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Report: Research Visit of Roland Poms at ESR, NZ

MoniQA Mobility and Exchange Programme 2010-2011 ICC (Austria) – ESR (New Zealand) MoniQA supported research visit of Dr. Roland Poms, ICC – International Association for Cereal Science and Technology, Austria at ESR - Institute of Environmental Science and Research, New Zealand

Submitted by Roland Poms, ICC, to Sian Astley and Paul Finglas, both IFR, on 21 December 2011

At ICC: Dr. Roland Ernest Poms, ICC Secretary General and Coordinator of MoniQA ICC Headquarters, International Association for Cereal Science and Technology, Marxergasse2, A-1030 Vienna, Austria Tel: +43 1 70772020, Fax: +43 1 70772040, Web: www.icc.or.at At ESR: Dr. Stephen On, Leader of Food Safety Programme, ESR - Institute of Environmental Science and Research, 27 Creyke Road, Ilam, 8041, New Zealand, Tel: +64 351 6019, Fax: +64 351 0010, Web: www.esr.cri.nz

Entrance to ESR in Christchurch, New Zealand: Olivier Vandenberg (Saint-Pierre University Hospital & Jules Bordet Institute, Belgium), Stephen On (ESR, New Zealand), and Roland Poms (ICC, Austria)

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1. Introduction I was granted a MoniQA-EC mobility grant to support a research visit to ESR – Institute for Environmental Science and Research, Christchurch, New Zealand, for the time 1 September 2010 – 31 May 2011. The research visit intensified the collaboration activities between the hosting (ESR) and sending (ICC) institutions and was intended for me personally to be able to concentrate on completing and refining MoniQA outputs. The original plan to focus on research work related to developing and validating a novel method for gluten-free analysis and the further development and validation of food allergen reference materials, was expanded during my visit to microbiological work in collaboration between ESR and various other MoniQA partners, refinement of MoniQA’s socio-economic impact assessment tool, and extending network activities to more institutions in the Asian-Pacific region as well as initiating new research collaborations and projects. In my functions as Coordinator of MoniQA, as Secretary General of ICC, and as affiliated staff at BOKU – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, I was able to tie into the research landscape of New Zealand and work as “ambassador” for BOKU, Austrian research facilities and EU/Asia-Pacific partners of MoniQA. These new contacts are anticipated to result in long term and sustainable research collaborations formalised by collaboration agreements and memberships in MoniQA Association. For me personally, my research visit was a great experience in terms of personal and professional development, improving my soft skills and actively contributing to research work at the laboratory bench. All this would not have been possible without changing position for a limited period of time and without being away from routine operations. Furthermore, ESR and New Zealand offered me a working environment and opportunities to connect with various research initiatives and institutions, which helped me to extent my professional network, increase impact and supported my career development by additional publishing opportunities and achieving a state professorship at BOKU – the University of Natural Resources and Life Science in Vienna, Austria, and a 5 year tenure as Special Professor at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China. I was accompanied by my family (my wife Ingrid, and my three children Rebecca *1998, Caleb *2000, and Hannah *2009), who also benefited immensely from our stay in Christchurch. The older children had the chance to achieve their grades at a New Zealand public school and in parallel earned all necessary credits for the Austrian curriculum/Grammar School by remote studies. Apart from the 22 February 2011 earthquake that cost 181 people’s lives in Christchurch, my family and I experienced over 6500 earthquakes in Christchurch during our stay and in our free time we supported ADRA - the Adventist Development and Relief Agency with earthquake response aid in the most affected areas of the city, which was a memorable and character building experience for the whole family. For my family this stay was pure education and opening new horizons.

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2. Summary of achievements/outputs related to my research visit to ESR 1. Gluten-free analysis – development/adaptation of a novel LC-MS-MS based method for

routine analysis 2. Design and preparation of Reference Materials for gluten-free analysis 3. Guideline for validation requirements for LC-MS-MS for food allergen analysis 4. Draft MoniQA validation study requirements and check list 5. MoniQA/FAPAS proficiency test: food allergen analysis for milk in bakery products and

infant formulae 6. Assessing impacts of chemical contaminants in foods and feedstuffs 7. Re-validation of Campylobacter species PCR tests 8. Attending seminars/workshops 9. Giving Presentations on MoniQA and specific MoniQA outputs 10. Organising an international workshop at ESR 11. Publications, Co-Editor in Chief of QAS – Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops &

Foods, reviewing manuscripts 12. Linking ESR with international initiatives and new research proposals 13. Report: My personal experience 3. Acknowledgements My special thanks go to MoniQA NoE and the European Commission for funding this research visit, to Sian Astley, Institute of Food Research (UK) as leader of the MoniQA Mobility Programme for her support, to ICC that gave me part-time out, to all MoniQA partners and colleagues that were involved in the research activities during the stay, Stephen On, ESR (New Zealand) and the whole team in Christchurch for their great collaboration, and of course my family who supported me constantly and who are extremely flexible, which makes such an exchange possible in the first place.

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4. Impact and mutual benefits ICC/ESR, EU/New Zealand Short term benefits for both Austria/EU and New Zealand are: 1) Demonstrating the close and very successful collaboration in the framework of the EU

funded FP6 Network of Excellence “MoniQA”, in which both ESR and ICC are partners, 2) Generation of valuable outputs with global impact in the areas of food allergen analysis,

chemical contaminants impact assessment and validation of microbiological methods, 3) Promoting the strengths of both organisations and countries in the area of food safety on

a global/international platform 4) Creating awareness and disseminating knowledge and achievements through various

publications in peer reviewed journals and through workshops and other dissemination events.

Long term benefits include 5) Involvement in other/new research collaborations, 6) Extending the network and expanding on existing expertise, 7) Attracting research funding from international, national, and third party sources, 8) Being known to the international research community as a trustworthy and scientifically

strong partner and \ 9) Having a reputation for delivering high standard research outputs.

For me personally my work experience at ESR and living in New Zealand has been a most

rewarding experience, where I could 10) Get acquainted with working practises in New Zealand, 11) Further development my professional skills in method development and validation, 12) Make new contacts in New Zealand and extend my professional and my private

networks, 13) Establish new collaborations and strengthen trust in individuals that I had previously

only contacted by email and phone, 14) Develop my professional career and achieve a state professorship in Austria through the

additional publications achieved here in New Zealand. 15) Last but not least my research visit here in New Zealand gave me and my family the

opportunity to explore the country, get to know new people, learn to appreciate the New Zealand culture and school system, and take back positive memories of a country far away from Europe geographically, but close in our minds and hearts.

For New Zealand and Austrtia/EU my research visit was important for the above reasons demonstrating the close and successful collaboration between EU and New Zealand, between ESR and ICC, but most of all the additional contacts and collaboration opportunities that my presence brought in by accessing the ICC/MoniQA/GHI/ISO/CEN etc. global networks and by my advising role for FP7 participation at ESR, Lincoln University, Massey University, Riddet Institute, and others.

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5. Project and activity Report in detail Food Allergen Analysis

1. Gluten-free analysis by a new LC-MS-MS based method One of the most promising new analytical approaches in food allergen analysis is the use of high-performance triple-quadruple Liquid Chromatograph – Mass Spectrometer (LC-MS) instrumentation. LC-MS offers the potential to provide both sensitive detection of allergenic source proteins or marker proteins and also identify key peptide fragments implicated in the allergic response or unique to the offending food commodity. At ESR, I advised and actively supported the food allergen team led by Peter Cressey in optimising an LC-MS-MS based method for gluten/gliadin analysis in various food products. Part of my work was in the laboratory, but most of it was planning and optimizing the experiments. After a first exploratory phase for published LC-MS allergen methods was found in the scientific literature, a potential candidate method to be optimised for routine high throughput analysis was selected. A published protocol (Sealey-Voyksnser et al. 2010) for gluten/gliadin-extraction and digestion as a necessary sample preparation for the subsequent LC-MS-MS analysis (looking at 6 transitions) was optimised and improved. Parameters for the LC-MS-MS analysis were also optimised by involving input from the MoniQA Food Allergen Working Group. In a second phase, sensitivity and specificity of the method was tested by analysing breads, food products and other real world samples. In a third step this method is being validated in-house and fine-tuned to serve as a routine method at ESR, partly replacing relatively expensive low throughput methods in the formation of ELISA or Lateral Flow Device test kits, and/or to confirm positive results obtained by employing screening methods. Currently a report is being compiled and a publication about the in-house validation of the newly adapted and optimised method shall be submitted for publication shortly. Besides my advising role in the optimisation phase of the protocol for extraction and validation of the new method/protocol, I 1) linked the group at ESR with experts in Europe, who are part of the MoniQA Network of Excellence (led by EuroFins-Germany and IFR-UK), 2) involved ESR in the international cluster on allergen analysis with LC-MS-MS (led by IFR-UK), 3) worked in ESR’s laboratory to optimize extraction and enzymatic digestion of samples for gluten-free analysis, 4) was involved in the planning, design and set-up of the experimental work.

LC-MS-MS method for specific peptides analysis of gluten/gliadin, a high throughput method and a candidate reference method, Peter Grounds, Darren Saunders, Roland Poms, Peter Cressey (all ESR)

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2. Design and preparation of Reference Materials for gluten-free analysis

Within MoniQA’s work programme, I was coordinating an international initiative to produce a global gluten standard, a Reference Material for gluten-free analysis. To reach global acceptance and to produce – ideally – a global standard I involved various international players around the globe in the design and development of the Reference Material: ICC, Health Canada, Agri-Food Canada, FARRP USA, National Measurement Institute Australia, and ESR-New Zealand, and linked to the European Prolamine Working Group and thus to national and international celiac societies. The plan was to source a range of wheat varieties in Europe, Canada, USA, Australia, and New Zealand, respectively, and produce 2010-blends for each region, which should allow any differences in protein content and composition arising from variety or region to be detected. Wheat flours will be characterized with respect to protein and gluten content as well as the ratio between glutelins and gliadins, and used to establish whether there are any differences between regions in respect of gluten/gliadin detection and quantification. Provided the differences are negligible, a single global blend will be created; otherwise the regional blends will be used. Wheat-/ rye-/ barley-free oats will be sourced in Canada and reference materials produced by blending these with low concentrations of wheat/ rye/ barley, and gluten-containing flours with gluten-free products, to create reference materials that take into account typical (gluten) food matrices and the Codex limits (20 ppm for “gluten-free”, 100 ppm for “low gluten”, no gluten in infant-formulae). As a first step, I worked on developing harmonised protocols for 1) sourcing representative wheat varieties in the various regions around the globe (in collaboration with Agri-Food Canada, Budapest Technical University-Hungary, BOKU-Vienna-Austria), 2) methods and parameters to best characterise the material, which shall be offered as flour (in collaboration with Max Ruebner Institute-Germany, Budapest-University-Hungary, Hacettepe University-Ankara-Turkey, ICC-Vienna-Austria, BIPEA-Paris-France), 3) milling technology and parameters (in collaboration with Agri-Food Canada, Max Ruebner Institute-Germany, Budapest-University-Hungary, ICC-Vienna-Austria, CamdenBRI-UK), and finally 4) production and packaging of the Reference Materials (in collaboration with the European Commission’s IRMM-Belgium). During my time at ESR I benefitted from ESR’s contacts here in New Zealand and Australia, to get input and source materials from this part of the world. Furthermore, additional links/collaborations could be established in New Zealand with Lincoln University in Lincoln, Massey University, the Riddet Institute and Fonterra Research Centre in Palmerston North to link/establish research cooperations between EU and New Zealand, where ESR provided a very useful platform.

3. Guideline for validation requirements for LC-MS-MS for food allergen analysis MoniQA is developing best practice guidelines for analysis of food allergens by mass spectrometry (MS). Currently, either immunological methods (e.g. ELISA) or PCR are used for detection but interest is increasing in the potential for MS in allergen detection and

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quantitation, particularly in complex mixtures and as an orthogonal method for validation of ELISA-based methods. A number of laboratories from the food industry, food analysis laboratories, regulatory agencies and academia are currently developing MS techniques. However, whilst best practice and validation criteria are relatively well established for ELISA methods, no such guidelines exist for MS detection of food proteins. A workshop held at IFR (UK) in September 2010, involving MoniQA and key stakeholders, established the current state-of the-art for allergen analysis by MS with the aim of developing best practice. A paper describing the outcomes of the workshop has been accepted for publication in the Journal of AOAC International. I was part of this working group and I have acted as link between ESR and the international community. Due to the activities at ESR, the group here in New Zealand will be more strongly involved in global harmonisation of methods for food allergen analysis and specifically using LC-MS-MS. Shared co-authorship of various papers is anticipated in the future.

4. Draft MoniQA validation study requirements and check list MoniQA manages international ring trials validating methods for regulatory and surveillance, supporting SDOs (Standardisation Organisations) around the globe, primarily CEN, ISO, and Codex Alimentarius. In principle, MoniQA validation studies/ring trials follow the requirements of the IUPAC/ AOAC/ ISO international protocol for collaborative trials. However, MoniQA protocols also take into account issues discussed recently at the Codex Alimentarius level, namely recovery, recovery correction, measurement uncertainty, etc. During my stay at ESR, I developed a short document stating the requirements for MoniQA validation studies, which are currently under revision by the international MoniQA consortium. This document may serve as guidelines for organisers and evaluators of ring trials within standardisation programmes. A practical guide for international ring trials and their statistical analysis are also in preparation. The aim is to harmonise protocols and procedures for method validation for better comparability of fidelity data, easier interpretation of statistical results, and an equal level of reliability of validation data. Due to my previous experience and my newly presented validation guideline I advised ESR on the validation of the newly developed protocol and method on gluten-free analysis by LC-MS-MS.

5. MoniQA/FAPAS proficiency test: food allergen analysis for milk in bakery products and infant formulae The MoniQA Working Group on food allergens has developed various incurred reference materials for milk and egg allergen analysis in foods. These materials have already been successfully validated in a large international inter-laboratory ring trial and are ready to be used in an international proficiency testing scheme, which I initiated and prepared in collaboration with FAPAS-UK. During my stay at ESR, I coordinated this activity and progressed with the negotiation with FAPAS on terms and conditions as well as technical

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issues. The detailed plan is still being elaborated and the start of the study is foreseen for the 2012, provided negotiations are concluded positively. This will offer ESR another opportunity to extend its allergen testing proficiency to other food allergens, where MoniQA partners provide the protocol and expertise. In return, ESR’s activities on technology transfer to a routine analysis for gluten-free will impact and be useful to other MoniQA consortium members. Chemical Contaminants and Socio-economic Impacts

6. Assessing impacts of chemical contaminants in foods and feedstuffs Chemical contaminants are unwanted chemicals in food and feedstuffs, and include pesticide and veterinary drug residues, fungal toxins (mycotoxins), illegal food ingredients, environmental contaminants and natural toxins. Defining cause and effect of exposure to a chemical is problematic, often exacerbated by the delay between exposure and onset of symptoms. The impact on society may be economic, environmental, social and. or political. The cost may range from a few thousand Euros, to meet the direct cost of compliance or monitoring analysis, to many millions of Euros for court prosecutions, bankruptcy, product disposal, food legislation, monitoring and surveillance, damage to brand or reputation of the product or country, decline in tourist income, or loss of life. Collaborating with ESR’s group on chemical contaminants and socio-economic impact assessment (Barbara Thomson, Peter Cressey, Richard Vannoort, Rob Lake), I either coordinated or contributed to topic related activities at ESR and facilitated the involvement of international experts in this field. Generated outputs through the collaboration between the ESR team and myself with contributions from the MoniQA consortium are:

Testing and further development of the MoniQA Socio-Economic Impact Assessment Toolbox (WP7)

Compilation of a list of major chemical contaminants incidents in food and feedstuffs and their economic, environmental, social and political impact. This list will be published in QAS – Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods (Joint ICC/MoniQA peer-reviewed scientific journal) and as a Wikipedia site, which can be kept up-to-date as incidents occur.

A workshop at ESR, Christchurch, 17-19 May 2011, bringing together experts from socio-economics and food safety assurance, will generate a robust and comprehensive assessment of such incidents, which will be useful for the food industry and food regulators as well as food scientists and consumer representatives, and enable better appreciation of the impact of chemical contamination of food and the importance of food safety monitoring. The organisation of the workshop is a close collaboration between ESR, ICC, MoniQA, FERA, University of Bologna, with ESR being the host and the local manager of the meeting. Microbiological Contaminants

7. Re-validation of Campylobacter species PCR tests ESR is the leader of a MoniQA re-validation of PCR-based test methods for determining Campylobacter species, which have experienced substantial taxonomic changes making identification, particular of newly-described Campylobacter species and sub-species, increasingly unreliable. Campylobacter spp. is a test case because taxonomy of these

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organisms changes constantly. There are many assays for C. jejuni, and good grounds to question their specificity and usefulness. This trial aims to provide a sound basis for improvements in procedures for harmonisation and standardisation of PCR-based tests. Purified DNA extracts from 25 strains, representing in particular newly-described Campylobacter spp. such as C. insulaenigrae, C. peloridis, C. volucris and C. lari subsp. concheus as well as a few well-studied positive controls (e.g., genome-sequenced C. jejuni subsp jejuni) have been included. The study is coordinated by Stephen On. I gave administrative and planning support to this project, helped design the ring trial, which will be ready for publication by the end of 2011.

8. Development and in-house validation of a novel Magnetic Capture–Multiplex PCR Assay for the Simultaneous Detection of Three Foodborne Pathogens I supported the work done at the Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, which is partner in MoniQA, to advisce on the experimental design and the publication of the development of a multiplex PCR and magnetic capture assay for E. coli O157: H7, Salmonella and Shigella, which turned out to be a very timely work, as the publication of the paper in QAS nearly co-incided with a major E. coli outbreak in Germany in May 2011 that killed some 50 people and left 4000 hospitalized. The aim of this study was to develop a DNA-based method for the simultaneous detection of E. coli O157: H7, Salmonella and Shigella in stool and food samples. In this study, a novel magnetic capture–multiplex PCR assay was developed and its potential to detect the target pathogens in stool and food samples (including chicken, cucumbers and cooked rice) was tested. The results showed that the magnetic particles (MPs) used in the study had a high capacity for bacterial adsorption. The pretreatment protocol, which included the pathogen concentration by MPs, was developed and the sensitivity of the assay was approximately 100 CFU/g in food and 1–10 CFUs per stool sample, following an enrichment step. The assay could be completed within 12 h, and was comparable in performance to conventional culture methods, which require several days to complete. In conclusion, the assay combines MP-based magnetic capture with multiplex PCR, and offers an efficient, rapid, sensitive and inexpensive alternative for the routine detection of foodborne pathogenic bacteria. This work was published in QAS recently as: Haojiang Zuo, Zhimei Xie, Xiaobei Ding, Weiwei Zhang, Jingyan Yang, Xuejun Fan, Roland Poms , Xiaofang Pei (2011). A novel Magnetic Capture–Multiplex PCR Assay for the Simultaneous Detection of Three Foodborne Pathogens, QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods 2011, 4, 212-220 Related outputs

9. Seminars/Workshops: During my visit to ESR I organised several international meetings in New Zealand, Europe and Asia. I participated in various meetings in New Zealand and gave presentations on my work and on opportunities for international collaboration funded by the European Commission and/or on bilateral basis between countries. Relevant events are listed below in the order of date:

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Food Ingredients Asia and PAPTI Conference, Jakarta, Indonesia, 28-30 September 2010 I participated at the international conference “Food Ingredients Asia and PAPTI Conference” in Jakarta, Indonesia. The conference focused on “Emerging issues and technological developments in foods and ingredients”, where I gave a speech on “Emerging food safety issues for foods and ingredients”. Research Collaboration Workshops at IPB, Bogor, Indonesia, 1 October 2010 A MoniQA sponsored workshop on future research collaborations between EU and the Asia-Pacific region was held at IPB in Bogor, Indonesia, where I gave an overview of new funding opportunities and calls for proposals within FP7. Joint ESR-JAAS-CCOA Workshop “New ways to control pathogens in foods” – Collaboration between New Zealand and China, Christchurch, 8-11 November 2010 As co-ordinator of the EU funded project MoniQA (www.moniqa.org) I was attending part of the joint ESR-JAAS-CCOA collaboration meeting, which took place at ESR 8-11 November 2011, and I contributed to the discussions on collaboration between ESR and the Chinese institutions (JAAS, CCOA) by bringing in the EU perspective and additional opportunities. It was through the MoniQA Network of Excellence that the first contacts and cooperation activities between ESR and CCOA were facilitated and the initial MoniQA driven MoU between ESR and CCOA is in the process of being extended to JAAS, and refined into concrete joint research activities. Some convergence in the purpose of this workshop and MoniQA was identified and the possibility of joint future co-operation apparent. ESR eConference, ESR New Zealand, 18 November 2010 I was an invited speaker at ESR’s eConference on 18 November 2010: MoniQA and its international food allergen activities MoniQA Governing Council Meeting, Brussels, Belgium, 23-24 November 2010 I chaired a MoniQA Governing Council Meeting which focused on the establishment of sustainable network activities of MoniQA and the foundation of an international association. Invited were all CEOs/Leaders of the 33 international core partners of the MoniQA Network of Excellence. MoniQA workshop on future use of MoniQA outputs in China and Asia-Pacific, Beijing, China, 27-28 November 2010 I organised a stakeholder meeting to present MoniQA outputs and collaboration opportunities in China and Asia-Pacific, by involving institutions from Europe, China, New Zealand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. Together with Anton Alldrick from CamdenBRI, United Kingdom, I gave various MoniQA output presentations and led the discussions with stakeholders.

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MoniQA Workshop on “Current issues in food safety and socio economic impacts of food regulations”, Bogor, Indonesia, 1-2 December 2010 I was co-organiser of a MoniQA workshop on “Current issues in food safety and socio economic impacts of food regulations”, Bogor, Indonesia, with lectures from Europe and Indonesia on linking research results with regulatory and industry applications. I gave lectures on MoniQA outputs and EU collaboration opportunities. Joint MoniQA-MycoRed Workshop “Capacity Building in Mycotoxin-Safe Food Trade”, Penang, Malaysia, 6-10 December 2010 Together with Hans van Egmond from RIKILT, I was co-organiser of a Capacity Building Workshop in Penang, Malaysia. Miles Thomas, FERA (UK), Anton Alldrick, CamdenBRI (UK), Maddalena Ragona, University of Bologna (IT), and myself, ICC (AT) were training about 30 delegates and prospective food inspectors from Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Iran, Egypt and Sudan, at the joint MoniQA-MycoRed workshop on “Mycotoxin-Safe Food Trade”, in Penang, Malaysia, 6-10 December 2010. 4th MoniQA Annual Meeting, Oslo, Norway, 14-18 February 2011 I attended and chaired the 4th MoniQA Annual Meeting, Oslo, Norway, 14-18 February 2011, which was intended to put the yearly EC report together and make the activity and financial plans for the final year of MoniQA NoE. ICC Governing Board Meeting, Vienna, Austria, 21-22 February 2011 I attended the yearly ICC Governing Board Meeting, in Vienna, Austria, 21-22 February 2011 and consulted the staff at the ICC HQ. International Dietary Protein Conference, Auckland, 27-30 March 2011 I attended the International Dietary Protein Conference in Auckland, 27-30 March 2011, to learn more about protein quality analysis and future challenges for food security (safety, nutrition, and quantity). I met with relevant experts from Health Canada, FAO, the Riddet Institute and Massey University.

IFRC – International Food Research Consortium Meeting, Auckland, 30 March – 1 April 2011 I attended and contributed to the IFRC – International Food Research Consortium Meeting in Auckland, 30 March – 1 April 2011, where more intense research collaborations between EU, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Australia were discussed. I introduced MoniQA to the participants and was substantially involved in structuring a planned conference in Toronto in September 2011 and the consortium’s website and defining of future goals.

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Joint MoniQA-ESR-ICC workshop on “Assessing Impacts of Chemical Contaminants in foods and Feedstuffs”, Christchurch, 17-19 May 2011 I coordinated the organisation of the Joint MoniQA-ESR-ICC workshop on “Assessing Impacts of Chemical Contaminants in foods and Feedstuffs” to be held at ESR in Christchurch, 17-19 May 2011, involving ESR, 3 EU MoniQA partners (ICC, UniBologna, FERA), and various institutions in Australia and New Zealand. Besides the workshop lectures and a practical course applying MoniQA’s Socio-economic Impact Assessment Tool Box to various case studies and actual incidents, the workshop is broadcast to various institutions in the Asian-Pacific region via video-conferencing and made available as video taken at ESR. The Workshop attracted some 30 participants onsite from New Zealand, Australia and EU, and additionally some 15 online participants in New Zealand and Thailand. Site visits and MoniQA presentations at institutions in New Zealand 2010-2011 I had the opportunity to visit Lincoln University (several times, different departments), Massey University, Fonterra Research Centre, NZ Agri Food, and to give lectures on MoniQA, ICC, food safety and quality, international food safety monitoring and surveillance, EU system of official control and RASFF, and collaboration opportunities between New Zealand and Europe, with special emphasis on FP7.

10. Publications During my time at ESR I continued working as Co-Editor in Chief of QAS – Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, finalised various publications, and acted as invited reviewer for manuscripts submitted to peer-reviewed international journals. Together with colleagues from ESR and in Europe I co-authored several manuscripts or was the main author of several publications as outcome of my research visit to ESR. The following list includes publications that either bear the publication date between 1 October 2010 and 31 May 2011 (my stay at ESR), or were submitted then, or were written up then or resulted from work achieved during my stay. Finalised/submitted/accepted/published papers

Peter Cressey, Darren Saunders, Peter Grounds, Roland Poms (2012). In house validation of an LC-MS-MS application for gluten-free analysis (in preparation)

Barbara Thomson, Roland Poms, Martin Rose (2011). Incidents and impacts of chemical contaminants in food and feeds, QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods (in print)

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Roland Poms, Xiaofang Pei, Daniel Spichtinger (2011). Food safety in the European Union

and China: the melamine case, EU-China Observer (in print)

Haojiang Zuo, Zhimei Xie, Xiaobei Ding, Weiwei Zhang, Jingyan Yang, Xuejun Fan, Roland Poms , Xiaofang Pei (2011). A novel Magnetic Capture–Multiplex PCR Assay for the Simultaneous Detection of Three Foodborne Pathogens, QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods 2011, 4, 212-220

Roland Ernest Poms and Hamit Koeksel: Advances in Food Safety in Turkey through MoniQA, Turkish Miller Magazine (2011), in print

Martin Rose, Roland Poms, Roy Macarthur, Bert Popping, Franz Ulberth (2011). What is the

best way to ensure that valid analytical methods are used for food control? QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, 2011, 3, 123-134

Roland Poms and Sian Astley (2011). MoniQA: an update of the EU funded Network of Excellence in 2011, QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, 2011, 2, 89-102

Phil E. Johnson, Sabine Baumgartner, Thomas Alldick, Conrad Bessant, Valeria Giosafatto, Julia Heick, Gianfranco Mamone, Gavin O’Connor, Roland Poms, Bert Popping, Andreas Reuter, Franz Ulberth, Andrew Watson, Linda Monaci and E.N. Clare Mills (2011). Current perspectives and recommendations for the development of mass spectrometry methods for the determination of allergens in foods. J. AOAC Int. (published online).

Monet Didier, Alldrick Anton, Bordier Marion, Bresson Hervé, Chokesajjawatee Nipa, Durand Noël, Ha Thanh Toan, Hak Sok Chea, Hariyadi Purwiyatno, Keeratipibul Suwimon, Leepipatpiboon Natchanun, Luong Hong Quang, Marvin Hans J.P., Medoc Jean-Michel, Moustier Paule, Nitisinprasert Sunee, Phan The Dong, Poms Roland, Prasertvit Saiyuod, Rakshit Sudip K., Ruangwises Suthep, Saletes Sloan, Selamat Jinap, Shamsudin Mad Nasir, Siriwatwechakul Wanwimol, Sparringa Roy A., Stouten Piet, Stroka Joerg, Taharnklaew Rutjawate, Tayaputch Nuansri, Tongpim Saowanit, Valyasevi Ruud, Vithayarungruangsri Jongkolnee, Future topics of common interest for EU and SEA partners in food quality, safety and traceability, QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, 2010, 4, 158-164

Dumont Valery, Sandra Kerbach, Roland Poms, Phil Johnson, Clare Mills, Bert Popping, Sandor Tömösközi, Philippe Delahaut, Development of milk and egg incurred reference materials for the validation of food allergen detection methods, QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, 2010, 4, 208-215 Co-Editor in Chief of QAS – Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods

Roland Poms: Editorial: The importance of scientific networks to handle outbreaks efficiently and effectively, QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, 2011, 4, 175

Roland Poms and Anton Alldrick: Editorial: MoniQA NoE becomes MoniQA Association – ICC’s new/old partner in QAS, QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, 2011, 2, 53

Roland Poms and Barbara Thomson: Editorial: Chemical contaminants and socio-economic impacts, QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, 2010, 4, 157

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Roland Poms: QAS Calendar of Events, QAS - Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, four times a year, 2009 to date Reviewing manuscripts Reviewing manuscripts: Journal of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Manuscript ID: ABC-02453-2010, Peanut allergen detection in chocolate and cookies from the European market by means of ELISA and real-time PCR, by Scravelli Elena et al. 2010

11. Linking ESR with international initiatives and new research proposals As coordinator of the EU funded MoniQA Network of Excellence, of which also ESR is core partner of, and in my function as work-package/task leader and/or scientific advisor in various international research projects, I supported ESR with new project proposals and with joining international research consortia. I made use of his well established contacts in the EU, North America, China, and South East Asia, to involve ESR in various research initiatives and collaborations. A few examples are given below:

Establishing links to the EU Embassy in NZ, to Lincoln University, Massey University in Auckland and Palmerston North, with several visits to Lincoln University, Massey University, and planned visits to Fonterra Research Centre in Palmerston North and the Sanitarium Health Foods Company in Christchurch

Involving ESR in the IFRC – International Food Research Consortium, which has partnerships around the globe including networks like MoniQA, EuroFir, NuGo, ICC, etc. The consortium is led by the University of Guelph in Canada and based on the AFMnet (Advance Food Materials Network funded by 50% Canadian Government/50% food industries).

Advising ESR staff and teams for EU, FP7 and project proposal submission matters.

Supporting EU coordinator search and direct EC consulting for new project proposals for ESR: FP7 call: KBBE-2011.1.3-03 European inter-professional network addressing zoonotic diseases transmitted via companion animals - finally resulted in partnership

Support to European Commission (EC) activities related to international co-operation with Australia- Canada-New Zealand and with the USA (KBBE.2011.4-02: Support) - finally dropped by Coordinator CNR

Involving ESR in KBBE.2011.3.6-01: Increasing the accessibility, usability and predictive capacities of bioinformatics tools for biotechnology applications - finally postponed by Coordinator University of Naples to one of the next calls

Supporting EU coordinator search and direct EC consulting for new project proposals for ESR: FP7 call: KBBE-2011.1.3-02 Development of field tests for rapid screening of pathologies as well as simple laboratory tests in animals - coordinator was not found

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Involving ESR and many other Asian-Pacific institutions in a proposal “Global Food Safety Research Initiative – GFSRI” under KBBE.2012.2.4-03: Strengthening cooperation for global food safety research, being a Cordination and Support Action – coordinated by ICC.

Linking ESR to international initiatives and facilitate main stream funding:

EU-FP7: Funding applications through EC-FP7 project proposals Through ICC as international association active in some 86 countries and its formal links to UNIDO, FAO, and 30 governmental departments worldwide, new funding opportunities might arise for New Zealand in the food security and food safety areas. Through the IFRC – International Food Research Consortium, this global network of networks a proposal to bid for inter-governmental funding (e.g. EU and Canada) and/or funding through foundations is in preparation. At this point New Zealand is represented in IFRC with various institutions (Riddet Institute, CRI Plant and Foods, Massey University). Through MoniQA Association: what started as an FP6 Network of Excellence, coordinated by ICC, has now become a legal entity and offers its current 33 core partners and 120 associated organisations (from 40 countries on 5 continents) a platform for close collaboration in the area of food safety assessment and assurance, and offer opportunities for new joint research proposals and access to national and international research funding schemes. Through my efforts at ESR it was an easy decision for ESR to join MoniQA Association as founder member. 6. My personal experience

i. Planning and negotiating My wish to diversify my skills and to work hands on on MoniQA related research was born about 18 months before the actual start of the research visit. Preliminary negotiation talks between Stephen On, ESR, and myself happened in January 2010 at the MoniQA Annual Meeting in Antalya, Turkey. From then on a structured approach was taken and I engaged in active negotiations with ICC (employer), MoniQA (management team and mobility programme), ESR (hosting institution), the New Zealand Embassy in Germany, and schools in Austria and New Zealand. It was not too hard to get the approval from my family to jointly “move” to New Zealand for a short period of time, as my wife, Ingrid, and my three children (Rebecca *1998, Caleb *2000, Hannah *2009) have had experience in foreign countries due to their extensive international travel schedule and their past residences in Belgium, Italy and the USA. New Zealand would offer them an English speaking environment to improve their language skills and their cultural enrichment, a safe society, a green and healthy environment, and a good school system. Negotiations with ICC were expectedly a lot tougher and culminated at the ICC Governing Committee Meeting in Pretoria, South Africa, 1-2 February 2010. A letter of intent and a an application for special leave had been submitted to the ICC President and the Chair of the Committee a few weeks in advance of the meeting. After tough negotiations with the Governing Board we agreed on terms and conditions for this special leave:

1) The research leave was to be strictly limited to the 8 months proposed. 2) A re-organisation of the ICC Headquarters needs to be led and monitored by me also

during the leave, and a new function of an Acting Deputy Secretary General of ICC was arranged for the time of my leave.

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3) ICC would grant me a 50% employment during my leave, of which 35% shall be used to continue coordination/management activities in MoniQA and 15% to act as CEO in ICC.

4) The other 50% working time can be covered by a grant or support by ESR, but shall not affect ICC.

An official letter by the ICC President and terms and conditions for my leave were signed by me and the respective individuals in ICC. The first signature was received by 14 February 2010, the detailed negotiations with the ICC Governing Committee and ICC Headquarters staff were completed in August 2010. To receive a financial support from the EU funded MoniQA Network of Excellence, I applied for a mobility grant for 8 months through the MoniQA Bursary and Exchange Programme led by Sian Astley from IFR, UK. This application included the aims and goals, a financial plan, expected outputs and some requirements to be met by myself at the end of the leave, including this final report. I appreciated the support from MoniQA which included also travel support for my family. I received an agreement signed by Sian Astley and Paul Finglas, both from IFR and WP2/3 leaders in MoniQA by 4 August 2011. Together with Stephen On from ESR, I submitted an application to work at ESR as international grant holder, which included a description of the proposed work, a financial plan, and a summary of mutual benefits for ESR and ICC, for New Zealand and Austria/EU. The principle ok was received soon after the application, the details were evaluated by the Royal Research Foundation, mainly to grant ESR some additional support to host me at their institution. I was happy with the arrangement that no bench fees or any other costs for working at ESR shall be billed to me nor to MoniQA. Applying for a school place for Rebecca and Caleb in a public or private high school or equivalent in New Zealand for the period of 8 months was easier and more straightforward than we had thought. I searched on the internet for a school in Christchurch, for us it was also important that the school has an additional focus on character development, and I enrolled Rebecca and Caleb at CAS – Christchurch Adventist School in the district of Papanui. At the same time we also negotiated with the Austrian Grammar School Rebecca and Caleb were attending in Wiener Neustadt, a bilingual high school, where all subjects are taught by English and German native speakers in parallel, how an extended leave of 8 months could be managed without losing out on an educational year. Applications to the head of school and the district authorities resulted in a positive permission at the end of the Austrian school year in June 2010. Rebecca and Caleb would be present for three weeks each at the beginning of the 2010/11 school year and then again at the end of the same school year with sitting the year’s exams for all 12 subjects in June and July 2011. During our stay in New Zealand they would get online support from school colleagues and the teachers via email/skype/websites. My kids were familiar with this approach as they had passed external education exams before during their elementary school years when they were “home schooled” in a private small school initiative. Once we had all the working contracts and the confirmation of acceptance at the school, I concentrated on visas, travel arrangements, passports, shipments, accommodation in Christchurch, etc.

ii. Getting ready Professionally and scientifically I wanted to get most out of my research visit in New Zealand - a relative short stay to achieve a major scientific breakthrough. My goal was to get more proficient in the use and understanding of the LC-MS-MS methodology, especially when applied to protein analysis and in particular for allergen analysis in foods. I have worked on allergen analysis for the last 10 years, mostly with PCR, ELISA, and Dipstick assays. To get

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a profound introduction in LC-MS-MS methods for allergen analysis, I visited IFA-Tulln and attended several introductory hands-on short courses on LC-MS-MS in BOKU’s Christian Doppler Laboratory for Food Allergens given by Sabine Baumgärtner, I attended a MoniQA training course on LC-MS-MS at the Institute for Food Research in Norwich, UK, in September 2010, just prior to my departure to New Zealand. Most challenging was the re-organisation at the ICC Headquarters with planning, discussing with the ICC GC (Governing Committee), and staff. This took a few months to arrange and had to sustain the confidence of our clients and our members that the proposed scheme could work to the benefit of ICC. For me personally this was a chance to re-organise the Headquarters in a way that we would have a more efficient team upon my return with more individual responsibility. It turned out that this was a nice plan and unfortunately wishful thinking. Getting the correct visas was also quite a challenge, because we got contradicting information from various sides. In the end we did not have our visas, nor our passports in our hands, a week before our travel date. It requires some patience and serenity to keep watch and wait until two days before departure, when we finally received our passports by registered mail showing student visas for Rebecca and Caleb, short term resident visas from my wife and Hannah, and a working visa for myself. ESR was really helpful in making suggestions for accommodation in Christchurch. They sent us links to various apartments and houses in Christchurch and surrounding. Our intention was to live in a house with garden, outside the city center, affordable and not too far away from school and work. I remember that one apartment which was the most favorably recommended by ESR was in the city centre of Christchurch, which turned out to have been destroyed in the 22 February 2011 earthquake. We decided for a house and garden in Halswell, one of the Southern suburbs of Christchurch – the house stood up in all 6500 earthquakes that we experienced during our stay in Christchurch.

6 June 2011: GeoNet has reported 27 earthquakes around the wider Canterbury region over the last 24 hours. Last shake #7030 was Magnitude 3.3 (III) at 4.77 km at 5:45pm, about 1 hr 40 mins ago, 100 meters from *89 Fountains Rd, Halswell 8025, New Zealand

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We managed to convince my brother Christian to move into our Austrian house during our stay and only cover the fixed costs and in return for a free rent take care of our home. Making the most out of every moment in life and combining activities, using opportunities and synergies is my philosophy, and thus my family was not really surprised when I planned a little detour on our way to New Zealand via Indonesia, where I would lecture at the “Food Ingredients Asia and PAPTI Conference, Jakarta, Indonesia, 28-30 September 2010”, where I gave a speech on “Emerging food safety issues for foods and ingredients”, and give a seminar on “Research Collaboration at IPB, Bogor, Indonesia, 1 October 2010”. In 2010 my family and I crossed the equator 6 times.

iii. The move We started our trip to New Zealand in Vienna, on 27 September 2010, going via Frankfurt and Singapore to Jakarta, where colleagues from IPB, MoniQA partners, had arranged all local travel, accommodation and family entertainment, while I was working at the conference and at the Research Center in Bogor. On 3 October we flew from Jakarta via Singapore to Christchurch, where Stephen On and a mini van were expecting us and taking us to our new home. The welcome in Halswell, Christchurch, started with instructions what to do in earthquake, as the fear of aftershocks was still apparent after the first ever recorded strong quake in Christchurch on 4 September 2010, which should only be the beginning of many thousands more tremors. Within a few hours in New Zealand we had bought a car, a cot, and other baby necessities…all offered by the welcome committee. Another welcome item surprised us in the first night in our new home with a 5.1 earthquake, which was a very new experience to us and my family was standing under the door post with pale faces – the only time they had pale faces though. Some more travel was planned during my research leave in New Zealand, some MoniQA relevant travel was scheduled related to my role as MoniQA Coordinator and Speaker. This travel was combined with a visit to the ICC Headquarters to consult ICC staff involved in MoniQA and general ICC business. 1) Move to Christchurch (combined with a MoniQA presentation at the Indonesian MoniQA partner site at an international conference): 27/28 September 2010: Vienna-Jakarta 29 September - 2 October 2010: Bagor University MoniQA partner site visit/MoniQA workshop preparation for 1+2 December 2010/presentation at International Conference/stop-over with family 3/4 October 2010: Jakarta-Christchurch 2) First trip: MoniQA Workshops/Conference contributions and GC meeting: 23/24 November 2010: Christchurch-Vienna/Brussels for MoniQA GC Meeting in Brussels 27/28 November 2010: Brussels/Vienna-Beijing together with Anton Alldrick for MoniQA/PNDC funded participation and presentation at Chinese Nutrition Forum in collaboration with CCOA, the MoniQA Asian-Pacific Co-coordinator 30 November 2010: Beijing-Jakarta 1+2 December 2010: MoniQA workshop on food allergen management and socio-economic impact together with Miles Thomas, Anton Alldrick, Maddalena Ragona, at MoniQA partner site Bagor University for MoniQA training and promotion to industries and policy makers 3 December 2010: Jakarta-Penang, Malaysia

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6-10 December 2010: Joint MoniQA-MycoRed Workshop “Train the trainer for food inspectors”, Miles Thomas, Anton Alldrick, Maddalena Ragona, and Roland Poms are invited speakers and trainers for 8 December 2010 9/10 December 2010: Penang-Christchurch 3) Second trip: ICC and MoniQA meetings in Europe: 13/14 February 2011: Christchurch-Vienna/Oslo 14-18 February 2011: 4th MoniQA Annual Meeting, Norway or Finland, 21-22 February 2011: ICC Governing Board Meeting, Vienna, Austria, and visit to ICC HQ for MoniQA staff consultancy 28 February-1 March 2011MoniQA Governing Council Meeting, Brussels 2-3 February 2011: MoniQA at European Parliament for Food Integrity Conference and FP6 Project Impact dissemination Early return on 1 March 2011 due to Christchurch earthquake and Dr. Poms’ family residing in Christchurch at that time, the following trips were cancelled: 4 March 2011: IAM Meeting 2011, Budapest, Hungary, 6 March 2011: Joint IAM/MoniQA Workshop for Codex Alimentarius (CCMAS) 7/8 March 2011: Vienna-Christchurch 4) Food Protein Conference and Project meeting in Auckland, NZ 26/27 March 2011: Christchurch-Auckland 28/29 March 2011: Protein Conference in Auckland hosted by the Riddet Institute and co-organised with FAO and WHO. 31 March 2011: Project meeting of International Food Research Collaboration 1/2 April 2011: Auckland-Christchurch 5) Cooperation Meetings at Fronterra Research Center, Massey University, and Riddet Institute in Palmerston North, NZ 5 May 2011: Christchurch-Palmerston North 5 May 2011: Site visit and EU FP6/7 MoniQA presentation at Fronterra Research Center 6 May 2011: Site visit at Massey University, EU FP6/7 MoniQA presentation at Riddet Institute 6 May 2011: Palmerston North-Christchurch 5) Moving back: 31 May/1 June 2011: Christchurch-Vienna

iv. My new workplace: ESR ESR staff and administration was most helpful in arranging my work place and to getting me integrated into the New Zealand social system. I had my own office, which became later my boss’s office, Stephen On’s, after I had left. I got access to all office infra-structure, the intra-net and the library at ESR. With every new start of an activity there would be some-one to introduce and train me. With a chip-key that could be programmed for special access areas, I was also assigned a laboratory work place. Being used to longer working days I did indeed stay longer than 4 or 5 pm, when most staff left to go home, and I managed to be seized by the police twice due to setting off an alarm after 7 pm. I was integrated in the food allergen team consisting of

Stephen On, my temporary boss Peter Cressey, allergen group leader and ICC contact at ESR Peter Grounds, LC-MS-MS specialist and gluten analysis

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Darren , senior laboratory technician, method optimization Later my direct collaborations were extended to

Craig Houston, lab manager, workshop sponsoring programme, dissemination Barbara Thomson, chemical contaminants and socio-economic impact paper and

workshop, climate change, During my 8 months ESR I got to know most of the 60 employees at ESR personally, I worked together with about 30 of them in one or the other project/activity, and I was always seen as one of them, never as a sole visitor.

v. Progress and achievements I went to New Zealand with an agenda and open mind to cover anything that would come along, as long as my primary goal to support the completion of several MoniQA outputs, extend my publication record and to do actual research work in the laboratory and thus acquire more expertise in the use of LC-MS-MS methods was assured. Overall I am happy with the achievements during my stay and the outputs generated, however, the actual items that I focused on where quite different to the ones that had been planned originally. So, I only worked very little in the laboratory, as it turned out that there was need to support other MoniQA related activities and/or other research and networking agendas at ESR. This offered new opportunities and definitely helped my professional and personal development. The extra outputs earned me several titles as professor in Austria and in China, and helped me extend my professional network and create trust. Besides the excellent contacts within ESR in Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland, I could establish new contacts at various universities and governmental research centers in various parts and on both islands of New Zealand. These contacts helped facilitate new collaborations beyond the NZ boarders in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region, such as Australia, Thailand, and China. Which seemed to work really well during the first half of my stay, turned out to be a real challenge after my return to Christchurch after my second trip to the EU in February 2010: the ratio of working hours at ESR and working from home for ICC and MoniQA. Due to a badly prepared MoniQA Annual Meeting in Aas in mid February 2011 – because of time pressures, ICC (my responsibility) and RTDS had not consulted the Management Board for important decisions for the DoW for P5 concerning planned activities, new outputs and related finances, which led to a lot of misunderstandings and dissatisfaction concerning the distribution of funds in P5 – tough negotiations followed between February and May 2011, which involved numerous telephone conferences with European partners, ICC and RTDS averaging about 3 hours of additional work between 9 and 12 pm three night a week. I had chosen New Zealand also for its 12 hours time difference to really escape routine business – this wish had gone South very quickly. An additional complication was Marcella’s premature maternity leave due to a complication which forced her to stay home virtually most of the time between the end of February to mid May 2011. She was ICC’s project manager working on MoniQA administration and Acting Deputy Secretary General in my absence. Due to this (leaderless) situation and some unexpected turmoil at the ICC Headquarters I was urged to consult with staff members and ICC Governing Board members frequently – again at New Zealand night time – to soothe personal and existential concerns that arose due to lack of communication between management and staff. At the end of these challenging three months I was not too thrilled to return to my “old life”.

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vi. The cultural, family and social experience For me and my family it was a unique cultural experience to live in New Zealand. Familiarity with the language helped us to associate with locals and to be integrated socially in no time. The New Zealander, nicely nick named “kiwi”, impressed us for his/her simplicity and ignorance against any “unnecessary formalities”, both in a very positive sense. Compared to our own cultural background, kiwi life is simple in a sense that people in NZ are satisfied with a good standard of living but do not see the need to strive for the utmost, the best, the most expensive. Even my boss in NZ drove an 18 year old no-name car, considering that the average age of a car in NZ is 14 years that is not an exception. At conference it is not a rarity that speakers appear in shorts, I was the only one wearing a tie – just on my first day of work and never again! Outputs are not any less high quality, vice versas things do not take any longer than in Europe, but along the way there a New Zealander can enjoy the beach, surfing, mountain climbing or any other thrill seeking activity, while a European stays stuck in discussion on the how, who, why….before starting to generate an output. Our social network development started even before we had arrived in New Zealand. Apart from Stephen On (coming from the UK himself), I was not aware of knowing any other kiwis. Our network building started with the helpful hands at ESR, the school CAS, the church…When we arrived the responsible person for the house that we rented, John, was voluntarily supporting by helping us to buy a decent 18 year old car which did us a great job, and other appliances and items that we needed for this short stay. He enquired about our well being regularly throughout the stay. By sending our kids to school at CAS we got to know so many other parents and often school mates of Rebecca and Caleb stayed with us or they stayed at their friends’ house. After four weekends we found our favourite church that we kept attending for the rest of our stay, where we continue maintaining good contacts and where we were involved and integrated in the community by actively participating in performances for festivities, my playing the clarinet in the orchestra and accompanying the band, the kids being involved in pathfinders, etc. Personally, then as a couple my wife and I and later with kids, we have lived in the UK, Switzerland, USA, Italy, Belgium, several places in Austria and finally in New Zealand – but no place was as accommodating as New Zealand.

vii. The earthquake(s) Even though New Zealand is known for its frequent earthquakes and tsunamis, Christchurch and the region of Canterbury had been considered as safe, because it is located some 150 km away from the main fault. All this changed only weeks before we left to go to New Zealand: on 4 September 2010 a 7.2 quake hit Christchurch and surprised everyone. Luckily, no human life was lost, but severe damage was recorded. Many of our family members and friends tried to convince us, not to leave the safe haven of central Europe, but we did – being aware of the risks (?). We were indeed welcomed by a very strong aftershock on our arrival on 4 October 2010, when a 5.1 hit Halswell, where we had just move in. Our faces were pale and we trembles more than the earth…but this should only be the beginning. In total we experienced some 6500 earthquakes during our 8 months’ stay in Christchurch, and we did get used to them somewhat. However, everything was very different on 22 February 2011, when a 6,3 hit the city center of Christchurch, which left Christchurch devastated and 181 people dead.

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Christchurch shaken at 1:05 pm on 22 February 2011, strength: 6.3, picture taken from the Port Hills near Lytellton. I was in Europe at a meeting at that time leaving my family in Christchurch. From my diary I read: 22 February 2011 “I was really tired when I went to bed. And I slept well, but not for long and I thought I had missed some phone calls. At around five in the morning I got up, checked my text messages and read: 2011-02-22, 1:16: I think we just had our predicted earthquake! And it does not want to stop shaking! Scary! Hannah and me are ok. Have not heard from the kids yet. 2011-02-22, 2:17: It was six point three and more damage than the last. I am on the way to pick up kids. Hope they are ok too. Love 2011-02-22, 4:26: Kids are ok too. No worries!” I was glad that I received all three short messages at the same time, because later that day I got a lot of phone calls and emails from everywhere in the world asking how we were. As a matter of fact the Austrian Embassy registered us among the “missing”. Despite the fears and the personal fates of many of our friends – only one person known to me was killed, but about 20 families known to us lost their houses – we appreciated the experience. Such a disaster brought the best (and the worst) out of people and the societal change in Christchurch was felt in every aspect of life. One example was: tourists that lost access to their hotels were gathered in the central park of town, they were offered free accommodation by locals – everyone found a place. 10,000 students helped dig out the houses that had been covered in 30-50 cm of mud that usually turns into “concrete” once dry, due to the strong liquefaction. My family and I supported ADRA – Adventist Development and Relief Agency that had build up a caravan and a water supply on a church premise (the church was also destroyed) to help people with warm food, psychological help, first aid and hygiene products, and a place to meet in the most affected area of the earthquake. Caleb, Rebecca and I volunteered every Tuesday afternoon and evening and we cooked and served up to 180 meals and listened to the

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people’s sorrows. This experience was character building for the whole family and it gave self confidence to our youngsters that despite their young age they could help. ADRA Aranui Project: serving 180 meals every morning and evening out of a caravan. Rebecca and Caleb Poms acting as cook, waiter, and lending an ear to the needy. ADRA Aranui Project: serving 180 meals every morning and evening out of a caravan. Rebecca, Caleb and Roland Poms volunteered every Tuesday for the evening meals between end of February and mid April 2011. On right: probably the only birthday surprise for this local boy. I have never learned more about any item in my life in such an impressive and short period of time than about earthquakes, building codes and life saving measures, than during the time of the disaster relief in Christchurch and then later in Japan. ESR set a really good example of passing on information, being sympathetic with people under stress due to the lack of sleep for weeks and months, helping out in teams to dig out and clean up the company and private homes after each major aftershock, supporting with professional psychological help offered for free, invited experts, architects, insurers, medical personnel….all to ease the challenging situation. Personally, I took part in all training courses offered through ESR and I tried to support any activities organized by ESR or our church. After our return to Austria we could build on our experience. Rebecca and I have been invited at several occasions to give presentations on earthquakes, survival tricks, and personal testimonies.

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viii. New skills acquired

Better understanding and practical application of LC-MS-MS based methods Applications of LC-MS-MS methods for food allergen analysis and associated specific

challenges in extraction and preservation of samples Function and use of magnetic particles for capturing microbes in complex food and blood

matrices Tools and conventions to measure the value of human life and assess impacts on societies Understanding and applying tools to assess socio-economic impacts of food safety

incidents Improving my language skills (English, and a little more of Chinese) Using various online and analogue media for data transfer and video conferencing Earthquake and disaster relief measures and coordination

ix. The future My stay in New Zealand let me achieve several goals that will influence my future plans and my career in ICC, at BOKU and other universities, in my family and personal life (see items below), they made me familiar with a new part of the world and let the world grow again smaller for me, made me part of New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region which has become a second home for me. I will be back and seek close collaboration with this part of the world and I will try to link activities between Europe and the Asia-Pacific region as well and as often as I can. Achievements connected to my stay in New Zealand and having major impact on my future development: New members for MoniQA Association in the Asia-Pacific region High personal impact and MoniQA and ICC impact concerning food safety issues in Asia-

Pacific region Consultant for EU project proposals and communications in various countries of the Asia-

Pacific region including China, Thailand, Indonesia, New Zealand Active involvement of various institutions of the Asia-Pacific region in current and future

EU and UNO calls for project proposals Several planned follow up visits in the Asia-Pacific region A re-structured ICC Headquarters An amended vision 2020 of ICC and changed priorities in the Asia-Pacific region Honorary Professor at BOKU – University of Natural Resources and Life Science Vienna,

Austria (meeting stringent requirements on teaching activities, publication record, science and innovation and internationally linking the university), approved in December 2011.

Special Professor at SCU – Sichuan University, Chengdu, China for 2011-2015 Vice-Chair of the Academy of Public Health Laboratories, China Associate Editor of the Journal of Modern Preventive Medicine, China Preferred speaker in Southeast Asia and China Invited presenter and promoter of ADRA and earthquake related topics Flexibility of my family members to do something like that again No fear of the unknown Best marks of my children in both of the New Zealand and Austrian schools

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Accommodating attitude of all family members to different cultures, societies, backgrounds, personal histories

Positive European identity Appreciation of the EU

x. At the end - any regrets? I would do it again - any time! This was a life time experience and maybe a once in a life time chance to combine professional and personal interest in a family friendly manner and a perfect environment. “…committed to international cooperation through the dissemination of knowledge, conducting research, and developing standard methods that contribute to improved food quality, food safety and food security for the health and well-being of all people.” Taken from the ICC mission statement.

Vienna, 21 December 2011

Dr. Roland Ernest Poms ICC Secretary General/CEO www.icc.or.at Coordinator of MoniQA www.moniqa.org Co-Editor in Chief of QAS www.icc.or.at/journal/qas ICC Headquarters, Marxergasse 2, A-1030 Vienna, Austria Tel: +43 1 70772020, Fax: +43 1 70772040, Email: roland.poms@icc.or.at