www.r-biopharm.com
TAP (Official Carrier) www.flytap.com

EuroFIR www.eurofir.org
ISEKI Food Association www.iseki-food.net
GHI www.globalharmonization.net
iFAAM www.inflammation-repair.manchester.ac.uk/ifaam
MycoSpec mycospec.eu
SPICED www.spiced.eu

iFAAM (Integrated Approaches to Food Allergen and Allergy Risk Management; 2013-2017) is the world's biggest ever study of allergies - coordinated by Clare Mills from the University of Manchester www.inflammation-repair.manchester.ac.uk/ifaam. iFAAM involves the world’s leading experts in the UK, Europe, Australia and US. iFAAM, funded under EU's 7^th Framework Programme, will develop evidence-based approaches and tools for MANAGEMENT of ALLERGENS in FOOD and integrate knowledge derived from their application and new knowledge from intervention studies into FOOD ALLERGY MANAGEMENT plans and dietary advice. The resulting holistic strategies will reduce the burden of food allergies in Europe and beyond, whilst enabling the European food industry to compete in the global market place.

The MoniQA Association is partner in iFAAM. MoniQA leads Workpackage 9 on translating iFAAM developed tools and food allergen management approaches to practice. Current activities involve the development of a database on food allergen recalls, which will be published shortly. Furthermore, MoniQA leads work within iFAAM to make "May Contain" labeling more transparent and to provide a sustainable online toolbox for allergen management along the food supply chain.

This year, the C&E Spring Meeting will take place in Budapest with the theme Celebrating Cereals in the AACC International Centennial year: it will be the occasion to review the importance of cereals - and wheat in particular - in our daily diet and discuss the scientific progress in breeding, processing and nutritional aspects, with an outlook to the future.

The University of Budapest has a long standing reputation in cereal science thanks to its 95 year old Department of Applied Biotechnology and Food Science at Budapest University of Technology and Economics. In cooperation with the Cereals & Europe team and other organizing and sponsoring parties, the local hosts will do everything to guarantee the friendly environment to our guests for the effective scientific work and networking.

Hungary has a long tradition and widely applied results in the areas of cereal breeding, chemistry and technology, qualification agricultural production and milling processes. Therefore it is our great pleasure that Budapest can host the European centennial event of AACCI. The beautiful capital of Hungary with the Danube, many historical places and cultural events ensure the pleasant background of the conference.

MoniQA will be represented by Dr. Roland Poms with a talk on the "MoniQA Allergen Reference Materials Programme for Gluten Free Analysis" and "A novel approach of isotope analysis to distinguish organically and conventionally grown crops".

The C&E Spring Meeting is intended to all cereal scientists, cereal based product developers, lab technicians, application technologists, plant supervisors, academics keen to learn more about practical aspects of scientific findings and all others stakeholders who want to know more about cereal science and bakery technology.

Please make sure to register at www.cespringmeeting2015.org and benefit from the extended Early Bird fee until 16 March 2015!

This multidisciplinary congress provides a forum for both internationally established and young researchers to exchange advanced knowledge on Food Contaminants and Human Health. The congress will include keynote lectures given by world-renowned scholars, in addition to oral and poster sessions. State of the Art developments in different fields of chemical mixtures: analytical, exposure assessment, bioavailability and toxicity of food contaminants will be covered during presentations. The ICFC2015 has been organized in the context of the project MYCOMIX - Exploring the toxic effects of mixtures of mycotoxins in infant food and potential health impact, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/DTP-FT0/0417/2012; FCT, Portugal).

ICFC 2015 welcomes the submission of abstracts for original contributors to the field of food contaminants and human health. The online abstract submission is now open to all experts and value contributors.

Deadlines:

• Abstract submission: 13 February 2015
• Abstract decision notification: 6 March 2015
• Early Bird Registration: 13 March 2015

You can submit your abstracts directly through the web form available at www.icfc2015.com. The detailed Program is available at www.icfc2015.com/program.htm.

The organizers are looking forward to welcoming you in Lisbon!

Roland Poms from ICC/MoniQA and Michele Suman from Barilla are proud to present the Special Issue of the World Mycotoxin Journal (Volume 7, Number 4) on Rapid Methods for Mycotoxin Detection.

The issue contains 8 review articles, 2 research articles, as well as a foreword by Michele Suman and Roland Poms, the guest editors of this special edition. The articles contain a clear overview of the latest developments, products, and concerns on use of these fast and easy detection methods. Two of the papers are available as open access: the foreword and the review paper by C. von Holst and J. Stroka on “Performance criteria for rapid screening methods to detect mycotoxins”. If your institute has taken a subscription, all papers are freely accessible on the World Mycotoxin Journal MetaPress web page https://www.wageningenacademic.com/toc/wmj/7/4. As MoniQA member you are eligible for a discounted subscription.

It is our pleasure to invite you to participate in the 2014 multi-mycotoxin proficiency test (PT) organised by the MoniQA member CODA-CERVA (Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, Belgium).

The main objective of the PT is to provide interested laboratories with an opportunity to test their multi-mycotoxin methods and to compare their results with those of other laboratories. The use of LC-MS/MS methods, although not strictly required, is highly recommended. Detailed information can be found in the attached Invitation Letter.

If you wish to participate please register at neonet.coda-cerva.be/neonet/Register_PT.aspx by 14 September 2014. Do not hesitate to contact us for any further information at PT_myco_org [at] coda-cerva [dot] be.

From September 2014 onwards food service companies already want compliant information to the new 1169/2011 EU-food labeling regulation! Protect your sales and avoid high costs of non-compliance

Make food information exciting while protecting brands and clients is what thought leaders of the food sector are currently discussing. How to take advantage of the new EU-regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information also for non-prepacked foods, which is impacting the entire food supply-chain including eCommerce/food delivery services and catering, restaurants and fresh counters in retail.

Join an inspirational day of open innovation to accelerate your food labeling strategy and reduce risks of non-compliance with the help of all experts at your finger tips. For each question, teams will define goals, what has been done and what are the next steps.

• Details and Invitation
• Event website
• Register now!

The QAS volume 6, issue 3 (September 2014) is now available and features a special issue on "Food Chemistry and Safety". Edited by Hamit Köksel and Vural Gökmen, both from Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, the presented research papers were selected from invited presentations in association with the EuroFoodChem XVII conference, which took place 7-10 May 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey. The included papers encompass the latest research trends and findings on the emerging topics of food chemistry and safety. The 10 papers included in this special issue were selected from the papers recommended through an external peer-review process.

The papers in this special issue describe the recent advancements on analytical methodologies for the determination of nanomaterials in complex samples, safety assessment of engineered metallic nanoparticles in foods, performance of multiplex dipstick immunoassay for screening mycotoxins in cereals, analytical challenges in food chemistry proficiency tests, application of e-nose technique for food quality control using novel oligopeptides based materials, and evaluation of safety risks in thermal processing of foods considering processing contaminants such as acrylamide. In addition, some papers describe also the production and characterization of resistant starch and its utilization as food ingredient, thermolysis products of potato starch as potential prebiotics, and anovel cereal fiber drink as a tool for prevention of civilisation disease.

We are pleased to present this special issue to the readers of Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods journal and food chemistry community worldwide, and hope that it accomplishes our goal of highlighting outstanding recent advances in the field of food chemistry. At the same time we can be looking forward to the next EuroFoodChem XVIII conference in Madrid, Spain, 13-16 October 2015.

Subscribe now!

On behalf of the MoniQA member CNR-ISPA (National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Sciences of Food Production), it is our pleasure to invite interested laboratories to participate in a multi-mycotoxin proficiency test (PT).

The main objective of the PT is to provide interested laboratories with an opportunity to test their multi-mycotoxin methods and to compare their results with those of other laboratories. The use of LC-MS(MS) methods, although not strictly required, is highly recommended. Detailed information can be found in the attached Invitation Letter.

If you wish to participate please complete the attached Registration Form and send it by email to Veronica Lattanzio (veronica [dot] lattanzio [at] ispa [dot] cnr [dot] it) and Annalisa De Girolamo (annalisa [dot] degirolamo [at] ispa [dot] cnr [dot] it) by 20 May 2014. Do not hesitate to contact us for any further information about the procedure of the proficiency test.

Over 70 participants attended the annual Joint MoniQA/IAM Workshop for Codex Alimentarius which was held 2 March 2014 in Budapest, Hungary. Chaired by Richard Cantrill, AOCS and Roland Poms, ICC, this year's event focused on "Sampling issues in the light of new approaches and existing Codex Standards". The featured presentations from Roger Wood, Chairman of the Inter-Agency Meeting; Árpád Ambrus, Hungarian Food Safety Office; Steve Ellison, LGC; Astrid Nordbotten, Norwegian Food Safety Authority and Roger Kissling, Fonterra Ltd. were made available to MoniQA members and participants. MoniQA is now collecting ideas and needs for the next Joint IAM/MoniQA Workshop linked to the Codex Alimentarius CCMAS meeting in Budapest in 2015, please send your comments and ideas to moniqa [at] moniqa [dot] org. To join MoniQA, please go to www.moniqa.org.

All MoniQA Members are cordially invited to attend the next MoniQA General Assembly scheduled on 2 April 2014, 13:00-15:00, Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands at the end of the 9^th Rapid Methods Europe Conference www.bastiaanse-communication.com/rme2014. A detailed agenda will be provided by beginning of March 2014.

Eligible to vote is one representative of each of the institutions registered as MoniQA ordinary and founder member, respectively, whereas a founder member's vote is weighted as three and an ordinary member's vote as one vote. If the main contact of an institution is unable to attend the General Assembly, a replacement from the same institution can be nominated, which needs to be communicated to us prior to the meeting.

Roland Poms, Secretary General of ICC and MoniQA Association will lecture on "Reference Materials and Method Validation in Food Safety Assurance" at BOKU - University of Life Sciences and Natural Resources, Vienna, Austria. Apart from enrolled MSc and PhD students, ICC and MoniQA members have access to a maximum of 10 places. If interested, please register by email to office [at] icc [dot] or [dot] at. The lectures, excursions and workshop activities are on 5 afternoons. Invited speakers from international standardisation organisations will enrich the workshop programme and give a global perspective and the value of international standards.

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 will be on current hot topics, such as mycotoxins, food allergens, 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 will be given.

More infos: www.moniqa.org/events/workshop_rm_food_safety_boku_march_2014

Roland Poms, Secretary General of MoniQA Association, will attend the Info Day on 2014 Horizon 2020 calls for proposals - Societal Challenge 2 and LEIT Biotechnology (ec.europa.eu/research/bioeconomy/news-events/news/20140117_en.htm). After MoniQA's successful completion of its Network of Excellence in 2012 and its foundation as legal entity in 2011, MoniQA has been directly or indirectly involved in various project proposals. The most recent success was partnering in iFAAM (2013-2017). With the available expertise and experience with attracting EU funding for collaborative research projects and involvement in EU’s Framework Programmes (FP4-FP7) as Coordinator (ECC 2002, MoniQA), as Workpackage Leader or Partner (HEALTHGRAIN, ISEKI, CommNET, PlantLibra, Connect4Action, iFAAM, MyNewGut, MycoSpec, EMPORA) or as Member of the Advisory Board (MycoRed, DREAM, TradeIT), at the MoniQA Secretariat (c/o ICC Headquarters, Vienna, Austria), MoniQA will again facilitate and/or partner in collaborative project proposals with Horizon 2020. As a special service for MoniQA Members, Roland Poms and the MoniQA Secretariat in Vienna will support members’ initiatives and provide advice in partner search or direct requests to programme officers.

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly € 80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) - in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market. For more information please contact the official website at ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020.

MoniQA members and stakeholders might have special interest in the following areas:

• Agriculture and Forestry ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/area/agriculture-forestry
• Food and Healthy Diet ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/area/food-healthy-diet
• Bio-based Industries ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/area/bio-based-industries
• Health ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/area/health

MoniQA will be happy to discuss your ideas and proposals. Members of MoniQA enjoy additional privileged information and services useful for project proposals and collaborations. If you are not a member of MoniQA yet, please refer to www.moniqa.org/news/renew_moniqa_membership and choose your preferred involvement in MoniQA.

On behalf of MoniQA Association I would like to thank you for your trust and collaboration in the past year. We can look back to another successful year in MoniQA, thanks to the great collaboration of the global MoniQA network of members and stakeholders.

Some highlights in 2013 were:

• the successful organization of the 4^th MoniQA International Conference in Budapest, Hungary
• the organization of several workshops and CPD events around the globe (Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Thailand, Taiwan, USA, and others)
• the re-launch of our international journal QAS with our new publisher Wageningen Academic Publishing
• the involvement of MoniQA Association as EU project partner in an FP7 project (iFAAM)
• facilitating project involvement of MoniQA members
• facilitating research collaborations and personnel exchanges bilaterally and globally
• coordinating the design and production of Food Allergen Reference Materials for cereals and gluten, milk, egg, peanut, and hazelnut as first priorities

We are looking forward to providing ever improving services to the food safety community worldwide. We hope for your continuous trust and we would like to wish you a Happy Holiday Season and a Successful New Year. Please mind that the MoniQA Secretariat, hosted by ICC Headquarters, will be closed between Christmas and New Year (23 December 2013 - 1 January 2014).

2014 will offer several opportunities to meet MoniQA and colleagues from around the globe - we hope to see you at one or the other MoniQA supported meeting (some examples in chronological order):

• 4-7 February 2014: MoniQA FST "Alternative Methods for Microbiological Analysis of Foods and Feeds", Plovdiv, Bulgaria (in Bulgarian language)
• 24-26 February 2014: 3^rd iFAAM Consortium Meeting, Vienna, Austria (by invitation only, MoniQA is partner)
• 27 February 2014: MoniQA Allergen Reference Materials Meeting, Vienna, Austria
• 2 March 2014: Joint MoniQA/IAM Workshop for Codex Alimentarius (CCMAS) "Sampling Uncertainty", Budapest, Hungary, www.moniqa.org/events/workshop_budapest_march_2014
• 31 March - 2 April 2014: MoniQA Session & General Assembly, at RME2014 - 9th Conference "Rapid Methods Europe", Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands, www.bastiaanse-communication.com/rme2014
• 12-14 May 2014: Final International PlantLibra Conference, Vienna, Austria, plantlibra2014.icc.or.at

With best wishes

Roland Ernest Poms
MoniQA Secretary General

Following on from the successful series of Workshops held immediately prior to the recent Sessions of CCMAS the IAM/MoniQA Workshop organisers were asked by delegates to further develop a number of issues of concern. In particular they were asked to consider whether it would be appropriate to develop a Workshop to discuss Sampling issues in the light of new approaches and exisitng Codex Standards. This has become particularly important given the increasing awareness of sampling uncertainty and at the same time confusion about its assessment and procedures to take appropriate and representative samples in diffferent commercial and regulatory environments. Starting as an exlusive offer for delegates of Codex Alimentarius these workshops have also become part of Continuous Professional Development for policy makers and decision makers in food businesses. Please find a draft programme at www.moniqa.org/events/workshop_budapest_march_2014.

The workshop is organised jointly by IAM and MoniQA. It will be held at the Ramada Plaza Budapest Hotel, now with a new name: The Aquincum Hotel Budapest, Árpád fejedelem útja 94, Budapest 1036, Hungary (www.aquincumhotel.com). This workshop is free for CCMAS delegates and members of IAM, discounts apply for MoniQA members and students. Registration is required by all participants and speakers. Please register online at www.moniqa.org/events/workshop_budapest_march_2014/register.

Please mind that only a limited number of places are available and that registrations will be considered on a first-come-first-serve basis. We are looking forward to seeing you in Budapest in 2014!

It is time again to renew your MoniQA Association Membership for another year and benefit from MoniQA's international network and a variety of activities and services (details can be found on www.moniqa.org/about/association).

Some membership benefits are listed as follows:

• Easy access and interaction with a global network of experts
• Easy access and involvement in international research proposals and projects funded by the EU, UNO, Bill Gates Foundation, governments, etc.
• Training and education opportunities for teachers and students at universities and companies around the globe
• Easy access to information and grants for personnel exchanges and mobility of researchers, trainers, teachers and students
• Better international visibility of your institution
• Discounts on conference, workshop, webinar participation
• Qualifying to organise your own MoniQA conference or workshop or webinar at your institute or in your country
• Use the membership and joint achievements to increase your impact and significance in your own country and internationally, which can be important to join a consortium or qualify for a grant or for a tender
• Privileged information and pre-publication information on upcoming calls and tenders
• Technical support and access to rare/expensive infra-structure
• Get involved in collaborative projects, studies, initiatives
• Exclusive job offers for professionals, students and trainees

Some selected current activities might be of interest to you:

• Preparation and exploring research proposals for EU's Horizon2020 Funding Programme. Examples of past and current project involvement of MoniQA are MoniQA NoE (FP6), PlantLibra (FP7), Connect4Action (FP7), iFAAM (FP7), and others.
• Preparation of guidelines and protocols for validation of screening methods, validation of binary methods, validation of mass spectroscopic methods, current focus on mycotoxins, allergens, and authenticity issues.
• Preparation, design and production of allergen and gluten-free reference materials for milk, egg, peanut, hazelnut, wheat, barley, rye, oats, a.o.
• Selected MoniQA (co-)organised/supported meetings:
  
  
• 25-29 November 2013, Vienna, Austria: BOKU lecture and MoniQA Training Course, "Reference Materials and Method Validation in Food Safety Assurance"
• 11-12 December 2013, Bangkok, Thailand: MoniQA Workshop "Effective Mycotoxin Management" – Sponsoring and contribution opportunity for MoniQA Members!
• 17-18 December 2013, Bangkok, Thailand: MoniQA Workshop "Effective Food Allergen Management"
• 4 March 2014, Budapest, Hungary: MoniQA/IAM workshop for Codex Alimentarius on "Sampling Uncertainty"
• 2 April 2014, Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands: MoniQA Session and General Assembly at RME2014 – Rapid Methods Europe 2014

If you want to make use of any of the sponsoring or contribution opportunities at the meetings mentioned above, please contact Roland Poms at roland [dot] poms [at] icc [dot] or [dot] at.

If you have any questions related to your membership status, please contact Sabine Gratzer (sabine [dot] gratzer [at] icc [dot] or [dot] at).

MoniQA, the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and the Ministry of Science and Technology  would like to invite you to attend the Workshop "Effective Mycotoxin Management" taking place at the Thailand Science Park, Tha Khlong, Pathum Thani / Bangkok, Thailand on 11-12 December 2013.

The objectives of the workshop are

• to look at the current situation of mycotoxin contamination and impacts on food security globally and specifically in Thailand and South East Asia
• to review regulations of mycotoxins in food and feed industries both in Thailand and globally,
• to review current methods for mycotoxins detections and get some hands-on experience using detection kits,
• and to get insight in mycotoxin risk analysis and mitigation strategies to control contaminations.

The rationale of this workshop: The worldwide contamination of foods and feeds with mycotoxins poses a significant problem to staple foods and meat production. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of molds that have adverse effects on humans, animals, and crops that result in illnesses and economic losses. The accumulation of mycotoxins in foods and feeds represents a major threat to human and animal health as they are responsible for many different toxicities including the induction of cancer, mutagenicity and estrogenic gastrointestinal, urogenital, vascular, kidney and nervous disorders. Some mycotoxins are also immuno-compromising, and can thus reduce resistance to infectious disease. Significant economic losses are associated with their impact on human health, animal productivity, and both domestic and international trade.

This workshop aims to provide knowledge and expertise in the mycotoxin field from both Thailand and abroad. Invited are quality managers, food manufacturing auditors, food scientists, toxicologists, representatives and decision makers from industry, policy and academia.

For more details including the programme and registration form please go to www.moniqa.org/events/workshop_mycotoxin_thailand_science_park_2013.

The 2^nd iFAAM (Integrated Approaches to Food Allergen and Allergy Risk Management) consortium meeting will be held 7-9 October 2013 in Cork, Ireland. Roland Poms will represent ICC and MoniQA. For more information on this event please see here.

For further information on the project please click here.