November 10th, 2022
Barcelona Biofilm Summit by Alimentaria FoodTech FoodTech is a specialized congress to analyze in depth and provide an updated vision about the issue posed by the presence of biofilms in food and beverage production plants, and to showcase risk control and mitigation strategies.
Replay the Barcelona Biofilm Summit 2022 by Alimentaria FoodTech
In collaboration with:
Program
15:30h
Welcome
Dra. Sara Bover
IRTA (Spain)
Researcher and head of the food safety program
Pharmacy Undegraduate and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Barcelona. She is currently a researcher and head of the food safey program at IRTA (Monells, Girona), focused on microbial safety and quality improvements in food. She is a member of the BIOHAZ panel at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
15:40h
Presentation in English
Biofilms in the food industry, VBNC and resistance; requiring new means of detection and control
Dr. Bill Keevil
Food Standards Agency, Southampton (UK)
Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Food Safety
Chartered Biologist with 40 years of experience of Microbiology and Biofilms; former Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee; fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health and one of only a few non-American Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology; winner of the Colgate Prize and several best paper prizes; co-inventor of the EDIC light microscope for studying clinical and environmental biofilms; published over 230 peer reviewed papers (11,000 citations) investigating pathogen physiology and survival, including adaptation to the VBNC state following stress and disinfection procedures. In 2019 was appointed Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food. He is a founding member of the UK National Biofilms Innovation Centre working with universities and industry in the UK and internationally.
16:40h
Presentation in Spanish
El control microbiológico de superficies: una herramienta clave para la verificación de la higiene en el marco de la gestión de la seguridad y calidad alimentaria
Dra. Belén Martín
IRTA (Spain)
Food Safety Program
Ph.D. in Biotechnology. Has focused her research in studying microbial communities in meat products and food pathogens. She is specialized in the development and application of molecular methods to identify, characterize, and typify microorganisms with the goal of improving food’s quality and safety. She has published more than 20 articles in SCI magazines and participates in multiple national and European projects.
Date
October 7th, 2020
Languages
- Spanish
- English
Topics
- Biofilms: Definition, risks and solutions
- Biofilm detection
- Cleaning and removal of biofilms
- Food safety
What are biofilms?
Biofilms are adhesions of microorganisms to work surfaces in food production. This global problem affects the food and beverage industries. Biofilms can be a source of contamination by pathogenic microorganisms, posing a risk to consumer health.
Biofilms are very difficult to detect and remove as they are highly resistant to conventional cleaning and disinfection procedures. As they are a major cause of contamination, they can reduce the quality and shelf life of food. In addition to the economic impact associated with loss of production batches, returns, complaints, etc., the presence of biofilms in the processing environment can have a significant impact on food safety and lead to a loss of customer and consumer confidence.
Professional profile
- Regulators
- Executives, managers and technicians in food manufacturing
- Quality and food safety directors and managers
- Quality control and food safety managers
- Food service companies
- Retailers
- Researchers
- Academics
