This course will provide insights on the role and importance of metrology for food safety, quality and competitiveness and will be divided into 2 parts: an introductory part covering the key concepts on the impact and importance of metrology in the food sector, and a second technical session directed towards the applicability of metrology in food.

 FIRST PART: 

The first part of the course will be covering key 3 main pillars as follows:

1. Metrology in the Food Value Chain: Ensuring Quality, Safety, and Competitiveness

Food metrology plays a critical role at every step of the supply chain—from raw material sourcing and industrial processing to packaging and final consumption. Reliable chemical, physical, and biological measurements underpin the modern agri-food industry.

• Food Safety & Public Health: Accurate measurement methods ensure that chemical contaminants, processing residues, and migrated substances remain strictly within legal limits set by regulatory authorities.
• Industrial Competitiveness & Trade: Comparable and traceable testing minimizes trade barriers, resolves cross-border disputes, and prevents costly product recalls caused by false positives or inaccurate testing.
• Quality Assurance: Standardised measurement ensures consumers receive safe, high-quality, and authentic products.

2. The European Infrastructure for Food Metrology (EMN Food)

To ensure that measurements across Europe are comparable, reliable, and traceable to international standards (SI units), EURAMET established the European Metrology Network for Safe and Sustainable Food (EMN Food).

EMN Food acts as the central nucleus bringing together National Metrology Institutes (NMIs), European Reference Laboratories (EURLs), National Reference Laboratories (NRLs), and official food control bodies. By developing certified Matrix Reference Materials (CRMs), offering specialized training, and coordinating research initiatives under the EU Green Deal and Farm-to-Fork strategy, EMN Food strengthens the European food safety framework.

3. Real-World Case Study: Analytical Challenges & The ScreenFood Solution

The first part of the course, will end focusing on a prime example of modern food metrology challenges is the measurement of Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons (MOSH) and Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons (MOAH). These contaminants originate from machine lubricants, food processing equipment, and migration from paper-based or recycled packaging.

• The Metrological Challenge: MOSH and MOAH are extremely complex, non-resolved chemical mixtures rather than single compounds. Standard analytical methods suffer from severe interference issues, baseline integration inconsistencies, and high measurement uncertainty, leading to poor interlaboratory comparability.
• The ScreenFood Solution: The European project ScreenFood (Metrology for food safety in the circular economy, www.screenfood.eu) directly addresses these hurdles. ScreenFood works to establish robust, harmonized analytical protocols (improving standards like ISO/DIS 20122) and produce reference materials for challenging food matrices and recycled packaging. By validating advanced separation techniques (such as LC-GC and GC×GC) and developing reliable screening workflows, ScreenFood bridges the gap between complex research and practical, harmonized laboratory routines

 SECOND PART: 

Food metrology into practice – Advances, challenges and opportunities in determination of contamination of foods with mineral oils.

1. Short introduction to European food regulatory framework and the relevance of metrology:

• Concept of Maximum permitted levels of contaminants in foods
• Role National Food Authorities
• Role of Risk assessment and Risk management.
• Role EURL/NRL Network (European Union Reference Laboratory and National References Laboratories) – Proficiency testing and Quality Assurance.

2. Short introduction to Chromatographic Interpretation

• The concept of chromatography as separation technique and what is a chromatogram.
• Basics of interpretation of a chromatogram as single compounds
• Example of identification and quantification of a contaminant in food from regulatory perspective.

3. Introduction to multi-dimensional chromatography (challenges transitioning from chromatographic separations when separation of individual signals is possible and when it is not), including explanatory introduction to the concepts of LC, GC, LC-GC, of GC×GC.

4. Multidimensional chromatography as food metrology tool - Advances, challenges and opportunities, including the concepts of MOSH – MOAH, regulatory frameworks, challenges and harmonization efforts on MOSH – MOAH analysis (Guidance Documents, Interlaboratory comparisons and reference materials such as ScreenFood, etc).

 COURSE OUTCOMES: 

At the end of this course, the audience will understand:

• the importance of metrology for food safety.
• the relevance of robust and accurate data on food contamination for decision making and risk assessment.
• understand the key concepts of chromatography preparing the ground to understand the limitations in MOSH – MOAH analysis.
• the concept behind complex chromatographic separations with simple illustrations and graphs.
• the relevance, advances, challenges and opportunities of a real-world,  relevant and updated case in food metrology.