Best Practices for Bioassay Testing of Food and other Complex Mixtures
Organized by AOAC Europe Section in conjunction with the 41st International Conference on Environmental & Food Monitoring (ISEAC-41)
Date and time: Monday 20 November 2023, 13:00 – 17:00
Place: Novotel Amsterdam City, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Registration: Please register through the ISEAC-41 platform. Participants to this workshop are not required to also participate to ISEAC-41.
The workshop is free of charge.
Want to provide input? Use this form.
The human population is exposed daily to diverse complex mixtures, such as food and food-related items, soil, water, and air. These mixtures may have the potential to cause detrimental effects on human health and the environment. Bioassays are used increasingly to assess the safety of complex mixtures; however, they are often validated for use with pure chemicals and are not appropriate for complex mixtures. There are fundamental questions that need to be addressed to avoid misinterpretations, such as what is actually being measured when assessing biological activity or activities. Despite the progress in research technologies, critical factors related to the accuracy and precision of biological testing are missing. Contributing factors to these gaps include the variety and diversity of complex mixtures derived from different sources and processes, inconsistency in sample preparation, availability of suitable extraction methods, lack of best laboratory practices, or guidelines for data analyses and interpretation.
The AOAC workshop will discuss the following topics:
- Importance of integrative disciplines in chemistry and biology to cover in vitro testing and sample preparation for complex mixtures.
- Need for methodology harmonization (from sample preparation and extraction to suitable biological assessment).
- Best practices for in vitro methodologies (e.g.; dose-response effect, quality criteria, validation and qualification requirements, reporting, historical control data, acceptability criteria).
- Selection/prioritization of biological targets.
- Need for development of standardized requirements and methods/workflows.
We would like to gauge interest in this topic and identify priorities for stakeholders. If you are interested in this topic and would like to provide input into the workshop development, help identify priorities and be included in future communication about this workshop, then please fill out this form.