RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety

Unparalleled focus on food safety at Wageningen University and Research Centre

Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR) is one of the few universities in Europe with the ability to offer education and research in all fields of food safety. This includes not only technical disciplines, such as microbiology and toxicology, but also the legal, economic and communication aspects of food safety. The Food Safety Program of Wageningen University was the first MSc in food safety worldwide. This program was designed in close cooperation with the European food industry, and includes a strong technical background in toxicology and microbiology, as well as in food law, food safety economics, risk management, risk analysis and communication.

Various research groups at Wageningen University are involved in education and fundamental research projects with respect to food safety. Application-oriented research in the field of food safety is carried out by the Agrotechnology & Food Sciences Group, which focuses on new technologies to maintain or improve food quality and safety while achieving cost-efficient and sustainable production. Another strong, application-focused resource here, is the RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety, which is the subject of this article.

RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety

Sample storage at RIKILT (Photo: RIKILT)

Risk-benefit assessments are also a subject of study. RIKILT supports several Dutch governmental authorities with analysis of food and feed products, early warning, advice and training. In addition, RIKILT works for the European Union, international governments, nongovernmental organizations, and private businesses.

Analytical capabilities

RIKILT is currently a National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for a variety of analytical domains, ensuring the quality and reliability of the official laboratories in the Netherlands. Examples of these NRL domains are: milk and milk products; residues in foods of animal origin; dioxins; mycotoxins in feed; and residues of pesticides in cereals and foods of animal origin. Within this framework, RIKILT has an extensive collection of reference materials and standard reagents and offers technical and scientific training courses.

DNA spotting in RIKILT laboratory (Photo: RIKILT)

RIKILT offers analytical services in which materials like meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk powder, sweets , bees, urine and feces are tested for compounds like dioxins, heavy metals, pesticides, mycotoxins, growth promoters, and processed animal proteins. Nowadays, the authenticity and identity of food products, such as organic or geographic origin, is important as well. A wide range of analytical methods is available, including modern profiling technologies such as nutrigenomics, toxicogenomics and metabolomics. Furthermore, new methods are being continuously developed.

Quick test for antibiotics

The large-scale use of antibiotics, especially in livestock, is a serious issue due to increasing antibiotic resistance of bacteria and with respect to residues that might appear in food. Recently, RIKILT, in collaboration with the Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Colloid Chemistry of Wageningen UR, developed a new, real-time test to detect several antibiotics simultaneously in food. This antibody-based sensor chip is suitable for use on location, and provides results in approximately 15 minutes. This biosensor principle will be further developed in order to obtain a complete "picture" of a food within a single measurement.

Research themes

An important research theme focuses on chemical contaminants in the food chain. These include environmental contaminants, radionuclides, natural toxins, process contaminants such as acrylamide and furans, agricultural additives such as pesticides, and veterinary drugs such as growth promoters and antibiotics. Another research theme is aimed at genetically modified

Extraction of samples (Photo: RIKILT)

organisms (GMOs), not only in relation to detection, identification and quantification, but also with respect to safety assessment. Last but not least, food bioactives are being studied. Food bioactives are naturally present in our food and may have an impact on our health. They are increasingly added to products, the so-called functional foods. Often, the question remains whether or not more is actually better. RIKILT investigates the metabolism and the mechanisms underlying the effects to gain insight into the potential positive and negative effects of these bioactives.

International cooperation is crucial

Many food safety issues require a broad, often international approach. RIKILT has formal alliances with several institutes abroad and cooperates intensively with international partners. RIKILT has been very successful in acquiring, coordinating, and carrying out major research projects. For example:

• RIKILT coordinated SAFE FOODS, a large project funded by the European Union's 6th Framework Program for Research and Technological Development, involving 37 research centers from Europe, Russia, South Africa and China. This project set out to investigate how food risk analysis could be refined to respond better to societal needs. SAFE FOODS launched a multidisciplinary investigation into consumer concerns, how food safety institutions are organized, how food safety issues should be prioritized efficiently, and how to use currently available tools in order to further develop the science of risk assessment, and to appropriately address consumer needs. Thus, natural sciences and social sciences were

  Specific labeling is essential (Photo: RIKILT)

  integrated through a series of research activities. It also became clear that the classical notion of food risk analysis needs to evolve. In one of the research lines, innovative techniques were applied to study how different cultivation methods (involving genetic modification, conventional cultivation methods, and organic cultivation) affect crop composition. In this project, potato and maize were studied. It turned out, for instance, that natural variation and location of agricultural production have a far greater influence on crop composition than genetic modification (Lehesranta et al., Plant Physiol. 2005; 138:1690-1699). New and improved tools could be useful in understanding food composition in greater detail (e.g. nutritional analysis) and could be used in risk-benefit assessments as well. A model was presented that allows quantification of the simultaneous distribution of the exposure to two compounds. As an example, the risk-benefit case of dioxins (as a health risk) and omega-3

  Sample preparation at RIKILT (Photo: RIKILT)

  fatty acids (as health-promoting substances), both present in fatty fish, has been studied. As a result, the optimal amount of consumption of fatty fish was derived (van der Voet et al., Food Chem Toxicol. 2007; 45:1496-1506). In another research line, SAFE FOODS identified specific and generic factors within and beyond the food production chain, which could be potential causes for emerging food safety hazards (Marvin & Kleter, Food Chem Toxicol. 2009; 47:911-914; Kleter & Marvin, Food Chem Toxicol. 2009; 47(5):1022-1039). Among other things, the impact of climate change in relation to food safety was explored. In addition, topics that are amenable to further research in this regard were also highlighted (Miraglia et al., Food Chem Toxicol. 2009; 47: 1009-1021). Exposure of vulnerable groups was taken into account by the consortium, as well. In this way, SAFE FOODS made important provisions for the future.
• Another example of RIKILT's international network is the GO-GLOBAL initiative, a project also funded by the EU's 6th framework program. This GO-GLOBAL initiative is an international forum for the exchange of information and opinions about emerging risks in the food and feed chain. Many organizations from 5 continents were dedicated to this overall objective: to tackle food safety problems effectively, at an early stage, and on a worldwide scale. The project aimed at promoting international cooperation on food safety issues between authorities, researchers and industry.
• Along this same line, the project SELAMAT, an EU-funded project meaning safety in the Malay language, was also coordinated by RIKILT. Eleven Asian and three European countries created an interactive network in which workshops and training programs were organized, and new research initiatives were started. After the formal end of this project, several participants decided to continue the collaboration at their own expense. New partners are welcome to join the consortium.

Contact Details:
Additional information about RIKILT and the above-mentioned projects can be found at the following websites:
www.rikilt.wur.nl/UK/
www.safefoods.nl
www.goglobalnetwork.eu
www.selamat.net

Dr. Robert van Gorcom

Furthermore, information can be obtained from: Dr. Robert van Gorcom, Business Unit Manager Safety & Health via email:
robert.vangorcom@wur.nl or telephone: +31 317 480273

Please check the following websites for further information on the activities of Wageningen UR with respect to food safety:
http://www.afsg.wur.nl/UK/
http://www.mfs.wur.nl/UK/