6th Annual Conference Schedule

Towards Collaborative Leadership to Ensure Food Safety

Date: February 28 – March 1, 2019

Location: Hotel “The Park”, New Delhi

Tentative Conference Schedule

Day 1: February 28, 2018 (Thursday)

Registration and Breakfast (0800 – 0900 hrs)
Inaugural Session (0900 – 1100 hrs)
Presidential Addresses:
Dr. Ranjan Mitra, President, India Section of the AOAC INTERNATIONAL

Keynote Address:

Shri Pawan Kumar Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (TBC)

Special Addresses:
Dr. Palmer. A. Orlandi, Jr., Deputy Executive Director and Chief Scientist, AOAC INTERNATIONAL
Dr Paul Young, Senior Director Government Affairs, Waters Corporation, US
Dr. S. K. Saxena, Director. Export Inspection Council of India (TBC)

Inauguration of Exhibition

Refreshment Break

Technical Session 1: Method Harmonization (1100 – 1300 hrs)

Food safety is a high priority area and is becoming increasingly important as globalization of the food supply continues. While food-related risks around the world may vary, sharing data and information on methodologies, best practices, and analysis of existing and emerging scientific issues can lead to consistent approaches. The aim is to ensure unambiguous, validated, referenced method to ensure food quality, safety and allow seamless trade without any disputes. Collaborating and sharing knowledge, contributes to the development of internationally consistent risk assessment, risk management and risk communication approaches, and internationally harmonized test methods, access to the most current research, and development on emerging food safety issue. The distinguished panel shall discuss and deliberate the General Methods of Harmonization, Barriers to Harmonization, Global and Local initiatives.

Session Chair : Dr. N. Bhaskar, FSSAI, Advisor (QA) (TBC)

• SMPR for Non-Standard Methods – Dr. Erik Konings, Immediate Past President, The AOAC INTERNATIONAL and Global Analytical
• Method Alignment Coordinator, Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland
• Fit for Purpose Methods – Dr. S. K. Saxena, Director. Export Inspection Council of India (TBC)
• Developing Fit for Purpose Method in Indian Context: Sharing Experience (Existing and Emerging Contaminants) of NRL-NRCG – Dr.
• Kaushik Banerjee, ICAR National Fellow & Principal Scientist, National Research Centre for Grapes
• Covenants for Dispute Resolution – Dr. Lalitha R. Gowda, Chief Scientist (Retd.), Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore (TBC)
• Harmonized Methods for implementing FSSAI regulations – Dr. N. Bhaskar, FSSAI, Advisor (QA) (TBC)

Lunch Break (1300 – 1400 hrs)

Technical Session 2: Working Group Session (1400 – 1600 hrs)

Working Group 1: Life-cycle of botanical ingredient in product development process: Alignment of fit for purpose methods at each stage-gate for botanical integrity.

Moderators: Dr. Amit Chandra, Manager, Chromatography Sciences Group, Analytical Sciences, AMWAY R&D and Dr. JLN Sastry, Vice President/Head of Healthcare Research, Dabur India Ltd

Through an interactive discussion have a meeting of minds on a sequential stage gate of botanical ingredient development (seed to shelf), methods available and selection of fit for purpose tests (to answer the questions that are being asked at each stage-gate), define terms such as traceability, integrity, nutraceuticals, traditional medicine, food safety, bring to surface several challenges and hurdles at current time, opportunities for harmonization etc, progress being made via AOAC-USP on this at this time.

Working Group 2: Rapid Microbiology Methods and the Regulatory Environment

Moderator : Ms. Kavitha Kulkarni, Scientific Affairs and Education Manager, Food Safety, 3M India Ltd

A key challenge with the adoption of Rapid Microbiology (RMM) methods is the speed with which these technologies are changing which requires a faster learning curve for the industry and the regulators. India continues to dwell on the traditional test methods, mandating these in the standards which restricts the adoption of newer technologies. With a population exceeding 1.2 Billion, the need to provide safe and healthy food will be possible only with the adoption of these Rapid Microbiology Methods.

In this session the detailed whitepaper developed by the working group comprised of representatives from various industries, instrument manufacturers and academia will be presented along with some of the other emerging aspects of Rapid Microbiology Methods.

Refreshment Break (1600 – 1630 hrs)

Technical Session 3: Standard Reference Materials (1630 – 1800 hrs)

Session Chair: Mr. N. Venkateswaran, Director, NABL (TBC)

• Reference Material Producers (RMP) Accreditation in India – Mr. N. Venkateswaran, Director, NABL (TBC)
  In this talk the speaker will discuss various aspects of RMP accreditation in India including ISO 17034-2016 General requirements for the competency of reference material producers (RMP), specific requirements of NABL for Reference material producers accreditation, scope of NABL accreditation for RMP, RMP accreditation benefits and ISO 17025- 2017 requirements for Reference materials, NABL Guidelines and assessment process for RMP accreditation.
• Reference Materials – Importance of Traceability, Uncertainty & Certification for their Proper Usage in ISO 17025-2017 Testing – TBC, Merck

The speaker will provide an in-depth overview of Reference Materials while discussing the following aspects:

• How & why to use reference materials and which grade is most suitable for the specific testing application
• How to maintain traceability in ISO 17025 testing through the use of reference materials
• How to utilize reference materials correctly in reporting of uncertainty to meet 17025 requirements – importance of CRM selection
• Evaluation of a Certificate of Analysis for traceability & other quality parameters in support of ISO 17025 requirements
• Why a reference material certification process informs suitability & selection for use (for traceability & uncertainty)
• Critical storage requirements for reference materials – need for proper handling & packaging protocols to ensure reference material stability and shelf life
• Best practices & examples

Poster Session (1800 – 2000 hrs)

Poster Session in Collaboration with “The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)”

Poster Session will feature displays by authors of scientific research papers and will include a written and pictorial summary of the author’s research. Posters represent an important method of exchanging scientific information and findings.

Poster Topic Categories

• Analysis of Foodborne Contaminants and Residues
  (Innovative approaches and techniques in the residue analysis of foodborne contaminants, which are either naturally present in food (e.g., heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, etc.), or appear during food processing (e.g., acrylamide, 3-MCPD, etc.).
• Analysis of Non-Foodborne Contaminants and Residues
  (Innovative approaches and techniques in the residue analysis of those contaminants which are added to food externally, e.g., pesticides, veterinary drugs, antibiotics, etc.).
• Microbiological Methods in Food and Residue Analysis of Mycotoxins
  (Innovative approaches and techniques in food microbiological analysis. Quick detection and screening methods. Residue analysis methods for mycotoxins).
• Food Nutrition, Food Allergens, Botanicals and Dietary Supplements
  (Innovative approaches and techniques in food nutrition, botanicals and dietary supplement analysis. Food Allergen methods and issues).
• Food Authenticity (Methods to determine truthfulness of identity of ingredients and foods)
• General Methods (Any methods pertaining to analysis of food that do NOT fit in ANY of the other categories)

Conference Dinner (2000 – 2200 hrs)

Day 2: March 1, 2018 (Friday)

Technical Session 4: Emerging Food Safety Issues and Key challenges from a Global Perspective on Veterinary Drugs/Antibiotic Residues (0900 – 1045 hrs)

Analytical approaches and scope vary considerably.Screening kits still very popular but not without issues.Increase in use of multiresidue approaches has streamlined analytical efficiencies for multiresidue analysis.Official control for Food and Feed promises simplification, harmonization, efficiency and transparency with the emphasis on risk based monitoring. A number of class specific methods needed for compounds outside the scope of multi-residue analysis or are used instead of multiresidue analysis. Methods must be validated( including CCa and CCb) and accredited(17025). Screening remains a valid approach where frequency of non-compliant samples are very low.

Session Chair: Dr. S. K. Saxena, Director. Export Inspection Council of India (TBC)

• Screening (ELISA), Confirmatory banned compounds (Group A) and Multiclass-Multiresidue approaches for 100 plus antibiotics/VDR in single run
  India Perspective – Dr. S. K. Saxena, Director. Export Inspection Council of India (TBC)
  Global Perspective – Dr. Simon Hird, Principal Scientist, Waters Corporation, US
• Topic – TBD
• Panel Discussion – Changing regulations in antibiotic / veterinary drug and challenges to Indian Laboratories

Refreshment Break (1045 – 1115 hrs)

Technical Session 5: Food Authenticity/Fraud and Geographical Traceability (1115 – 1300 hrs)

Quality, safety and authenticity represent the key pillars of food integrity. Protecting consumer rights and preventing fraudulent or deceptive practices are challenging issues facing both the regulatory agencies and the food industry. The challenge of food testing laboratories is the use of reliable analytical tools method and instrumentation to meet lower detection levels, detect newer and unknown ingredients and verify the nature of food. Scientific expertise and technologies are constantly being developed and advanced to test the authenticity of foods. Using the latest developments in DNA fingerprinting techniques, chromatography and mass spectrometry food authenticity is addressed. Chromatographic techniques coupled with mass spectrometry and isotope ratio mass spectrometry provide high quality selectivity and help us achieve very low detection limits even in complex food samples. “Out of the box” thinking is important to battle the creativity of fraudsters. In this session the distinguished speakers will present some examples of multidisciplinary analysis to detect food fraud and trace their origins.

Session Chair: Dr. Chindi Vasudevappa, Vice – Chancellor, NIFTEM (TBC)

Lunch Break (1300 – 1400 hrs)

Technical Session 6: Emerging Challenges in Microbiological Food Safety (1400 – 1530 hrs)

Session Chair: TBC

• Challenges in the testing of Virus, giardia and cryptosporidium in water as per IS 10500:2012 requirements – TBC
  Resources required for the testing, Good Laboratory practice in virus testing. Potential hazards and preventive plan. Immuno Magnetic Separation, and Immuno Fluoroscence Assay Microscopy – Principles and applications. Handling of living organisms. Maintaining the sample temperature post sampling. Confirmatory methods.
• Challenges in Enumeration of microorganisms in Probiotic product – TBC
• Strain identification by genotypic and phenotypic methods. Functional characterization. Safety assessment. labelling and health claim. International Guidelines – FAO /WHO guidelines for evaluation of probiotics in foods.
• Emerging Microbial Concerns in Food Safety – Peer Mohamed.D, Assistant Director, Export Inspection Agency

To discuss the emerging microbiological threats facing the food industry globally, with specific reference to shiga toxin producing e.coli, campylobacter, toxoplasma and norovirus. Introduction to these microbes, their propagation and analytical challenges faced by the food industry.

Presentation by “Young Scientist Awardee” (1530 – 1600 hrs)

In our endeavor to provide an opportunity to the budding scientists, this session is dedicated to the “Young Scientist Awardee” who will be selected by a special jury panel and will be invited to present their work as a short oral presentation in this session.

Session Break (1600 – 1615 hrs)

Closing Session (1615 – 1715 hrs)

• India Section of AOAC INTERNATIONAL – Roadmap to Future
• Award Session
• Valedictory Address

High Tea (1715 – 1800 hrs)

Annual Executive Committee Meeting (1830 – 2030 hrs)