We are delighted to inform you that  ISO 20976-1 : 2019 “Microbiology of the food chain -- Requirements and guidelines for conducting challenge tests of food and feed products -- Part 1: Challenge tests to study growth potential, lag time and maximum growth rate”  is now published ! You can find it on the ISO web site at the following address : https://www.iso.org/standard/69673.html. The time has come now  for us  to set up the revision of  the “EURL Lm Technical Guidance Document  for conducting shelf-life studies on Listeria monocytogenes in ready to eat foods – Version 3 of 6 June 2014 – Amendment 1 of 21 February 2019 .lom

Welcome to the website of the European Union Reference Laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease (EURL FMD). The consortium between ANSES (France) and Sciensano (Belgium) is designated as the European Union Reference Laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease. You will find on the site all the activities of the EURL and information related to FMD. It is accessible to all members of the network. Thank you for registering to have access to the private area.

Bertrand LOMBARD, as EURL Lm representative, presented the amendment to the EURL Lm Technical Guidance Document on shelf-life studies at the meeting of the EC Standing Committee on plants, animals, food and feed (PAFF)-Section Biological Safety of the Food Chain, held in Brussels on 11 February 2019. This amendment, modifying the temperature profile to conduct challenge tests, has been unanimously adopted by the EU Member States. The amended version is available on the front page of the EURL Lm website, section Guidance documents.

Bertrand LOMBARD, as EURL Lm representative, has been invited by ECDC (Johanna TAKKINEN, on the picture, at new ECDC offices) to participate to the annual meeting of the microbiologists of the Food, Water-borne Disease and Zoonosis Network (6 February afternoon) and of the whole network (microbiologists from the national public health laboratories as well as epidemiologists from the national surveillance institutes, 7-8 February), see the programmes, enclosed. This meeting, very well organised by Johanna and her team, gathered around 100 participants and took place in Stockholm. I have listened interesting presentations, fruitful exchanges took place and Lm was given a prominent place with several presentations. This is only food-borne bacterium for whom a WGS-based surveillance has been settled.

We are pleased to announce you that Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/229 of 7 February 2019, amending EC Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, has been published on 8 February 2019. It modifies in particular: The Lm criteria for sprouted seeds: in the second indent of footnote 4 to criteria 1.1 and 1.3, the terms ‘excluding sprouted seeds,’ are deleted. The justification is given in recital (5): “Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 sets a food safety criterion for ‘Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods unable to support the growth of Listeria monocytogenes, other than those intended for infants and for special medical purposes’. In accordance with an opinion of the European Food Safety Authority of 15 November 2011, sprouted seeds support the growth of Listeria monocytogenes and should therefore be covered by the criterion for ready-to-eat foods able to support the growth of Listeria monocytogenes, other than those intended for infants and for special medical  purposes.” Article 5 on the conditions of validation/certification of alternative methods; Annex I: in the qualitative criteria on Lm (1.1, 1.2), the expression of the limit “absence in 25  g” is replaced by “not detected in 25g”, in accordance with the revised Standard method EN ISO 11290-1. As specified in Article 3 of this amendment, this Regulation shall enter into force on 28 February 2019. (the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 8 February 2019).

We are pleased to announce you that Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/229 of 7 February 2019, amending EC Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, has been published on 8 February 2019. It modifies in particular: Article 5 on the conditions of validation/certification of alternative methods; Reference methods in Annex II further to the EC Mandate to CEN. In particular, in criterion 1.21, the method to detect staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE) in dairy products: the “European screening method of the CRL for coagulase positive staphylococci” is replaced by the Standard EN ISO 19020. As specified in Article 3 of this amendment, this Regulation shall enter into force on 28 February 2019. (the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 8 February 2019).

October 2018, EURL Lm visited NWVA (associated NL-NRL for Lm, Wageningen, Netherlands) to disscuss and share skills in WGS analysis. We have performed the cluster analysis on a selection of a panel of 10 genomes with the in-house pipeline of the NVWA (Variant Discovery) and the Anses in-house pipeline (iVARCall2). A perfect correlation between the two in-house pipelines was observed.

Bertrand LOMBARD organised on 13 December the 2nd web-meeting of a working group preparing a guidance document on the organisation of proficiency tests (PTs) by NRLs for the national networks of official laboratories they coordinate. This EURLs working group is composed of representatives from EURLs Salmonella, Campylobacter, VTEC, Listeria monocytogenes and Coagulase Positive Staphylococci, The draft is based on a EURL Listeria monocytogenes document dealing with partial outsourcing of PTs organised by NRLs. The scope of the document being drafted is now wider. This document should be finalised in 2019 and will be circulated to the respective NRL networks for consultation.

This Joint scientific Conference on Foodborne pathogens and whole Genome Sequencing is organised in Paris from Tuesday 26 to Thursday 28 March by Anses (France) / BfR (Germany) / DTU Food (Denmark) / NIFDS (South Korea).   Fuelled by the reduction in the cost of sequencing and the exceptionally rapid development of algorithmic and calculation resources, the medical, agronomic and food sectors have been shaken by the genomic revolution. At the initiative of four national institutions for food safety and risk assessment in France, Denmark, Germany, and South Korea, this conference will bring together researchers, risk assessors and risk managers for an update on the impact on food safety that whole genome sequencing (WGS) approaches already have, and will continue to have in the near future. The scientific presentations will cover recent developments in the data-based WGS methods used in outbreak detection, investigation and epidemiological surveillance. The bioinformatics methods and platforms used to characterise foodborne pathogens and interpret phenotypic variations (e.g. virulence, antimicrobial resistance and persistence) will be presented, while refinement of quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) models with the implementation of new comprehensive genomic data will be discussed. In addition, the potential of metagenomics in the food safety field, with a special focus on virology, will also be addressed. A round table will close the meeting with representatives of major international public health institutions to discuss initiatives for the promotion of genomic approaches. Participation in the meeting is free of charge but requires prior registration. Link provided hereafter: website, programme and registration.

Bertrand LOMBARD organised on 13 December the 2nd web-meeting of a working group preparing a guidance document on the organisation of proficiency tests (PTs) by NRLs for the national networks of official laboratories they coordinate. This EURLs working group is composed of representatives from EURLs Salmonella, Campylobacter, VTEC, Listeria monocytogenes and Coagulase Positive Staphylococci, The draft is based on a EURL Listeria monocytogenes document dealing with partial outsourcing of PTs organised by NRLs. The scope of the document being drafted is now wider. This document should be finalised in 2019 and will be circulated to the respective NRL networks for consultation.