Recommendation To Create AOAC Community

To Address Food Contaminant and Residue Issues

At the AOAC Board of Directors meeting on December 11-12, 2006 (Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA), members of the Methods Committee on Residues and Related Topics (Committee G), as well as a cross section of other AOAC members, recommended that the Board of Directors establish a new community that will represent and address the increasing needs of stakeholders interested in analysis of chemical contaminants and residues in foods. Spearheaded by Jo Marie Cook and Steve Capar (Secretary and Chair of Committee G, respectively), it is hoped that processes can be put in place for the 121st AOAC Annual Meeting and Exposition in Anaheim, California, USA (September 16-20, 2007).

“In creating the new group, our goal is to provide a much needed forum for food scientists to engage stakeholders, identify related method needs and set priorities,” said Cook, Chief, Bureau of Chemical Residue Laboratories, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. “Without this forum, it is challenging for the food contaminant and residue committees to address the needs of the greater community and successfully collaborate quality methods that are of the greatest need.”

The function of the proposed group, called the AOAC Community on Chemical Contaminants & Residues in Food is to engage and represent the community of all stakeholders involved with, or affected by, the analysis of chemical contaminants and residues in food from international, federal, and state governments, academia, industry, business, and trade associations to identify, by consensus, the most needed methodologies requiring development and validation.

“It is our hope that the work of the proposed group will provide a forum for new ideas, a source of new methods, and a process for reaching broad consensus on new methods offered for collaborative study,” Cook said. “This group could potentially be an essential resource for all food-related committees.”

In support of the recommendation, a letter of request and terms of reference, as well as a document of justification for the proposed group, was also presented to the AOAC Board of Directors. Stay tuned for future articles providing updates on the outcome of the recommendation and more in-depth coverage of Committee G’s effort to establish a new group that represents a greater community of stakeholders interested in the analysis of trace level chemicals in foods to develop the very best and most needed methods.