News
05-November 2010
– UK
and Korean scientists forge links for food
safety
LGC and KRISS scientists hold
brainstorming meeting to discuss cutting-edge techniques for food
safety
LGC and Korean scientists
gathered in London this month to form the core for a brainstorming
meeting on cutting-edge techniques for food safety. The meeting,
held on 5-6 October at LGC’s headquarters in Teddington, South West
London, was a continuation of the Foreign Office-sponsored UK–Korea
Focal Point Project on Food Safety and the BIS Science &
Innovation Unit sponsored Global Partnership Project. The Focal
Point work links two top National Measurement Institutes (NMIs):
LGC in the UK and KRISS (Korean Research Institute
of Standards in Science) in Korea to foster advanced scientific
co-operation. The Global Partnership work is spearheaded by Campden
BRI and the Korean Food Research Institute bringing the strengths
of two highly respected applied and fundamental food research
institutes together.
The purpose of this workshop was to bring together UK and Korean
experts from industry, food research organisations, regulators and
academia to discuss issues, challenges and research strengths and
requirements in the critical areas of food safety, control and
rapid detection of pathogens and contaminants, with a particular
emphasis on the challenges of the emerging and ‘unknown’. How do we
‘horizon scan’? How do we anticipate/prepare for the next incident?
What new detection/measurement technologies should we be
considering?
The UK and Korea are major food importers and have many common
food control issues. A group of 24 experts from LGC, the National
Measurement Office, Campden BRI, Heinz, Princes Foods, the Food
Standards Agency, Kingston University and the Institute of Food
Research joined Korean experts for wide ranging discussions aimed
to ensure that the benefits of fundamental measurement research
reflect real-life problems.
The Korean delegation was led by Dr Hun-Young So, Head of the
Metrology for Quality of Life Division of KRISS who brought a
multidisciplinary team including his own staff, Professor Jong-Hyun
Park of the Department of Food Science & Biotechnology,
Kyungwon University and Dr Hyang Sook Chun of the Korean Food
Research Institute.
Cutting-edge developments in areas such as mass spectrometry,
metagenomics and expert systems were explored to provide potential
solutions to problems facing regulators and the food industry in
protecting consumers.
The meeting’s participants decided on the following priority
themes:
• Better informatics tools and information sharing to horizon
scan for emerging and re-emerging problems
• Development of high throughput methods to screen efficiently
for hazards
• The need for guidance to future-proof regulatory and
compliance infrastructure to manage risks.
Specific areas for future cooperation were identified as:
• Specific protein and large molecule characterisation
• Rapid and information-rich methods for detection and
identification of viable viruses and other micro-organisms
• Methods for characterisation of engineered
nanoparticles
• Methods for elemental speciation
• Facilitating a UK and global culture of analytical quality
for food industry compliance and fit for purpose regulatory
models.
Derek Craston, Director of LGC’s
Science & Technology Division and
Government Chemist, said: “Tackling food
safety needs a global approach that optimises partnership between
fundamental research and industry practice. We were please to
welcome such a high level delegation from Korea and the key input
from UK stakeholders.”
Scientific co-operation, information sharing and further
seminars and other activities are planned.
- Ends -
Notes to
editors