METROFOOD-RI is a new Research Infrastructure (ESFRI Domain "Health & Food") aimed at promoting metrology in food and nutrition constituted by an organised network of physical and electronic ...facilities allowing to perform cross-cutting research activities and deliver advanced services addressed to different categories of users: research/academy, food inspection and control agencies/policy makers, food business operators, consumers/citizens. Among the core-services of METROFOOD-RI, there is the development and production of new (certified) Reference Materials (RMs). The RI includes in fact - among its physical facilities - an integrated network of plants and laboratories specialised in the production and characterisation of new RMs for the agrifood sector. As further added value, thanks to its network of experimental fields, farms and pilot production plants, METROFOOD-RI is also able to produce the raw materials to be used for preparing the RMs themselves and therefore, so being able to realize customized RM perfectly meeting the user's needs. The capability of producing food matrix RMs has been recently tested during the "Early Phase" of METROFOOD-RI (H2020 INFRADEV-02-2016 PRO-METROFOOD, G.A. 739568), by implementing a specific pilot service dedicated to the development and characterization of new RMs of rice grains, rice flour and oyster tissue.
The European Union Reference Laboratory for Chemical Elements in Food of Animal Origin (EURL-CEFAO) is a proficiency testing (PT) provider accredited according to ISO Guide 43-1 and later to ISO/IEC ...17043:2010. It organizes exercises devoted to expert laboratories of the EU Member States. PTs are proposed taking into account matrices, analytes, maximum levels (MLs) ruled in Commission Regulation (EC) 1881/2006 (and following amendments) and discussions about new or modified MLs. Following this approach, an exercise was organized in 2012 on the measurement of the cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) mass fraction in powdered infant formula based on animal proteins (17th PT). One of the goals was to prepare a material containing Cd around the probable new ML so as to allow participants to test their performance at such a level. The procedure to produce the PT material was set on the basis of the EURL long experience in preparing freeze-dried samples and was tested on a preliminary batch. Homogeneity and stability of the PT material were evaluated through procedures based on international standards. For all tests, a standard deviation for proficiency assessment (
σ
pt
), more restrictive than that from the Horwitz equation (
σ
H
), was used. The mass fraction of Cd and Pb in the material was proven to be homogeneous and stable for 15 months. These results are extremely satisfactory taking into account the low mass fraction proposed and the restrictive standard deviation for proficiency assessment used to perform the tests. Furthermore, the PT was particularly useful considering that Commission Regulation (EC) 1881/2006 has been recently amended CR (EU) 488/2014 with the introduction of the new ML for Cd in infant formulas consistent with the mass fraction value proposed in the 17th PT.
This paper reports a feasibility study for the development of a
toner-Reference Material (RM). A test batch has been prepared from a unique lot of a commercial laser printer toner and has been ...submitted to morphological and chemical characterization. In addition the protocols to perform the bioassay tests have been developed. Morphological characterization has been performed by SEM analysis and chemical characterization by INAA, GC and ICP-AES. The genotoxic effect was evaluated by using the Ames test and the toner powder effects on cellular viability has been evaluated by measuring the metabolic conversion of a tetrazolium salt (WST-1) into formazan by mitochondrial dehydrogenases. Preliminary results show the possibility to prepare a
toner-RM to be certified for chemical composition, also providing reference and information values for the genotoxicity and cell viability effects. Also the preparation of
toner-RM in pellet form to be employed as
Single Use-RM turned out to be really feasible.
The compositional profile of olive oil is strictly connected to the raw material characteristics, nevertheless technological processes utilized to extract the oil fraction can deeply impact on its ...final chemical composition. Trace quantities of elements are naturally present in olive oil. To make objective and measurable food quality and traceability, it is necessary to develop analytical methods useful to detect contaminants potentially coming from any phases of the supply chain and define characteristic markers and patterns for the authenticity verification and origin demonstration. The objective of the paper is twofold: a) to verify the influence of the addition of cryogen (CO2,s), directly to olives during pre-milling phase, on the yield of the oil production; b) to develop specific analytical methods for evaluating the elemental profile of olive oil and to collect some preliminary data about the possibility to use these methods in order to put in evidence the possible influence of different process conditions on the olive oil elemental profile. The experimental evidences show as the addition of cryogen directly to the olives during pre-milling phase seem induce a general increase in the oil extraction yield, ranging from 2 to 12,4%. While preliminary results show a rather homogeneous elemental content among all the analyzed samples of olive oil, samples of olive oil obtained by the “traditional” process showed - in general - a higher content of Ca, Cr, Mg, Si and Zn, compared to those obtained by the addition of “carbonic snow”. The analytical methods for evaluating the olive oil elemental profile by ICP-AES and ICP-MS were set up and the methodologies for data processing and statistical analysis were developed, so they could be applied during the next crop season to study in depth the influence of different process conditions on the olive oil elemental profile.
The measurement of cell proliferation and cell viability has become a key technology in the life sciences. The need for sensitive, reliable, fast and easy methods has led to the development of ...several standard assays. These include the determination of DNA synthesis by measuring the amount of radioactive labeled nucleosides like 3H-thymidine incorporated in nucleic acid. Alternatively several tetrazolium salts, including MTT, XTT and MTS are usually used to assay cell proliferation and viability on microplate assays. Actually there is an immediate need for nanotoxicology the availability of rapid and inexpensive tools in order to carry out some preliminary test for nanomaterials and the aim of our work was to investigate on the feasibility of WST-1 assay for this purpose. In our aim we investigated the toxicity in term of cell proliferation of toner nanoparticles (5-50 nm) on human bladder carcinoma cell line RT112 by WST-1 assay and also to evaluate the feasibility to apply this method as tool for in vitro nanotoxicology studies. In order to relate the toxicity test results to the toner powder properties, chemical and physical-chemical analyses have been performed in parallel on the same batch sample.
Food integrity is a general term for sound, nutritive, healthy, tasty, safe, authentic, traceable, as well as ethically, safely, environment-friendly, and sustainably produced foods. In order to ...verify these properties, analytical methods with a higher degree of accuracy, sensitivity, standardization and harmonization and a harmonized system for their application in analytical laboratories are required. In this view, metrology offers the opportunity to achieve these goals. In this perspective article the current global challenges in food analysis and the principles of metrology to fill these gaps are presented. Therefore, the pan-European project METROFOOD-RI within the framework of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) was developed to establish a strategy to allow reliable and comparable analytical measurements in foods along the whole process line starting from primary producers until consumers and to make all data
according to the FAIR data principles. The initiative currently consists of 48 partners from 18 European Countries and concluded its "Early Phase" as research infrastructure by organizing its future structure and presenting a proof of concept by preparing, distributing and comprehensively analyzing three candidate Reference Materials (rice grain, rice flour, and oyster tissue) and establishing a system how to compile, process, and store the generated data and how to exchange, compare them and make them accessible in data bases.
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