SCOPE
Official microbiological control and monitoring of ready-to-eat foods placed on the market, aiming to protect public health and consumer interests, and to promote good manufacturing practices (GMPs) in the food and catering industry.
ACTIVITIES
(a) Monitoring/Control programmes
(i) The laboratory designs and implements an annual monitoring programme of foodstuffs in collaboration with the Public Health Service (PHS) of the Ministry of Health, both from the production site (industry and mass catering) and from retail outlets (shops, kiosks, school canteens, supermarkets etc.). Prepared meals, snacks and sandwiches from school and other canteens, hospitals, restaurants, refectories, banquet halls, cafes, bakeries, take aways, hotels, Official control also includes dairy products, infant formulae, ice creams, pastries and desserts, meat preparations intended to be eaten cooked, ready-to-eat meat and fish products, juices and other non-alcoholic beverages, pre-cut fruit and vegetables from the market, etc.
The design of the monitoring programme is mainly based on risk assessment, e.g. recent RASSF notifications, vulnerability to spoilage, consumption frequency with emphasis on vulnerable population groups, new products and known microbiological safety/quality problems.
(ii) The laboratory examines a variety of foods intended for consumption by the Cyprus National Guard.
(iii) The laboratory also carries out:
· examinations of certain imports from 3rd countries (i.e sesame seeds and their products, coconut, beverages, infant formulae).
· investigation of consumers’ complaints and food poisoning incidents.
(iv) In collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and the PHS: Monitoring programme for fruit and vegetables from the primary production (field).
The parameters examined include a wide range of pathogens Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Cronobacter spp., Campylobacter spp., STEC (Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli) and indicator microorganisms such as Enterobacteriaceae, Εscherichia coli, Coagulase-positive staphylococci, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, aerobic colony count, Yeasts and Moulds etc.
The parameters examined for each food category vary and are based on the EU Regulation on Microbiological criteria for foodstuffs (2073/2005/EC) and other guidelines.
(b) RESEARCH
The laboratory implements applied research in the framework of pilot programmes funded by the Ministry of Health or even with its own initiative. Recent topics included the detection of Cronobacter spp in infant formulae, STEC in pre-cut vegetables, salmonella and other parameters in sesame seeds, coconut and spices from the market.
In addition, in parallel with the above programme for vegetables from the field (iv), it investigates the microbiological quality of unwashed vegetables from groceries.
The laboratory also participates in the European projects EuroBiotox (development and validation of procedures and methods for the detection and quantification of biological toxins that could be used in terrorist actions) and DiTect (collaboration between EU and China for the application of digital tools for the real time monitoring of food safety and risk assessment).
(c) INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS
The laboratory, as the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for L. monocytogenes and coagulase–positive staphylococci, collaborated with the respective European Reference Laboratories in research on the development of a novel enumeration method of L. monocytogenes and on the standardization of the detection method for staphylococcal enterotoxins. Currently, it participates in working groups for the validation of a real time PCR method for the typing of L. monocytogenes and for a guideline on the role of NRLs in the investigation of staphylococcal foodborne outbreaks, respectively.
It also participates in the annual NRL workshops organized by the EURLs.
Finally, it represents the SGL and Cyprus in the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) networks for Microbiological Risk Assessment (MRA) and Emerging Risks in Food (EREN), respectively
The scope of accreditation of the Laboratory according to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 can be found on the web page CYS-CYSAB (Accredited Bodies, Laboratories of the State General Laboratory of Cyprus).