INTRODUCTION

Safety Enhancement of Edible Products, Legislation, Analysis and Management with    ASEM countries, by mutual training and research (SELAMAT), is a project of  EU, conceived by the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) partners, following a workshop in Malaysia on food safety in 2002. The aim of SELAMAT is to create a network for international cooperation on food safety issues between Europe and ASEM countries. The network has identified three research topics linked to ensuring liberal trade: the impact of food on health, the traceability of detecting contaminants. One of  SELAMAT program is to organize seminar which is subsidisied by the European Commision in the 6th framework program. In this seminar, SELAMAT discusses about aflatoxins. Aflatoxins are the most commonly found  mycotoxins in cereals which are the major source of carbohydrate in Asian countries. The toxins are a family of related bisfuranocoumarine compounds which include 14 known aflatoxins such as aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, and G2.
The toxins have been linked to mycotoxicoses in both human and animals and cause serious health problem. Aflatoxins, produced by toxigenic Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus, are also the most toxic and potent carcinogen of all mycotoxins.  Production of aflatoxin is supported by warm temperature which is typical for most Asian countries. Toxin production is usually facilitated when drying of the food is not carried out in short time, during storage, and is even reported during plant’s growth in the field.Aflatoxins have been found in cereals, particularly maize from various countries in Asia. In addition to cereals, aflatoxins have also been detected in groundnuts, beans, copra, etc. Presence of aflatoxin in food had hampered production of quality food products and caused economic losses.  Management of aflatoxin has to start from the farm, since the toxin can not be eliminated with normal food processing technology.  Appropriate technology during harvesting, storage, handling and production can help minimizing the risk of aflatoxin contamination in food.

Who Should attend

The seminar is important for government officials, academia and industry to learn aflatoxin risk assessment and appropriate management to control the problem. Number of participants will be limited to maximum of 200.

Call for Poster

Poster related to aflatoxins, mycotoxins and other food safety issues are welcome. participants wishing to present a poster should indicate in the registration form and send an abstract (350-400 words, which include sufficient information on the background, objectives, methodology, results and conclusion) no later than may 30, 2008. to the secretariate. Poster should be made on poster paper 80 cm x 100 cm in size and will be displayed throughout the seminar,

Call for Exhibition

In line with the seminar's objective, the committee welcomes food industry, especially manufacturer and supplier of equipment, laboratory equipment and chemicals, analysis tools, textbooks, etc. to demonstrate any progress and new development in the area of aflatoxin analysis, control and management.  Please contact Virna, SEAFAST Center at 0251-629903 Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for further information.

Agenda