NMKL is arranging:
Courses in the Evaluation of Results from Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) within chemical analysis of foods (read more)

New NMKL methods:
No. 173, 2002: ASH, gravimetric determination in foods
No. 174, 2002: SHIGELLA  SPP. PCR method for detection in foods.

NMKL would like to thank...

Information from NMKL

The 56th Annual Meeting of NMKL on Åland 24^th - 27^th of August 2002

Available NMKL procedures:

Back to the top

No. 173, 2002: ASH, gravimetric determination in foods.

This method was elaborated and collaboratively tested by Cand. pharm. Arne Højgård Jensen, Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, Regional Veterinary and Food Control Authority, Århus, Denmark.

14 nordic laboratories participated in the testing, which included 7 foods (green beans, semi-skimmed milk, fromage frais, tuna, rye bread, wheat bran and salami) with ash contents of between 0.45 - 5.25 g/100 g. Thus, this method is suitable for ash contents higher than 0.45 g /100 g.

The method is intended for the determination of ash content in foods for use when calculating their energy content.

The principle of this method is that the sample is ashed to constant weight in a muffle kiln at 550 °C. If necessary, samples are dried prior to ashing.

Back to the top

No 174, 2002: SHIGELLA SPP. PCR method for detection in foods.

Cand. pharm. Christian Fermér and Associated Professor Roland Lindqvist in the National Food Administration of Sweden drew up this method. Christian Fermér organized the collaborative method performance study.

The method is suitable for the detection of Shigella bacteria in food, and has been validated for the detection of Sh. flexneri and Sh. sonnei in prawns, iceberg lettuce and blue cheese. The method has been validated twice with 11 and 9 participating laboratories respectively.

The method detects Shigella bacteria both with and without the virulence plasmid. The presence of Shigella bacteria is qualitatively determined, and the method has a sensitivity of 0.2 - 40 cfu per gram of sample (5 - 1000 cfu per 25 grams of sample).

The sample is analysed with PCR after preparation. The used primers target a gene, ipaH, located both on the bacterial chromosome and on the virulence plasmid. This sequence is considered specific for Shigella bacteria and enteroinvasive E. coli  (EIEC).

Back to the top

NMKL would like to thank Arne Højgård Jensen, Christian Fermér and Roland Lindqvist and their institutes, for their considerable efforts in elaborating and arranging the collaborative studies.  NMKL would also like to thank all the participating laboratories, as well as the NMKL contacts for their valuable comments and input.

Back to the top

Institutes arranging proficiency testing schemes on foods open to all, are hereby encouraged to inform the general secretariat of NMKL about their web page. This will enable us to create links from NMKL’s home page to these activities, which are of great interest to all laboratories.

Would you like to subscribe to the NMKL Newsletter?

An NMKL subscription is still only NOK 500, and includes all the methods published by NMKL annually, i. e.  6 methods or more.
The subscription does not include procedures and reports.

How about a new chronological index for the method binders?

Tip: Open the NMKL home page and under Publications, find and print the chronological publication index.

NMKL are considering offering courses on the following topics in 2003:
Control of microbiological substrates 
Sampling - "educating" inspectors

In the Autumn of 2003 (week 41) NMKL will, in co-operation with The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Denmark, host the following seminar:

New Instrumental Analytical Methods and Data Analysis in Food Quality Control

The seminar will be held at The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark.

Back to the top

The 56th Annual Meeting of NMKL on Åland 24^th - 27^th of August 2002

The Finnish National Committee of NMKL invited NMKL members to hold their 56th Annual Meeting in Mariehamn on the island of Åland. The annual meeting gathers the NMKL members, consisting of 60 selected experts within analysis of food from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The members represent food control authorities, the food industry and different research institutes dealing with food analyses. Every country has its own national committee with a chairperson, secretary and members. All members put a lot of work into developing methods and contributing to their collaborative validation. A lot of the work is done after ordinary working hours, and with great commitment and enthusiasm. This can also be seen through the annual meetings, which are held in conjunction with weekends. The picture below shows the chairpersons of the 5 NMKL national committees.

From the left (rear): Associate Professor Tone Normann Asp (Norwegian chairperson), Managing Director Ole Bjørn Jensen (Danish chairman and chairman of NMKL), Laboratory manager Franklín Georgsson (Icelandic chairman).
From the left (front): Special planner Harriet Wallin (Finnish chairperson and also hosting the 56th annual meeting), Laboratory manager Ulla Edberg (Swedish chairperson and acting chairperson of NMKL during parts of the meeting)

The meeting covers all of the topics in the NMKL working programme, currently counting 57 topics, 41 methodical topics and 16 projects within microbiological, chemical and sensorial topics. A list of all the topics and their locations in the NMKL system - the NMKL working programme - is available on the NMKL home page: www.nmkl.org. Most of the work at the annual meetings is performed in the relevant committees, lead by the chairpersons/acting chairperson of the sub committees, Dr. Maija Hatakka, Senior Scientist Marit Rødbotten and Professor Kåre Julshamn.

Chairperson of  Sub Committee 2: Microbiological topics: Dr. Maija Hatakka, National Food Administration, Finland	Chairman of  Sub Committee 3: Chemical topics: Professor Kåre Julshamn, Institute of Nutrition, Directorate of Fisheries , Norway	Acting Chairperson of  Sub Committee 4: Sensorial topics: Senior Scientist Marit Rødbotten, Matforsk, Norway

Administrative matters are treated in Sub Committee 1, lead by chairman of NMKL, Ole Bjørn Jensen. The chairman of NMKL could not attend the whole of this year’s annual meeting. In his absence, Ulla Edberg acted as chairperson.

The annual meetings are also a very important arena for discussing relevant analytical problems and for network building.

Information from NMKL’s own officials, as well as from invited representatives of NMKL’s main cooperating partners, is another important element of the annual meeting. The following work groups in EK-Livs (The Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Food Issues) were represented: NNK (Nordic work group for food control), NKE (Nordic work group for food and nutritional issues), NNM (Nordic work group for food microbiology and risk assessment) and NNT (Nordic food group for toxicology and risk assessment). Furthermore, reports were presented from the work of the European standardisation organisation within food research (CEN/TC 275), in which NMKL is involved in all of the work groups. This year too, representatives from AOAC International/AOAC Research Insitute and IDF (International Dairy Federation) spoke of their organisations’ activities, and took an active part in the work performed during the meeting.

Invited guests  (from the left): Scott Coates, AOAC International/AOAC RI and Gudmund Bråthen, IDF.

Back to the top

Available NMKL procedures:

Back to the top

Copyright © NMKL.  Med enerett.
Revidert: 28 september 2005 .