Welcome
Conference Report
The 3rd MoniQA International Conference (September 27-29, Varna, Bulgaria) brought together more than 150 participants from around the globe to discuss food safety issues and their impact on the consumer. The event also hosted the official launch event of the MoniQA Association, a non-profit-distributing organisation dedicated to collaborative research promoting a more secure and safer food supply. For the full press release click here.
Why you should join us in Varna for the 3rd MoniQA International Conference:
Food and nutrition are intimately connected with the daily lives of European consumers. Citizens rightly demand food that is safe and of high quality and contributes to health, well-being and cultural appropriateness. Global trade in food and food products has brought with it economic benefits for industry and an unparallel variety of choice for the consumer but at the same time it has led to challenges in food safety, which affect both importers and exporters around the world (the 2008 melamine crisis being just one example out of many), and influence consumer trust. The 3rd MoniQA International Conference squarely puts the consumer in the centre of attention and addresses the underlying paradox that while we have a number of mechanisms in place to safeguard the quality and safety of food, consumers often feel insecure in their food choice. Dedicated sessions focus on:
- Food Safety and the Consumer Perspective: an overview
- Young MoniQA
- Food Safety, Food Security and Climate Change
- (Re)-Emerging Issues (nanotechnology, microbiology, authenticity)
- Food Safety regulations and the law: towards better future regulation through socio-economic impact assessment
- Food Allergens
- Chemical Contaminants and Mycotoxins
- Food Safety Education at an Academic level - Examples from a Global Perspective
- The MoniQA Association: A Global Food Safety Network providing expertise and services for effective food safety management
Updates:
- Presentations slides are available to download
- Photo galleries now available - see left menu bar
- Poster awards go to (1st) Sine Yener (HCTU, TR), (2nd) Dorota Piasecka-Kwiatkowska (NFNI, PL) and (3rd) Chen Jinyao (SCU, CN).
- Waters co-sponsors poster awards
- ARRIVAL INFORMATION: Transfer from Airport to Hotel:we recommend to take a taxi from "Paralel" company (they have a car stand at the arrivals exit) to Hotel Meliá Grand Hermitage, the conference venue. The fare is approximately BGN 62,- (EUR 32,-) per way. Taxis cannot be paid with credit card. You should either have already BGN or you can change EUR at the airport´s Exchange office which is open 24 hours a day. But do not change too much, the exchange rates are quite high at the airport.
- final programme available at http://varna2011.moniqa.org/programme
Report from the Second MoniQA International Conference (Krakow, 2010)
Held in Krakow from June 8-10, 2010, the 2nd MoniQA International Conference was an inter- and cross-disciplinary event which formed a bridge between the daily concerns of citizens, economic considerations and food and nutrition science. In nine technical sessions the conference set out the state of the art concerning food safety standards, mycotoxins & phycotoxins, food allergens, chemical contaminants, microbiological contaminants, food additives, emerging technologies for food safety assessment and food authenticity. For more information and to download the presentations go to http://krakow.moniqa.org/
Report from the First MoniQA International Conference (Rome 2008)
The First MoniQA International Conference (October 8-10, 2008) brought together a global audience of more than 200 food safety scientists, socio-economists, regulators, industry and trade representatives as well as media correspondents. The participants had the opportunity to discuss the most recent challenges in avoiding and controlling unwanted substances in the food production chain as well as to obtain information on the newest developments and innovations in rapid and reliable analysis of food contaminants. More information and the conference report are available at the conference website http://www.moniqa.eu/moniqa2008-conference.
About MoniQA
MoniQA (Monitoring and Quality Assurance in the total food supply chain, www.moniqa.org) is an EU-funded Network of Excellence (NoE), which involves experts from around the globe working for safer foods by harmonising worldwide food quality and safety monitoring and control strategies.
MoniQA is coordinated by ICC – the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (www.icc.or.at) and concerns the safety and quality assessment of all foods and feeds including grains and crops, fruits and vegetables, meats and sea food. The initial network of over 155 scientists from 20 countries has grown to over 500 experts from some 40 countries from 5 continents.
The consortium has committed its knowledge, international relations, and communication resources to providing reliable information, globally agreed standards and tools to ensure safe foods, to support regulatory bodies in drafting better future regulations, food manufacturers in achieving legal compliance and producing high quality foods, and finally avoiding remedial, legal or re-call costs, and improving the quality of life for consumers.
MoniQA focuses on validation of and setting performance criteria/requirements for methods used to analyse foods and food products for safety and quality. The main emphasis is on rapid methods and emerging new testing technologies, and their applicability and reliability in routine testing. The work involves validation studies, design and development of reference materials/testing materials, and validation guidelines, as well as socio-economic impact assessment of new and amended regulations, and thus contributing to better future regulations. MoniQA is aiming at integrating European and worldwide food quality and safety research by creating a virtual laboratory for joint research, training, dissemination and mobility programmes. MoniQA actively promotes sharing of data and knowledge, as well as of equipment, materials and personnel through creation of a global platform for food Q&S researchers, lab practitioners, and policy makers.
More information: www.moniqa.eu
List of key results: http://www.moniqa.eu/keyresults
