1st International IUPAC Symposium on Trace
Elements in Food, 9-11 October 2000, Warsaw, Poland
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This first Symposium on Trace Elements in Food was initiated by
the IUPAC Commission on Food (VI.5) and organized by the Polish
Academy of Sciences, the Warsaw University of Technology, the Polish
Food Technologist’s Society, and the Institute of Agriculture
and Food Biotechnology. The Symposium, whose Organizing Committee
was chaired by Prof. Barbara Szteke, attracted 128 participants
from 27 countries.
 |
| Organizing committee of the 1st
International IUPAC Symposium on Trace Elements in Food, left
to right: Prof. Maciej Jarosz, Warsaw University of Technology;
Prod. Ewa Bulska, Warsaw University of Technology; Prof. Barbara
Szteke, Institute of Agricultural and Food Biotechnology; Dr.
Renata Jedrzejczak, Institute of Agricultural and Food Biotechnology;
and Prod. Adam Hulanicki, Warsaw University. |
The program featured 16 plenary and invited papers, which were
supplemented by an additional 10 selected oral presentations. There
were also 52 posters, with an accompanying small scientific manufacturers
exhibition. The truly interdisciplinary nature of the symposium
can be seen from the program, which covered sources and translocation
of trace elements in the trophic chain; trace elements in food (occurrence
and function); interaction of trace elements with other compounds
(toxicological and nutritional aspects); trace element speciation
in food and its implications for human health; advances in methods
for analyzing trace elements in food matrices; and quality assurance
and reference materials for the analysis of trace elements in food.
Of particular note among the presentations were those that provided
an insight into areas of future development, for example, tackling
the question of how far we are today and where we are going with
international legislation on trace elements as contaminants in food.
The extent to which the uptake of Cu, Se, Zn, Ni, Mo, and Cr fulfils
dietary needs was assessed with respect to the Austrian diet. The
use of stable isotopes to determine bioavailability of trace elements
was assessed, as was speciation of trace elements in terms of what
we presently know and what we need to know for the future. Finally,
the important area of measurement in food was discussed from a metrology
viewpoint, as was the question of traceability in food measurements.
The proceedings of the symposium, edited by Prof. Szteke and including
the oral contributions, will be published before the end of 2001
as a Special Issue of Food Additives and Contaminants.
The Commission on Food (VI.5) will be disbanded by the time of
the next symposium, owing to the upcoming restructuring of IUPAC.
It is hoped, however, that the success of this first symposium will
lead to a second symposium, which probably will be hosted by the
Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) in Geel,
Belgium in 2003.
Prof. John Gilbert
Chairman, IUPAC Commission on Food (VI.5)
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food
Central Science Laboratory
Sand Hutton, York, England, UK
