Salicylic Acid in Foods. Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis. (NMKL method No. 3, 3. ed. 1999)

Salmonella. Detection in Foods. (NMKL method No. 71, 5.ed. 1999)

Escherichia coli O157. Detection in Food and Feeding Stuffs. (NMKL method No. 164, 1999)

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More than 60 participants, guests inclusive, attended the NMKL’s 53^rd annual meeting which was held in beautiful surroundings in Kirkjubæjarklaustur, Iceland, 21-24 August.

The Icelandic National Committee of NMKL had laid the scene for an excellent meeting both socially and technically. The members of NMKL were working hard through an extensive and comprehensive program.

Sunday was devoted to exploring Iceland’s magnificent scenery. The Environment and Food Agency invited on a guided tour to the glacier Vatnajøkull and a tour over lava areas on a tractor-trailer. Other social events were sponsored by "Miljöministeriet" and "Osta- og smjörsalan sf".

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NMKL appreciate input and comments on NMKL’s newsletter and on NMKL’s working programme.

Hilde Skaar Norli, National Veterinary Institute, Dept. of Food and Feed Hygiene, P.O. Box 8156, N-0033 OSLO, Norway
Tel: +47 64 87 00 46
Fax: +47 64 87 08 07
E-mail: nmkl@online.no

Secretary Nina Bakkelund, National Veterinary Institute, P.O.Box 8156, Dep., N-0033 OSLO, NORWAY
Tel: +47 22 59 73 09
Fax: + 47 22 59 74 75
E-mail: nina.bakkelund@vetinst.no

Ole Bjorn Jensen, SCANPHARM A/S, Topstykket 12, DK-3460 BIRKEROD, Denmark 
Tel: +45 45 82 20 22
Fax: +45 45 82 30 33
E-mail: obj@scanpharm.dk

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• Determination of pH in foods

New microbiological topics:
Campylobacter in drinking water

Revision of the following methods:

• No. 125, 1996, 3^rd. Ed.: Coliform bacteria, thermotolerant. Enumeration in foods.
• No. 96, 1997, 2^nd.Ed.: Bacteriological examination of fresh and frozen seafood.
• No. 150, 1995, 2^nd. Ed.: Aeromonas species, motile. Determination in foods.
• No. 137, 1990: Bacterial count. Determination by direct epifluorescent filter technique (DEFT) in raw minced meat.
• No. 44, 1995, 4^th. Ed.: Coliform bacteria. Detection in foods.
• No. 98, 1995, 3^rd. Ed.: Mould and yeast. Determination in foods.
• No. 152, 1995: Toxin-producing Pencillium verrucosum. Determination in food and feeding stuffs.

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Revision of the following methods:

• No. 127, 1988: Hydroxyproline. Colorimetric determination as a measure of collagen in meat and meat products.
• No. 131, 1989: Fat. Determination according to SBR in meat and meat products.

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Collaborative studies in progress:

• PCR method for detection of Shigella in foods.
• Escherichia coli O157. Determination in food and feed stuffs.
• Campylobacter jejuni/coli. Detection in foods. (Rev NMKL No 119, 1990)
• Water activity. Instrumental determination by Novasina electronic hygrometer and aqua-lab dew point instrument.
• Solids. Determination in foods.
• Harmonization of NMKL's methods for determination of ashes.
• Ergosterol. Wet chemical method for determination in grain.
• Mercury (Hg). Determination by cold vapor or FIA, AAS both after wet digestion in microwave oven.

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• Enterobacteriaceae. Determination in foods. (Rev. NMKL No 144, 1992)
• Salmonella. Detection in foods. (Rev. NMKL No 71, 1991)
• Escherichia coli O157. Determination in food and feeding stuffs.
• Nitrate and nitrite. LC determination in meat products.
• Cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). Determination in foods.
• Salicylic acid. Qualitative and quantitative determination in foods. (NMKL No. 3, 1968)

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NordVal - a Nordic system for validation of alternative microbiological methods

An increasing number of food related diseases caused by classical as well as new microorganisms is the reason why the consumers, the government and the food industry has enhanced the focus on food safety. This has contributed to an increasing market of sophisticated instruments and commercial test kits to provide reliable and fast analytical results, which is essential in the production and trading of food.

This was the reason for the establishment of DanVal, whose main objective was to validate the quality and scope of microbiological rapid methods used in the public food control and in approved control laboratories within Denmark.

DanVal has been effective for 4 years and has been discussed from time to time in NMKL. An increasing interest for alternative methods within the Nordic countries combined with the principal decision within NMKL to not include proprietary methods on its working program, resulted in a recommendation to the Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Food Issues (EK-Livs) to support the expansion of DanVal to a Nordic system (NordVal).

Spring 1999 EK-LIVS supported the establishment of NordVal with the aim to validate alternative microbiological methods for use within the analysis of food, water, feed and environmental samples in the Nordic countries. NordVal has then on the basis of a drafted CEN standard elaborated a NordVal validation protocol.

NordVal will start up on the 1^st of January 2000, and from that day the request forms can be provided from the NordVal secretariat.

Each of the Nordic countries has appointed a member into the executive committee of NordVal.

Sven Qvist, (chairman), Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, Denmark

Maja Hatakka, National Food Administration, Finland

Franklín Georgsson, The Environment and Food Agency, Iceland

Hilde Kruse, National Veterinary Institute, Norway

Per Norberg, National Food Administration, Sweden

Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, Mørkhøj Bygade 19, DK-2860 Søborg, DENMARK

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NMKL procedure No. 6: "General guidelines in quality assurance for sensory laboratories"

and NMKL report No. 8: "Guideline in quality assurance for chemical food laboratories"

NMKL report No. 17, "Harmonization report"

The Harmonization report is meant for the referees, contact persons and members of NMKL’s subcommittee 2 that are involved in elaboration of microbiological NMKL methods.

Are you involved in elaborating NMKL microbiological methods and have not received the report, or you want the Finnish version, please contact the secretariat of NMKL, preferably on the following e-mail address: nmkl@vetinst.no

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New NMKL method for detection of Escherichia coli O157 in food and feeding stuffs.

The detection of E. coli O157 includes selective enrichment for 6-8 hours and/or 18-24 hours followed by immunomagnetic separation of E. coli O157 and plating of the separated culture on selective solid substrates.

Please note that enrichment can be either 6-8 hours or 18-24 hours, depending on the expected microbial contamination of the food sample.

NMKL gives thanks to the referees Søren Aabo and Bodil Jacobsen, Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, for the elaboration of the method.

National Food Administration, Sweden, will arrange a collaborative method performance study of this method. Since the method is requested and also very much needed, the method will be published before it is validated collaboratively.

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New revised NMKL method for qualitative and quantitative analysis salicylic acid in foods.

An editorial revision of NMKL method No. 3 from 1968 was performed to harmonize and update the method. Among other things Normality is replaced by Molarity, which will affect the calculations.

The method is elaborated and described for analysis of different kinds of foodstuff. The sample is extracted in acid solution with ethyl ether, and ferric chloride is added. When salicylic acid is present a violet color complex is produced. In the quantitative analysis the salicylic acid is determined spectrophotometrically by measur-ing the same violet color complex.

The method is revised by the Secretary General.

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New validated NMKL method for determination of Salmonella in foods (NMKL No. 71, 5. ed. 1999).

This revised NMKL method is compared with ISO 6579:1993 in a collaborative validation with 13 participating laboratories. No statistical significance could be stated. The NMKL method is qualitative and can be use to detect Salmonella in all kinds of foodstuff.

The most important changes with respect to the former edition are the following:

Pre-enrichment shall normally be performed within 20 hours. Some minor changes and new groups of foodstuffs have been included in the section "Pre-enrichment – certain foods". The enrichment broth (RV) has been modified and the new medium is called Rappaport-Vassiliadis soy peptone (RVS). The enrichment time in RVS broth might be extended to 48 hours. It is also pointed out the importance of using only RVS-media with correct magnesium chloride concentration and the exact enrichment incubation tempera-ture. In this edition two streak outs shall be performed on two different selective plates – one obligatory, xylose lysine desoxy-cholate (XLD) and one optional selective plate.

NMKL gives special thanks to the referee Christer Wiberg, National Food Administration, Sweden, for elaborating the method and for the extensive work with the collaborative method perform-ance study.

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Section 2. Määritelmät , which starts with "Sulfiittia pelkistävillä klostrideilla", is replaced with:

"Rikkivetyä muodostavilla bakteereilla tarkoitetaan tässä yhteydessä pilaajabakteereita, jotka muodostavat mustia pesäkkeitä rauta-agarilla"

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No. 1: Performance check and in-house calibration of analytical balances. (1995)

No. 2: Performance check and in-house calibration of thermometers. (1995)

No. 3: Control charts and control materials in internal quality control in food chemical laboratories. (1996)

No. 4: Validation of chemical analytical methods. (1996)

No. 5: Estimation and expression of measurement uncertainty in chemical analysis. (1997)

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