1st Food and Feed Safety Symposium held

Aim of the symposium was to emphasize the importance and relevance of food
and feed safety from the perspective of the ERBER Group, as well as to give some
insight into consequential research & development strategies and concepts of
its three subsidiaries Biomin, Romer Labs and bio-ferm. All three companies
support R&D facilities at the Technopol Tulln. Products developed, produced
and distributed by companies of the ERBER Group are geared to support safety in
the whole food chain, same as the “farm to fork” concept of the European
Union.

Lectures by Biomin’s R&D scientists focused on new
approaches to detoxify fungal toxins, the development of test models for the
investigation of the gastrointestinal flora, and the development of safe
probiotics. Bio-ferm presented their approach on biological plant protection: so
called biological control agents prevent harmful microbes from proliferating on
the plant´s surface. Bio-ferm received earlier this year the Lower Austrian
Innovation Award for this product development.

Particularly well received
was the presentation on the most recent food scandal in China, where baby and
infant milk concentrates were contaminated with melamine, a toxic substance that
caused the death of at least four babies and left more then 60,000 ill. As a
quick response to the market demand that emerged out of this crisis, Romer
adapted and optimized its existing test kit and completed the melamine testing
product portfolio with isotope labeled standards and reference
analysis.