IAFP 2016: New challenges in food safety

Next week, the „International Association for Food Protection“ (IAFP) will hold their European Symposium on Food Safety in Athens. From bacterial and viral contamination in food to beverage spoilers and toxins: As a preview of what to expect, we will take a look at the IAFP’s hot topics and the new challenges in food production.

In recent years, food safety has increasingly attracted public interest. Whether glyphosate in beer, mineral oil in chocolate or horse meat in lasagna: Food scandals due to contaminated or incorrectly labelled food products are a permanent subject of public discussion. Even if there is no risk to the health of consumers, negative publicity may have significant consequences for the manufacturers concerned. As a result, the demand for effective analysis methods for detecting pathogens is increasing among scientists, food producers and public authorities.

At the same time, many consumers are placing an increasing emphasis on regional and organic foods. They want more transparency and traceability in the production process. These requirements make an improvement of monitoring in food production necessary, too.

This year, our main focus in the field of hygiene monitoring and food safety is on the following parameters:

• Salmonella: One of the most common causes for food poisoning is Salmonella. Traditional microbiological tests for the detection of Salmonella often require incubation periods of several days. As an alternative to this, PCR tests are becoming established increasingly. This method provides fast and very specific results, but is however relatively complex. An easier way to accomplish PCR tests is the SureFast® Salmonella ONE: This real-time PCR kit with integrated DNA preparation allows a quick and easy detection of Salmonella.
• Viruses: In addition to Salmonella, there are of course many other pathogens which may cause serious diseases. In recent years, for example, several cases of contamination with viruses such as Norovirus and Hepatitis A were detected. Among others, foods such as fish, fruits and vegetables are often affected. A rapid and efficient detection method is the SureFast® Norovirus/Hepatitis A 3plex which allows simultaneous detection of Norovirus and Hepatitis A.
• Beverage spoilers: Particularly due to the current „craft beer“ trend, comprehensive beer analyses have become an important issue. Beer spoiling bacteria such as Lactobacillus spp., Pediococcus spp., Pectinatus or Megasphaera have a major impact on beverage quality: they can cause turbidity, unpleasant smell and bad taste. In addition to bacteria, yeasts pose a risk in beer production, too. GEN-IAL® PCR kits allow detection of numerous beverage spoilers in one step – easy, fast and precise.

In addition to this, the IAFP will cover a lot of further topics concerning food safety, e.g. toxins and allergens. We are looking forward to many interesting presentations and conversations!

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