PROGRAM - 6th International Symposium on RECENT ADVANCES IN FOOD ANALYSIS (RAFA)

Importance of the topic

The rapid detection and control of chemical and biological contaminants, along with the authentication of food products, are critical to ensuring global food safety and consumer confidence. Advances in analytical chemistry provide the tools needed to address public health concerns, support regulatory compliance, and enable quality assurance in the food and feed industries. RAFA 2013 served as a comprehensive platform to share innovations in spectroscopy, chromatography, mass spectrometry, immunoassays, and bioanalytical techniques.

Objectives and conference overview

RAFA 2013 aimed to bring together academic researchers, industry specialists, regulatory authorities, and young scientists to:

• Review state-of-the-art methods for contaminant screening and quantification.
• Share case studies on food authenticity, risk assessment, and emerging toxins.
• Offer hands-on workshops on infrared/Raman spectroscopy and career opportunities in European scientific institutions.
• Facilitate vendor seminars highlighting novel instrumentation and automated workflows.

Used instrumentation

Key techniques featured included:

• Hyphenated chromatography (GC–MS/MS, UPLC–MS/MS, GC×GC–TOF, LC–QTOF).
• High-resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap, QTOF, hrGC–hrMS).
• Spectroscopic platforms (FT-IR, NIR, Raman, NMR, fluorescence imaging).
• Rapid screening tools (DART–MS, ambient ionization, immunoassays, biosensors, microarrays).
• Data processing approaches (chemometrics, foodomics, ion mobility).

Main topics and highlights

Sessions and workshops addressed:

• Food contaminants: mycotoxins, pesticides, heavy metals, and emerging POPs.
• Bioanalytical methods: antibody and aptamer-based assays, molecular biology and metabolomics.
• Nanoparticle analysis: characterization and safety assessment of engineered nanomaterials.
• Authenticity and fraud: isotopic, elemental and fingerprinting approaches for origin and adulteration.
• Rapid methods: on-site testing, mobile platforms, laser-based imaging.
• Natural toxins and allergens: multiplex immunoassays and proteomic quantitation.

Benefits and practical applications

The conference encouraged the adoption of integrated, high-throughput workflows that reduce sample preparation time and improve detection limits. Participants gained practical insights into:

• Streamlined sample-prep strategies (QuEChERS, in-line SPE, DLLME, automated extraction).
• On-line method validation and proficiency testing for routine labs.
• Implementation of risk-based screening in QA/QC environments.

Future trends and potential applications

Emerging directions discussed at RAFA 2013 include:

• Integrative foodomics to correlate metabolic profiles with safety and origin.
• Ambient mass spectrometry for non-target screening in complex matrices.
• Miniaturized and smartphone-based platforms for field testing.
• Advanced chemometric and AI-driven data analysis for rapid decision making.

Conclusion

RAFA 2013 successfully fostered interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange, highlighting both established and cutting-edge technologies that will shape food analysis in the coming years. The symposium underscored the importance of harmonized methods, robust validation, and continued innovation to meet evolving regulatory and consumer demands.