Jo Marie Cook Secretary,
AOAC Committee G
3125 Conner Blvd. Lab #3
Tallahassee, FL 32309
cookj@doacs.state.fl.us


 

 

“Chemical Contaminants & Residues in Food Community”

 

ISSUES & NEEDS
Given the complexity of the Chemical Contaminants & Residues in Foods Community ranging from pesticides and antibiotics to metals and radionuclides, the needs, method priorities, and scientific expertise may differ somewhat for each discipline. However, the community has identified issues and needs that cut across all areas.

  • Need for Validating New Methods
    New methods are needed to address emerging safety concerns including antibiotics in imported seafood, residues of newly registered pesticides, industrial chemicals and persistent organic pollutants.  New methods are needed that screen for multiple analytes and multiple classes of chemicals in a single analysis.   Single Laboratory Validation and Peer-Verified MethodsSM are needed to meet the immediate needs of the community in a timely manner.
  • Need to Employ Innovation
    New methods are needed that utilize state-of-the art instrumentation and nano-technology.   New methods are needed that provide better answers at lower levels with superior selectivity in less time.  Confidence in the applicability of these methods to the communities’ varying needs depends on carefully carried out and reviewed validations.   Acceptance of these methods across regulatory communities depends on the verifiable lab-to-lab performance demonstrated by a collaborative study.
  • Need for More Sensitive Methods
    Regulators evaluating data to determine risk and determine safe residue levels for regulatory purposes need accurate and precise measurements of a wide range of chemistries at part-per-billion levels and lower.   Statistical evaluations of this data depend heavily on the performance measures obtained through inter-laboratory collaborations.
  • Need for More Selective Methods
    Officials taking regulatory actions that must withstand the legal scrutiny must have methods that comply with the most stringent of analytical standards.  Advances in mass spectrometry enable chemists to quantitate and assure the identity of analytes in a single analysis, yet few of these methods have undergone multilaboratory validation.
  • Need for Confidence in Analytical Results
    In countries from around the world, government entities at every level, need reliable analytical methods to make science-based decisions and trust each other’s data.   The food industry and its world-wide distribution network need analytical methods that assure their products will meet their standards of quality and the expectations of their intended market.  Method priorities need to be determined, acceptance criteria defined, and the methods that meet defined criteria need to be collaboratively studied to provide a level of confidence acceptable to governments and industry.
  • Need for Internationally Recognized Methods
    Companies doing business internationally need analytical methods that are accepted worldwide to facilitate trade.  Harmonization with ISO and CODEX criteria is essential to the success for these methods.
  • Need for Reliable Analytical Methods as Part of Emergency Preparedness
    When analytical methods are needed to test for chemical analytes in an emergency situation, laboratories must often react by using in-house or unproven methods in response to those emergencies. Long term planning and a systematic approach of setting method priority areas, finding best methods, and validating these methods will enable laboratories to respond more effectively in emergency situations.