2023 AOAC SEA Newsletter 3 Summaries:

- Institutional Collaborations

- Conference News & Updates

The conference theme this year is Facilitating Compliance for Food Safety and Quality in International Trade. The Conference Co-organizer is the Institute of Drug Quality Control in Ho Chi Minh City (IDQC-HCMC).

IDQC-HCMC is one of the leading testing agencies directly under Vietnam’s Ministry of Health, with its functions of pre/post market surveillance of drugs, cosmetics, foods, and therapeutic goods. The Institute was also assigned by the Ministry of Health to direct the network of provincial testing centers from Da Nang to Ca Mau.

AOAC SEA was recently invited to collaborate with NYPi on its Food Technology & Innovation Program (under auspices of the Temasek Foundation) for senior leaders from the government food safety authorities of Vietnam.

The program is to share Singapore's experience in food safety and security, as well as the technologies and innovations to improve food safety.

Three AOAC SEA volunteer staffs participated in the program:

• Dr Huei Hong Lee, Emerging Issues Working Group Co-chair, delivered a presentation on PFAs everywhere - regulation review and current status in analysis method development.
• Dr Jing Tan, Capacity Building Working Group Chair, gave an overview of AOAC INTERNATIONAL programs that aim to enhance food safety standards and are relevant to the SEA region.
• Dr Qi Lin, Executive Committee member and Training of Young Scientists Working Group Chair, introduced the AOAC SEA Section, which serves as a bridge between AOAC INTERNATIONAL (based in the US) and the SEA region, as well as a vehicle to convene government, academia and industry sectors.

AOAC SEA will participate in the International Workshop on Laboratory Quality Standards Towards Global Competitiveness (23-25 May 2023) held by the Asia Pacific Food Analysis Network (APFAN) in partnership with the Philippine Department of Science and Technology's Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) and Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI).

The Asia Pacific Food Analysis Network was founded in 1989 and is a special project of the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (FACS). It aims to serve the needs of food analysts and thereby promote food quality and safety and good nutrition. The goal of the current APFAN project is to provide laboratories in the Asia Pacific region access to low-cost Proficiency Testing (PT) trials in order to assess their performance compared to their peers.

International Workshop on Laboratory Quality Standards Towards Global Competitiveness

Session 5: An Introduction to the Southeast Asia Section of AOAC INTERNATIONAL

• Dr Xinping Hou, AOAC SEA President, will introduce AOAC SEA and activities of the organization pushed forward by driven, talented volunteer scientists from industry, government, academia, and NGOs. She will also talk about the upcoming 2023 AOAC SEA 2nd Annual Conference in Ho Chi Minh City (1-2 Aug 2023).
• Dr Erik Konings, AOAC SEA Mentor and AOAC INTERNATIONAL Past-President, and Mr Darryl Sullivan, AOAC INTERNATIONAL Past-President, will talk about AOAC SPIFAN Codex Methods for Infant Formula and Adult Formula.
• Dr Annabelle V. Briones, AOAC SEA Harmonization of Methods Working Group Chair, will deliver a speech on The Need to Harmonize Test Methods on Food Safety Analysis among ASEAN Countries.

Mr Admer Rey C. Dablio, 2023 AOAC SEA 2nd Annual Conference MarCom Expert, will be the Session Moderator.

Ms Christine Eden Cortez Sevilla, 2023 AOAC SEA 2nd Annual Conference MarCom Expert, is in the organizing committee of the International Workshop.

AOAC SEA Section is pleased to announce the student poster competition to be held during the AOAC SEA 2nd Annual Conference (1-2 Aug 2023) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We will be supporting potential candidates with 12 Student Travel Awards to participate in the competition, and then giving 3 Best Poster Presentation Awards to the most outstanding ones. 

Works submitted should align with our conference theme on Facilitating Compliance for Food Safety and Quality in International Trade. Topics of the conference include various areas of food safety and analytical science, such as adulteration, contamination, microbiology, ingredients, bioactive substances, genetic modification and alternative proteins. Studies with relations to toxicity on human health or environment, with implications on trade, are also welcome.

DIAMOND SPONSORS

Merck

We appreciate the generous support of the 2023 AOAC SEA Conference Sponsors who help to bring the conference themed Facilitating Compliance for Food Safety and Quality in International Trade to the needed communities in the region, and thus serve AOAC SEA's mission in convening government, industry and academia to develop and validate standards, methods and technologies, and ensure the safety and integrity of foods and other products that impact public health.

THANK YOU!