NTU Food Technology Centre(NAFTEC)

ANNUAL REPORT

2017

NAFTEC is a college-level centre under the College of Engineering, administratively linked to School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering.

AcknowledgementsNAFTEC Annual Report 2017 was prepared by NAFTEC staff and students, with special thanks to Dr Natasha Yang, Ms Kelyn Seow Lee Ghee and Ms Jean Teh Pui Yi. NAFTEC would also like to extend its gratitude to Dr Sharon Longford (SCELSE) for her assistance.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(i) Abbreviations ...................................................... 2

1. INTRODUCTION...................................................31. Vision and Mission ...................................................... 32. Leadership .......................................................... 33. Scientific Advisory Committee .......................... 44. Staff and students ............................................. 4

2. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK ................................ 51. Key research pillars and collaborators ............. 52. Food safety: Screening foodborne bacteria and antimicrobial resistance in a One Health framework ............................................. 63. Rapid bio-sensor foodborne pathogen detection .......................................................... 94. Integrated sustainability and risk assessment of agri- and aquaculture ................................ 105. Food technology and gut microbiome: Functional foods targeting a healthy gut microbiome ............................................. 11

3. OTHER ENGAGEMENTS .................................. 121. iFood Initiative ................................................122. Global Microbial Identifier Initiative ................ 13

4. HOSTED EVENTS ............................................. 141. International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) meeting ........................................ 14 2. iFood 2017 conference ................................... 163. Food Risk Analysis Seminar .......................... 174. Next generation sequencing training

workshop ........................................................ 17

5. ACHIEVEMENTS ............................................... 181. Research funding – awarded grants ...............182. Publications ......................................................183. Courses .......................................................... 214. Hosted events ............................................... 215. Keynote presentations ................................... 226. News articles .................................................. 237. Interviews ....................................................... 23

6. FUTURE OUTLOOK ......................................... 24

ANNEXES ............................................................... 26

I. INFOSAN 2016: New science for food safety: supporting food chain transparency for improved health ....................................................................... 26

II. IFOOD 2017: Food for the future: quality, safety and sustainability ............................................................ 27

III. GMI letter to all Ministries of Health and Agriculture in 183 countries ....................................................... 28

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A*STAR Ministry of Health, Agency for Science Technology and ResearchAMR Antimicrobial Resistance APEC Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationAMR Antimicrobial resistanceASEAN Association of Southeast Asian NationsAVA Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of SingaporeCDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention DNA Deoxyribonucleic acidDTU Technical University of DenmarkFAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FBD Foodborne DiseasesFDA Food Drug and AdministrationFERG WHO Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference GroupGC-MS Gas Chromatography Mass SpectrometryGMI Global Microbial IdentifierIBD Inflammatory Bowel DiseaseiFood NTU’s Food Science and Technology Initiative INFOSAN International Food Safety Authorities NetworkMOH Ministry of HealthNAFTEC Nanyang Technological University Food Technology Centre NEA National Environment Agency NGS Next Generation SequencingNUS National University of SingaporeNTU Nanyang Technological UniversityQSA Quantitative Sustainability AssessmentSCELSE Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering SCUT South China University of TechnologySSIJRI Sino-Singapore International Joint Research InstituteUSA United States of AmericaWGS Whole Genome SequencingWHO World Health Organization

Abbreviations

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Annual Report 2017

1. IntroductionThis report marks the first Nanyang Technological University Food Technology Centre (NAFTEC)

annual report, covering the period from inception, in October 2016 till December 2017. It is the intention to prepare annual reports with a content that portrays activities, but also visions of the NAFTEC community as well as the links to other food related activities at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

1.1 Vision and Mission

1.2 Leadership: Director and Deputy-DirectorThe first NAFTEC initiatives saw the light of day

in the beginning of 2016, and the status as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Centre for Sustainable Development in Agriculture & Fishery Sectors, was bestowed upon the Centre in July 2016. The official opening of the Centre and the decision concerning organisational setting took place in October 2016, in time for the first

major international NAFTEC hosted event: the international meeting on “New Science for Food Safety: supporting food chain transparency for improved health”. This meeting was planned and co-hosted with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN).

Vision A world where the entire food production

chain is driven by science-based solutions to attain continuously higher levels of safety and efficiency for a healthier population, and

sustainable economic development.

Mission To advance science and technology

for more efficient and sustainable food production systems for improving health

and quality of life.

Professor Joergen Schlundt Director of NAFTEC

Professor Mary Chan Park Deputy Director of NAFTEC

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1.3 Scientific Advisory Committee In April 2017, the Scientific Advisory Committee was officially formed to provide strategic

direction in the key pillars of research. The members of the committee include:

1.4 Staff and students NAFTEC has grown steadily over the period

of 2016-2017. By December 2017, the centre consisted of faculty members NAFTEC Director, Professor Joergen Schlundt, Deputy Director, Professor Mary Chan Park, and part time Visiting Professor, Patricia Conway from the University of New South Wales, Australia. The remaining staff are comprised of Research Fellows, Project Officers and Research Assistants. NAFTEC’s total 12.5 headcount has been actively involved in research, the organisation of numerous local

and internationally collaborative meetings and training workshops, as well as the management of 15 postgraduate and undergraduate students in research, and over 100 students enrolled in the CH9220 Food Standards in Production and Trade undergraduate course. The centre has also hosted visiting scholars from the Technical University of Denmark and Xiamen Products Quality Supervision & Inspection Institute in China. It is anticipated that additional full time core faculty staff will be employed in the near future.

Frank AARESTRUPChair, NAFTEC Scientific Advisory CommitteeProfessor, Head of Research Group, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark

Margaret MORRISProfessor, Head Department of Pharmacology, University of New South Wales

Ruiwen LINExecutive Director, Sheng Siong Group Ltd

Remko BOOMProfessor, Food Process Engineering Sciences, Wageningen University

The NAFTEC team

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2. The research framework

Key Reseach Pillars Local Collaborators International Collaborators

Food safety: screening foodborne bacteria

and AMR in one health framework

• National University of Singapore (NUS) YLL School of Med.

• Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH)/Duke-NUS

• Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP)

• Environmental Health Institute (EHI)/National Environment Agency (NEA)

• Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA)

• Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE)

• Technical University of Denmark (DTU), National Food Institute (DTU Food)

• Wageningen University (NL)• WHO Coll. Centre for AMR in

Foodborne Pathogens (DK)• Food and Agriculture Organization

(FAO)• World Health Organization (WHO)• US Food and Drug Administration

(USFDA) and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC)

• International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN)

• Michigan State University (MSU)• Universities/Agencies in Vietnam,

Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka

• Xiamen Products Quality Supervision & Inspection Institute, China

Integrated sustainability

and risk assessment

of agriculture and

aquaculture

• School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering (NTU)

• APEC Collaborating Centre for Sustainable Development in Agriculture & Fishery Sectors

• University of New South Wales (UNSW)

• National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

• Netherlands Consortium• University of Michigan School of

Public Health

Food technology

and gut microbiome:

functional foods

targeting a healthy gut microbiome

• Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE)

• Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKC/NTU)

• School of Social Sciences (SSS/NTU)

• National Institute of Education (NIE)• Nanyang Institute of Technology in

Health & Medicine (NITHM/NTU)• School of Physical and Mathematical

Sciences (SPMS/NTU) • Ageing Research Institute for

Society and Education (ARISE/NTU)

• University of New South Wales (UNSW)

Rapid bio-sensor

foodborne pathogen detection

• Centre for Biomimetic Sensor Science (CBSS, NTU)

• School of Material Science and Engineering (MSE, NTU)

• School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS/NTU)

• Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA)

• Temasek Polytechnic

• US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)

• Sealed Air Food Care

• Unilever

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2.1 Food safety: Screening foodborne bacteria and antimicrobial resistance in a One Health framework

Background Many, if not most of all important microbiological

risks in food, relate in some way to animals in the food production chain. Therefore, food should be seen as an important vehicle for diseases passing from animals to humans. In some countries, new systems for surveillance of food-borne zoonotic microorganisms is now coordinated across the food production chain, thus enabling a clearer understanding and management of foodborne risks. There are several examples of such surveillance systems in the Netherlands and Denmark1.

A closely related emerging risk is the possible presence of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria in food production chains. This is evidenced by the increasing number of regulatory and science-based policy initiatives that have been launched at national (including Singapore) and regional levels worldwide for controlling AMR2. In addition to policies concerning responsible use of antimicrobials in humans, policies regarding prudent use in the animal sector to prevent the spread of AMR bacteria to human via food are also implemented. It is commonly acknowledged that the documentation of this risk, as well as of the efficiency of policy interventions, can only be assessed through surveillance of AMR in the human, animal and environmental sectors, in effect by applying the One Health paradigm. Such surveillance systems have been initiated in a number of countries including the United States of America and Denmark3.

Surveillance data gathered from One Health sectors - namely animal, environment, food and human - is thus increasingly used to document developments, but more importantly, also to form the basis for preventive action. Such action has related specifically to lower the prevalence of zoonotic pathogens (and AMR) in animals and the food production chain, or in a more generic sense in providing the scientific basis for agricultural policy change.

Next generation DNA sequencing (NGS)/whole genome sequencing (WGS) presents us with a generic revolution in microbiological identification, characterisation and epidemiology in the One Health context. The inevitable (paradigm) shift is already happening and comes at a time where the importance to link comparable data between animal,

environmental, food and health sectors is becoming obvious. Through WGS of bacterial isolates, both pathogen identification and characterisation and AMR information can be directly and rapidly obtained from the sequence data, at the level of precision that was not previously possible. Unlike traditional identification and characterisation methods, WGS is not organism-specific and thus, allowing multiple pathogens to be sequenced simultaneously, enables simpler, faster and cheaper laboratory operations. In addition, WGS offers the ease of standardisation and harmonisation of operating protocols for WGS data collection, assessment of sequencing data quality, data processing and interpretation. The data from WGS provides a common standardised language that can be deposited to online international public data repositories for global data sharing and comparison, as well as global surveillance of foodborne pathogens and AMR. The capacity to share and analyse large bodies of data over the internet means that the world is presently at the verge of moving into real-time sharing of not only data but also algorithms for rapid analysis. National agriculture, food and health regulators in North America and Europe are now moving rapidly in this direction - using NGS to produce whole genome sequences for relevant microorganisms4. Due to the dramatic change in epidemiological capacity derived from the future use of NGS/WGS and other new developments, it will enable future decision-support systems to have better and more effective food safety management programs. These will be based on the concept that risks (as well as benefits and sustainability) of food production will be assessed throughout the food chain, combining data from environment, primary production, food safety monitoring and disease surveillance. Thus, future food microbiology will be based on molecular and DNA-sequence based subtyping, enabling a novel understanding of beneficial as well as dangerous microorganisms, and of near real-time attribution of foodborne disease to specific food groups. WGS can be used widely in several areas to improve food safety management, which include foodborne disease surveillance, food inspection (testing) and monitoring, outbreak detection and investigation, food technology improvement and

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evaluating the effectiveness of food safety intervention. Owning to its rapidly declining cost, application of WGS in food safety management could lead to greater consumer protection, trade facilitation, food/nutrition security, health care and tourism. In order to benefit from the full advantage of WGS in improving food safety management, it still relies on the interpretation of analysed data in the context of appropriate food consumption history and epidemiological data. In addition, WGS is more effective if it is used in a One Health context where WGS data of isolates/samples from multiple sectors that involve human, animal and environmental health are shared and compared locally, nationally and globally.

ProjectAs a starting point to generate relevant data

for foodborne pathogens and AMR surveillance, NAFTEC has initiated several projects to collaborate with various national, regional and international partners around the world to investigate the level and type of resistance genes that are present in two bacterial species – 1) Escherichia coli (E. coli) and 2) Salmonella enterica serotypes (eg. Salmonella ser. Enteritidis) which were isolated from food-producing animal, environment, food or human. The rationale for the selection of bacterial species are: 1) E. coli is a widespread commensal in the gut of vertebrates and thus, part of the microflora of several food types and in many cases used as indicator bacteria for foodborne pathogens, while certain serotypes of E. coli, for example, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), are pathogens in their own right and 2) Salmonella enterica serotypes are common zoonotic

bacteria that can be transmitted between animals and humans and can cause illness in humans that ranges from mild to life threatening.

NAFTEC has initiated seven AMR related research projects that are undertaken by one Post Doc and three PhD students, in collaboration with Environmental Health Institute (EHI), a public health laboratory at the National Environment Agency (NEA), the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, Singapore General Hospital,

Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and WHO Collaborating Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance in Foodborne Pathogens and Genomics at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Food.

1. http://www.rivm.nl/en/Documents_and_publications/Scientific/Reports/2014/december/Zoonotic_Diseases_Report_2013 http://www.food.dtu.dk/english/Publications/Food-safety/Zoonosis---annual-reports 2. Exploring the evidence base for national and regional policy interventions to combat resistance. Lancet 2016 Jan 16; 387; 285-95 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00520-6

3. USA: NARMS: National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for Enteric Bacteria, http://www.cdc.gov/narms/index.html ; Denmark: DANMAP: Danish Integrated Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring and Research Programme, http://www.danmap.org/ 4. Aarestrup et al. Integrating genome-based informatics to modernise global disease monitoring, information sharing, and response. Emerging Infectious Diseases Vol. 18, Nr. 11, 2012

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Research approach NAFTEC extracts high-quality bacterial DNAs from

bacteria that are isolated by NAFTEC from the food chain or are sent to NAFTEC from collaborators for WGS (below). WGS is done within NTU, by SCELSE. Various publicly available online bioinformatics tools,

such as the ones (http://www.genomicepidemiology.org/) that are created by our collaborator, DTU Food, are used for analysing the sequence data.

Phylogenomic analysis

Genome assembly & annotation

Library construction

& sequencing

Reporting / publication

Bacterial strain selection

Culture growth & DNA

extractionWorkflow for

bacterial whole genome sequencing

Objectives Objective 1: Monitor national and regional risk

to emerging pathogens and AMRSince Singapore imports more than 90% of its food

supply, it is vulnerable to “imported” microbiological and AMR risks that affect food safety and food security. NGS can provide the capacity for precise pathogen identification and AMR detection in food and animals. Also, the NGS data that are gathered over time could allow ongoing monitoring of possible national and regional risk to emerging pathogens and AMR. This involves including publicly available sequences from shared public accessed databases (e.g. NCBI) in our phylogenetic analysis.

Objective 2: Improve food safety through a lab-based One Health approach

Through the use of NGS as a surveillance tool in food animal, food, environment and human health sectors, collaboration between the sectors can be facilitated enabling a better understanding of the transmission of foodborne pathogens from food to humans. In addition, the identity (i.e. at subspecies and clonal level) and virulence (i.e. presence of virulence or AMR genes) of pathogens can also be determined by NGS. Such information can establish the cause of infection and help estimate efficiency of policy interventions.

Objective 3: Generate a platform to share experience and expertise

The collaboration enables protocols, NGS capability, bacterial whole genome sequences, bioinformatics analysis methodology and data to be shared between collaborators and NAFTEC.

OutcomeThe analysed data would provide information on

the level and type of AMR genes that are present in the population and together with the information on the source of isolates (e.g. food-producing animal or food), thus it assists NAFTEC & collaborators to identify areas/sectors where particular types of AMR are prevalent and of concern, and further investigation needs can then be identified. Upon completion of the study, NAFTEC and collaborators could work together to document the process as well as the outcome in a formal report and one or several scientific peer-reviewed papers could be published. The data and the outcome analysis will also be used to develop a case study so that it can demonstrate the use of WGS in the context of One Health in food safety and public health management.

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2.2 Rapid bio-sensor foodborne pathogen detection BackgroundFoodborne pathogens have become a global health

concern due to increasingly prominent occurrence of foodborne outbreaks, food contamination events and food scandals, including food fraud. The immediate outcomes of these events include fatalities, disease prevalence but also economic loss. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 48 million Americans get sick, 128,000 hospitalised and 3,000 die each year from foodborne pathogens, mainly of bacterial and viral origin5. As identified by the CDC, the preponderance of foodborne illnesses, hospitalisation and death can be ascribed to eight known pathogens, namely Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter, Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli (vero-cytotoxic), Listeria monocytogenes, Norovirus and Toxoplasma gondii.

ObjectivesIn order to combat

foodborne infections, in addition to improving hygienic practices as well as specific mitigations at primary production, advances in facile and accurate pathogen testing for early detection is of paramount importance. The conventional culture-based pathogen testing methods are plagued with issues such as time- and labor-consuming protocol and often lack sensitivity. Some commonly used methods, even today, still take as long as 6 to 10 days, which present a major problem for consumers as well as food industries. Thus, the development of fast and efficient sensors is urgently needed.

Research approach and outcomesWe seek to develop a novel biosensing platform-

utilising unique functionalised magnetic particles for monitoring of pathogens and toxins, tailored for the food industries. The research aims to overcome existing limitations associated with current methods (namely, labor-intensive, time-consuming and high cost) in producing a product that meets the industry standards for a food safety monitoring device. As a proof-of-concept, the proposed platform is now being applied for monitoring of a significant foodborne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes.

Our current results have demonstrated the feasibility of our system to not only detect very low number of bacteria, but also to successfully differentiate live from dead Listeria. We have performed

preliminary feasibility analysis for the proposed RNA hybridisation and cleavage technology. We have been using Listeria monocytogenes RNA which is available at large quantities in our labs. We have tested the system against L. monocytogenes using microplate reader and achieved a low detection limit of 104 to 105 cfu/ml. None viable

L. monocytogenes and E.coli have been used as a negative control whereas bacterial culturing have been utilised as a positive control. Currently, our focus is to first optimise our detection limit, then extend the application of our sensor platform for detection of other bacteria target such as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7.

5. http://www.eatright.org/resource/homefoodsafety/safety-tips/food-poisoning/most-common-foodborne-pathogens

Rapid bio-sensor

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2.3 Integrated sustainability and risk assessment of agri- and aquaculture

Research approach and outcomesThe assessment is a science based quantitative risk

assessment combined with multi scale environmental sustainability of agri- and aquaculture systems at sectorial, national and global levels relevant to regulatory agencies (AVA, NEA) and industries. The quantitative risk assessment is carried out as given by Codex AIimentarius for risk analysis of antimicrobials, specifically on the agri- and aquaculture fields. Data is collected for the risk assessment portion of the risk analysis framework for hazard identification, exposure assessment, hazard characterisation and overall risk characterisation. The data can provide a measure in terms of probability of illnesses in humans caused by antimicrobial resistant bacteria from consuming or handling food products from agri- and aquaculture. For quantitative sustainability assessment, life cycle assessment is the tool used to evaluate environmental impacts of products at all stages of the product’s life from cradle to grave. Life cycle costing is used for economical assessment of the products. The data from life cycle assessments and life cycle costing can provide a measure of sustainability in relative and absolute terms. Both the results from the quantitative risk assessment and quantitative sustainability assessment can potentially be combined and integrated, contributing to important scientific evidences that is required for decision and policy making in the agri- and aquaculture industries.

Expertise in both sustainability and risk assessment are required. NAFTEC and NTU APEC Centre for Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Fishery Sectors have been collaborating with the division of Quantitative Sustainability Assessment (QSA), Department of Management Engineering at DTU, Denmark, to investigate the integrated assessments.

Based on the aforementioned project, NAFTEC is also collaborating with South China University of Technology (SCUT) under the support of the Sino-Singapore International Joint Research Institute (SSIJRI) to develop new, science-based solutions for efficient aquaculture production based on quantitative risk and sustainability assessments.

BackgroundWith little farming land and limited fishing grounds,

Singapore imports over 90% of the food consumed in the country. The food at local markets mainly comes from overseas. Singapore local farms produce only a small amount of food that they eat in Singapore: 8% of the total vegetables, 8% fish, 26% chicken eggs. Relying so heavily on food supplied from overseas means that Singapore faces unique challenges in ensuring a steady supply of food for the nation. Singapore consumes around 22 kg of fish per capita per year and therefore is heavily reliant on seafood imports from other countries to meet its seafood consumption needs.

Singapore needs to emphasise the assessment of the safety and sustainability of our agri- and aquaculture production. The interdisciplinary nature of this project focuses on food systems for safe and sustainable agri- and aquaculture development, and the development of science-based assessments as a basis for decision support for regulatory agencies and relevant industries.

ObjectivesThe objectives of this project are to address the

needs as defined by policy makers in the governmental sectors as well as the relevant stakeholders in the agriculture and aquaculture sector through ensuring the sustainable development of agri- and aquaculture systems while simultaneously ensuring food safety through the One Health initiative in Singapore. The project aims to provide useful scientific decision support tools which can be used to influence high level policy making in the agri- and aquaculture industry with regards to animal and human safety as well as food security.

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2.4 Food technology and gut microbiome: Functional foods targeting a healthy gut microbiome

BackgroundThe human digestive tract is colonised by a

complex and diverse microbial population that contributes to health and well-being, as well as to disease prevention. This population is referred to as the “microbiota” and is often discussed in terms of the microbiome which refers to the genetic composition of this microbial population. The microbiota of the digestive tract has been associated with chronic metabolic, immunological and neurological diseases and disorders including Type-2 diabetes, obesity, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and cancer. It is recognised that diet plays a very critical role in the modulation of the composition and function of the gut microbiota and therefore diet can be considered as a means of altering the microbiome towards a healthier state.

ObjectivesNAFTEC gut microbiome programme is conducting

studies to understand the mechanisms associated with host – diet – microbe interactions in order to develop foods, feeds and supplements for improving health and well-being. Our multi-disciplinary approach includes NTU collaborators within the School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering (SCBE), in the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), the Lee Kong Chian (LKC) School of Medicine, the School of Social Sciences, and the Physical Education & Sports Science (PESS) Academic Group at the National Institute of Education. The current focus is on the ageing population and improving quality of life for Singaporeans.

One of the objectives of the programme is to identify markers related to aging using samples and biodata from both young and elderly Singaporeans.

Biological samples, including stool, blood and urine have been collected as well as information about diet, food choices and activities. In vivo animal studies and ex-vivo laboratory studies using stringent anaerobic techniques are being used to study these markers in order to develop dietary intervention strategies. The initial studies have included grains and prebiotic honey, and focused on alterations in the microbiota composition and metabolites using traditional and Next Generation Sequencing technologies (NGS) for profiling the microbial profile, and GC-MS for quantifying the metabolites, especially the short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) i.e. acetate, propionate and butyrate. Butyrate is known to improve the intestinal barrier by facilitating tight-junction assembly, suppressing inflammatory and allergic responses by inducing differentiation of colonic regulatory T cells, regulates cell apoptosis, and stimulates production of anorectic hormones. Reduced concentrations of butyrate have been associated with the incidence of graft-versus-host disease, kwashiorkor, colon cancer, and obesity.

In addition to overall microbial profiles, specific potentially beneficial Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are examined as well as the hydrogenotrophs, especially in relation to metabolic activity and levels of SCFAs. The hydrogen balance in the gut is an important factor in shifting the metabolism because more hydrogen will favour the production of lactate and propionate, and removal of this hydrogen which is generated as a by-product of fermentation of dietary fibres or complex carbohydrates, will shift the production of SCFA’s towards acetate and butyrate. It has been shown that dietary intervention offers a means of modulating the microbiota and thereby beneficial effects on the host are anticipated.

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3.1 iFood Initiative Since 2016, NAFTEC has managed the

administration for the iFood initiative. This initiative commenced in 2014 and is a selection of projects funded by NTU, for the development of food related

research in collaboration with Wageningen University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The projects are summarised in the table below:

3. Other engagements

Food safety

Detection of food-borne bacteria with sensors based on two-dimensional nanomaterials Prof Zhang Hua

School of Materials Science and Engineering

Food toxin pre-screening by high-throughput and accurate ion-channel diagnosis using large arrayed CMOS ISFET sensor

Assistant Prof. Yu Hao

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Food safety: detection of bacterial toxins and contaminants in complex food matrices Prof. Bo Liedberg

School of Materials Science and Engineering

A novel SAW-SPR based flexible platform for effective field biosensing of food hazard

Associate Prof. Yuanjin Zheng

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Nutrition and health

Colon-specific release of short-chain fatty acids from edible polysaccharide gels and edible polysaccharide-coated capsules

Associate Prof. Tianhu Li

School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences

Why is trans-fat bad: understanding the lipotoxic effect of trans fat

Associate Prof. Andrew Tan Nguan Soon

School of Biological Sciences

Functional relationship between nutrient and diseases

Associate Prof. Koh Cheng Gee

School of Biological Sciences

Understanding how cancer-preventing bioactive dietary compounds (BDCs) reduce risk of malignancy through epigenetic mechanisms by profiling chromatin-associated proteome

Associate Prof. Sze Siu Kwan

School of Biological Sciences

Production and processing

Microbial engineering of prenylated isoflavonoids forfunctional food applications Prof. William Chen

School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

Capacitative protein sorting for facile regeneration of protein sorting adsorption system Prof. Mary Chan

School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

Intelligent food packaging based on grapheme oxide-polylactide nanocomposites Prof. Raymond Lau

School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

Large-scale conversion of wastes to functional food and high-value products Prof. James Tam School of Biological

Sciences

Understanding and alleviating membrane fouling in highly-concentrated emulsion-based separations in food processing applications

Prof. Chew Jia WeiSchool of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

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3.2 Global Microbial Identifier Initiative NAFTEC hosts the Global Microbial Identifier (GMI)

Initiative Steering Committee - an international consortium consisting of more than 270 members from over 55 countries spanning the occupations including clinical-, food-, and public health, microbiologists and virologists, bio-informaticians, epidemiologists, representatives from funding agencies, data hosting systems, and policy makers from academia, public health, industry and government.

The goal of the initiative is realising a global

genomic infrastructure and database for the analysis of microbial DNA sequences to support rapid infectious disease surveillance, diagnostics, and prevention.

Recent activities of GMI involving NAFTEC include drafting a letter to the ministries of health and agriculture worldwide - advocating for the implementation of NGS technologies in regulatory settings, and together with the support of countries, pushing forward for the discussion to be included the

2020 World Health Assembly. A sample of the letter is included in the Annex.

Furthermore, each year the GMI holds an annual meeting whereby participants and interested members of the public come together to discuss and submit potential resolutions for the challenges faced in the political and technical arena of GMI’s vision. GMI has four work groups, as summarised below:

Work group 1Political challenges,

outreach and building a global network

This group is developing a long-term plan to shape political level involvement in GMI development at the global, regional and national level.

Work group 2Repository and

storage of sequence and meta-data

This group strives towards developing a format to capture “Minimum Data for Matching (MDM)”, consisting of reads and minimum metadata.

Work group 4Ring trials and quality assurance - created

three ring trials This group is aiming

for all laboratories globally to conduct NGS on bacteria and virus to the highest degree of quality.

Work group 3Analytical approaches

This group is providing guidance for the development of analytical tools for optimal positioning and functioning of the GMI platform.

Further details: http://www.globalmicrobialidentifier.org

Location of previous and upcoming GMI

meetings

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4.1 International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) MeetingIn recent years, several new and important scientific

developments have emerged with significant implications for the future of food production and food safety which will directly impact the future of food chain transparency and solutions to ensure a safe food supply. There is recognition of the need to seriously consider how the potential application of new technologies should be framed within the context of globalisation and the increasingly complex global food chain. Additionally, there is a need for continued strengthening of national food safety systems including in the areas of foodborne disease surveillance, laboratory capacity and multi-sectoral coordination.

In November 2016, in response to the aforementioned needs identified, Nanyang Technological University Food Technology Centre (NAFTEC) hosted an international meeting titled, “New Science for Food Safety: Supporting Food Chain Transparency for Improved Health”, to discuss regional perspectives of food science developments in Asia. The 3-day meeting and 1.5-day training workshop was hosted in partnership with WHO and FAO, and was the first INFOSAN meeting to be open to the public, attracting approximately 175 registered participants from more than 25 countries including prominent academics and food regulatory authorities.

4. Hosted events

Participants of the INFOSAN meeting hosted by NAFTEC, WHO and FAO, 7 November 2016

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1. Foodborne disease burden• Foodborne disease burden – overview of the

present picture and outcome of FERG • Epidemiological utility of foodborne disease

burden estimates • Foodborne disease burden - its application to

countries • Attributing the disease burden to different food

groups – will it be easier in the future? • The complementary roles of quantitative

disease burden attribution, expert elicitation and predictive modelling for priority-setting in regulatory agencies and in industry

• One Health Platform in Singapore• Summary of potential for regional use of

foodborne disease burden estimates in food science and food regulation

Five themes were presented:

2. Risk assessment and sustainability• Using stochastic modelling in microbiological

risk assessment – practical examples

• WHO Risk assessment work, the Vibrio examples

• Getting started on risk ranking: a guided approach

• Addressing and assessing food safety risks at primary production

• Quantitative sustainability assessment – modelling the life cycle of the food products

• Sustainability of food production and food safety/security improvements

3. Next generation (DNA) sequencing• Advancing Food Safety and Public Health

through Shared WGS Networks and Data • Collaborative Management Platform for

detection and Analyses of (Re-) emerging and • foodborne outbreaks in Europe • Applications of WGS for food safety

management • The development of WGS in food safety

investigations in China • Implementing WGS as a tool to strengthen

FDB surveillance and response systems: WHO • Country guidance and tools• Real-Time Genome Sequencing of Resistant

Bacteria Provides Precision Infection • Control in an Institutional Setting • The PulseNet model for NGS surveillance • Genome Trakr – increasing outbreak

investigation potential dramatically through NGS

• Suggesting a global system of all whole genome sequences of all microorganisms in the world

• Summary on for regional collaboration on NGS in food science and food regulation

4. Novel food technology• International Efforts to combat food fraud • Food fraud Prevention: Policy, Strategy, and

Decision-Making • Food preference, integrity, authenticity and

fraud mitigation • Food authenticity and fraud, Asian initiatives for

prevention

5. The role of INFOSANPerspectives from:• Indonesia • Canada • Singapore • Vietnam • Australia • New Zealand

The INFOSAN meeting report has been published with ISBN: 978-981-11-3189-9 and can be retrieved at http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/infosan/en/. The summary of the plenary sessions are presented in the annex.

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4.2 iFood 2017 conferenceFood is an essential component to the life

and growth of all living organisms. The “farm to fork” preparation and administration of nutritive substances often varies and is determined by socio-economic, cultural and environmental factors. In the developing countries, one of the key challenges is alleviating the socio-economic burden resulting from the lack of quality food. Meanwhile, the exercise of poor food choices in developed nations have led to a significant proportion of diet related diseases and a demanding market saturated with health conscious consumers. The scientific and technological advancements in the food industry have driven more sustainable food production with greater confidence in microbiological safety, as well as value added food products in the form of food functionality and convenience. A continued effort in food research is imperative to ensure society has access to safe, efficiently produced, high quality sustenance. On the 6th and 7th September 2017, NAFTEC hosted a two-day iFood meeting and discussed present food research and innovation focused on safety,

efficiency and quality food production, and to address the associated challenges in bringing forth benefits to society. Approximately 116 registered participants from more than 10 countries attended this conference. The meeting included active participation of most of the presenters and many participants. Experience, ideas and perspectives were exchanged openly and led to deeper and more innovative questions apart from those mentioned above. It is hoped that such debate will contribute to providing a broader scientific basis for a safer and more sustainable food production in the region and the world.

Three themes were presented:

1. Food safety• Detection of food-borne bacteria with sensors

based on 2D nanomaterials

• Food toxin pre-screening by high – throughput and accurate ion-channel diagnosis using large arrayed CMOS ISFET sensor

• Food safety: detection of bacterial toxins and contaminants in complex food matrices

• A novel SAW-SPR based flexible platform for effective field bio sensing of food hazard

• Environmental impact assessment of veterinary drug on fish aquaculture for food safety

The IFOOD report has been published with ISBN: 978-981-11-7149-90. The brief outcome is presented as ANNEX 2.

2. Nutrition and health• Colon-specific release of short-chain fatty acids

from edible polysaccharide gels and edible polysaccharide-coated capsules

• Why is trans-fat bad: understanding the lipotoxic effect of trans fat

• Functional relationship between nutrient and diseases

• Understanding how cancer- preventing bioactive dietary compounds (BDCs) reduce risk of malignancy through epigenetic mechanisms by profiling chromatin-associated proteome

• The risk of low concentrations of antibiotics in agriculture for resistance in human health care

3. Production and processing• Microbial engineering of prenylated

isoflavonoids for functional food applications• Capacitative protein sorting for facile

regeneration of protein sorting adsorption system

• Understanding and alleviating membrane fouling in highly concentrated emulsion based separations in food processing applications

• Large scale conversion of wastes to functional food and high-value products

• Intelligent food packaging based on grapheme oxide-polylactide nanocomposites

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Annual Report 2017

4.3 Food Safety Risk Analysis seminarOn 14th September 2017, Agri-Food & Veterinary

Authority of Singapore, NAFTEC and International Life Sciences Institute Southeast Asian Region jointly organised a one-day seminar on “Food Safety Risk Analysis” at the Veterinary Public Health Centre of AVA. The speakers were Dr Samuel Godefroy, Professor from University Laval and Dr Manfred Lützow, Director of saqual GmbH Wettingen. The seminar provided an overview on risk analysis framework and discuss its components, as well as to share case studies on risk analysis of food

contaminants. The seminar was a great success, with wide spread of participants, spanning across seven government agencies (including government representatives from South Korea and Hong Kong), two institutes of higher learning, and several major local food manufacturers. The value of the event is not limited to the technical knowledge shared, but also serves as a baby step toward establishing commonality and alignment amongst the private and public sectors, both locally and regionally.

Left to right: Dr Paul Chiew (Group Director, Laboratories Group), Dr Chew Siang Thai (Managing Director/AVA), Dr Samuel Godefroy, Dr Manfred Luetzow, Mr Geoffry Smith

(President, ILSI SEA Region) and Prof Joergen Schlundt (Director, NAFTEC).

4.4 Next generation sequencing training workshopAs part of the 2016 INFOSAN meeting, a 1.5

day WGS training session took place to provide an introduction to next generation sequencing technology involving lectures and computer exercises. The participants included food safety

regulators, food control laboratory staff and food scientists from Universities mainly from the Asia region. The highly positive reception of the training course has encouraged NAFTEC to organise future training sessions.

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5. AchievementsResearch funding - awarded grants

“Establishment of a novel Salmonella genotype database for source tracking analysis and investigation of pathogenic mechanisms”, Singapore Ministry of Education

“New, science based solutions for efficient aquaculture production based on quantitative risk and sustainability assessments”, Sino Singapore International Joint Research Institute

“Human gut microbiome investigations through metagenomics testing in relevant cohorts enabling novel understanding of connection between lifestyle, diet, microbiome composition and health status”, NTU internal grant

“AutoSENS: Development of a rapid, ultra-sensitive, cost effective biosensor for autonomous monitoring of Listeria monocytogenes in food industries”, Singapore Millennium Foundation

Publications Bohnes, F.A., Gregg, J.S., Laurent, A., 2017.

Environmental impacts of future urban deployment of electric vehicles: assessment framework and case study of Copenhagen for 2016−2030. Environmental Science & Technology 51:13995−14005. Chaudhary P.P., Schlundt, J. (2017) Exercise and Gut Microbiome. Journal of Molecular Microbiology, 1: 1-7.

Chaudhary P.P., Schlundt, J. (2017) Exercise and gut microbiome. Journal of Molecular Biology 1(1):7

Chaudhary, P.P., Rulík, M., Blaser, M. (2017) Is the methanogenic community reflecting the methane emissions of river sediments? – Comparison of two study sites. MicrobiologyOpen doi: 10.1002/mbo3.454.

Dar, O., Hasan R., Schlundt, J., Harbarth, S., Caleo, G., Dar, F., Littman, J., Rweyemamu, M., Buckley, E., Shahid, M., Kock, R., Li, H.L., Giha, H., Khan, M., So, A., Bindayna, K.M., Kessel, A., Bak Pedersen, H., Permanand, G., Zumla, A., Heymann, D.L. (2016) Effective antimicrobials in an era of growing resistance: exploring the evidence base for policy interventions. The Lancet 397(10015): 285-295.

Deshpande, G., Rao, S., Athalye-Jape, G., Conway, P., Patole, S. (2016) Probiotics in very preterm infants: the PiPS trial. The Lancet 388(10045): 655.

Esvaran, M. and Conway, P. (2016) Factors that influence the immunological adjuvant effect of Lactobacillus fermentum PC1 on specific immune responses in mice to orally administered antigens. Vaccines 4(3): 24.

Gaci, N., Chaudhary, P.P., Tottey, W., Alric, M., Brugère, J.F (2017) Functional amplification and preservation of human gut microbiota. Microbial Ecology of Health and Disease 28(1): 1308070.

Gaci, N., Flemer, B., Borrel, G., Sanderson, I.R., Chaudhary, P.P., Tottey, W., O’Toole, P.W. Brugère, J.F. (2017) Faecal microbiota variation across the lifespan of the healthy laboratory rat. Gut Microbes 8(5):428-439.

Hou, Z., Shankar Y. V. , Liu, Y., Ding, F., Subramanion, J. L., Ravikumar, V., Zamudio-Vázquez, R., Keogh, D., Lim, H., Tay, M. Y. F., Bhattacharjya, S., Rice, S. A., Shi, J., Duan, H.,

Liu, X. W., Mu, Y., Tan, N. S., Tam, K. C., Pethe, K., Chan-Park, M. B. (2017) Nanoparticles of short cationic peptidopolysaccharide self-assembled by hydrogen bonding with antibacterial effect against multidrug-resistant bacteria. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 9(44):38288-38303.

Lee, Y. K., Conway, P., Pettersson, S., Nair, G. B, Surono, I., Egayanti, Y., Amarra, M. S. (2017) ILSI Southeast Asia Region conference proceedings: The gut, its microbes and health: relevance for Asia. Asia Pacific Journal Clinical Nutrition 26(5): 957:971.

Patole, S, Keil, AD, Nathan, E, Doherty, D, Esvaran, M, Simmer, KN, Conway, PL. (2016) Effect of Bifidobacterium breve M-16V supplementation on fecal bifidobacteria in growth restricted very preterm infants -analysis from a randomised trial. Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine 29(23): 3751-3755.

Schlundt, J. and Aarestrup, F.M. (2017) Commentary: Benefits and risks of antimicrobial use in food-producing animals. Frontiers in Microbiology 8:181.

Schlundt, J., Conway, P., Yang, N., Feng, M.T.Y., Ghee, K.S.L., Shi, J., Guo, S., Yang, Z., Heilmann, M., Takeuchi, M., Ben Embarek, P., Savelli, C. (2017) New Science for Food safety: Supporting Food Chain Transparency for Improved Health. Report of the INFOSAN Meeting in Regional Perspectives of Food Science Developments in Asia ISBN: 978-981-11-3189-9.

Wielinga, P.R., Hendriksen, R.S., Aarestrup, F.M., Lund, O., Smits, S.L., Koopmans, M.P.G. & Schlundt, J., (2016). Chapter 2: Global Microbial Identifier. In Deng, X., den Bakker, H.C., Hendriksen, R.S. (Eds.) (2016) Applied Genomics of Foodborne Pathogens, Springer International Publishing, Switzerland pp.13-32.

Yang, N., Ashton, J., Gorczyca, E. & Kasapis, S. (2017) In-vitro starch hydrolysis of chitosan, whey protein and wheat starch composite gels. Heliyon 3: 1-16.

Yang, N. Sampathkumar, K. & Loo, J.S.C. (2016) Recent advances in complementary and replacement therapy with nutraceuticals in combating gastrointestinal illnesses. Clinical Nutrition 36: 968-979.

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Annual Report 2017iFood Initiative projectsFood Safety

Ben Haddada, M. Hu, D., Salmain, M., Zhang, L. Peng, C., Wang, Y., Liedberg, B. & Boujiday, S. (2017) Gold nanoparticle-based localized surface plasmon immunosensor for staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) detection. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 409: 6227-6234.

Chen, P.; Liu, X.; Goyal, G.; Tran, N.T.; Ho, J.C.S.; Wang, Y.; Aili, D.; Liedberg, B. (2018) Nanoplasmonic sensing from the human vision perspective. Analytical Chemistry 90: 4916-4924.

Chen, P., Tran, N.T., Wen, X., Xiong, Q.;Liedberg, B. (2017) Inflection point of the localized surface plasmon resonance peak: A general method to improve the sensitivity. ACS Sensors 2: 235-242.

Ding, R., Liu, H., Zhang, X., Kishor, R., Sun, H., Gao, F., Feng, X., Zheng, Y., Xiao, J., Chen, J., Zhu, B., Chen, G., Chen, X. & Sun, X. (2016) Flexible piezoelectric nanocomposite generators based on formamidinium lead halide perovskite nanoparticles. Advanced Functional Materials 26: 7708-7716.

Gao, F., Feng, X., Zhang, R., Liu, S., Zheng, Y., Bai, L., Tham, H.P., Zhang, Y., Zhao, L. & Zhao, Y.(2016) Remarkable in vivo nonlinear photoacoustic imaging based on near-infrared organic dyes. Small 12(38): 5239-5244.

Huang, X., Yu, H., Liu, X., Jiang, Y. & Yang, M. (2015) A single-frame super resolution algorithm for lab-on-a-chip lensless microfluidic imaging. IEEE Design and Test 32: 32-40.

Huang, X., Yu, H., Liu, X., Jiang Y., Yan, M. & Wu, D. (2015) A dual-mode large-arrayed CMOS ISFET sensor for accurate and high-throughput pH sensing in biomedical diagnosis. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineerging 62: 2224-2233.

Jiang, Y., Liu, X., Dang, T.C., Huang, X., Feng, H., Zhang, Q. & Yu, H. (2018) A high-sensitivity potentiometric 65-nm CMOS ISFET sensor for rapid E. coli screening. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems 12: 402-415.

Kishor, R., Gao, F., Sreejith, S., Feng, X., Seah, Y.P., Wang, Z., Stuparu, M.C., Lim, T.T., Chen, X. & Zheng, Y. (2016) Photoacoustic induced surface acoustic wave sensor for concurrent opto-mechanical microfluidic sensing of dyes and plasmonic nanoparticles. RSC Advances 6: 50238-50244.

Kishor, R., Seah, Y.P., Zheng, Y.J., Xia, H.M., Wang, Z.F., Lu, H.J. & Lim, T.T. (2015) Characterization of an acoustically coupled multilayered microfluidic platform on SAW substrate using mixing phenomena. Sensors & Actuators: A. Physical 233: 360-367.

Liu, X., Huang, X., Jianh, Y., Xu, H., Guo, J., Hou, H.W., Yan, M. & Yu, H. (2017) A microfluidic cytometer for complete blood count with a 3.2-megapixel, 1.1- mum-pitch super-resolution image sensor in 65-nm BSI CMOS. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems 11: 794-803.

Tan, C., Yu, P., Hu, Y., Chen, J., Huang, Y., Cai, Y., Luo, Z., Li, B., Lu, Q., Wang, L., Liu, Z. & Zhang, H. (2015) High-yield exfoliation of ultrathin two-dimensional ternary chalcogenide nanosheets for highly sensitive and selective fluorescence DNA sensors. Journal of the American Chemical Society 137: 10430-10436.

Tan, C. & Zhang, H. (2015) Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheet-based composites. Chemical Society Reviews 44: 2713-2731.

Wang, Y.; Liu, X.; Chen, P.; Tran, N. T.; Zhang, J.; Chia, W.S.; Boujday, S.; Liedberg, B. (2016) Smartphone spectrometer for colorimetric biosensing. Analyst 141: 3233-3238.

Wang, Y., Zhao, M., Ping, J., Chen, B., Cao, X., Huang, Y., Tan, C., Ma, Q., Wu, S., Yu, Y., Lu, Q., Chen, J., Zhao, W., Ying, Y. & Zhang, H. (2016) Bioinspired design of ultrathin 2D bimetallic metal organic-framework nanosheets used as biomimetic enzymes. Advanced Materials 28: 4149-4155.

Zhang, Y., Zheng, B., Zhu, C., Zhang, X., Tan, C., Li, H., Chen, B., Yang, J., Cheng, J., Huang, Y., Wang, L. & Zhang, H. (2015) Single-layer transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheet-based nanosensors for rapid, sensitive, and multiplexed detection of DNA. Advanced Materials 27: 935-939.

Zhao, M., Wang, Y., Ma, Q., Huang, Y., Zhang, X., Ping, J., Zhang, Z., Lu, Q., Yu, Y., Xu, H., Zhao, Y. & Zhang, H. (2015) Ultrathin 2D metal-organic framework nanosheets. Advanced Materials 27: 7372-7378.

Zheng, Y., Feng, X., Gao, F., Kishor, R. & Zheng, Y. (2015) Coexisting and mixing phenomena of thermoacoustic and magnetoacoustic waves in water. Scientific Reports 5: 11489.

Nutrition and Health

Adav, S.S., Hwa, H.H. & De Kleijn, D., Sze, S.K. (2015) Improving blood plasma glycoproteome coverage by coupling ultracentrifugation fractionation to electrostatic repulsion-hydrophilic interaction chromatography enrichment. Journal of Proteome Research 14(7): 2828-2838.

Adav, S.S., Ravindran, A. & Sze, S.K. (2015) Quantitative proteomic study of Aspergillus fumigatus secretome revealed deamidation of secretory enzymes. Journal of Proteomics 119: 154-168.

Chen, C., Gallart-Palau, X., Serra, A., Lai, M.K.P., Gallart-Palau, X., Serra, A., Wong, A.S.W., Sandin, S., Sze, S.K., Lai, M.K.P., Chen, C.P. & Kon, O.L. (2015) Extracellular vesicles are rapidly purified from human plasma by PRotein Organic Solvent PRecipitation (PROSPR). Scientific Reports 5: 14664.

Gallart-Palau, X., Serra, A. & Sze, S.K. (2016) Enrichment of extracellular vesicles from tissues of the central nervous system by PROSPR. Molecular Neurodegeneration 11: 1-13.

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Oteng, A.B, Kersten, S., Bhattacharya, A., Qi, L., Brodesser, S. & Tan, N.S. (2017) Feeding Angptl4-/ mice trans-fat promotes foam cell formation in mesenteric lymph nodes without leading to ascites. Journal of Lipid Research 58: 1100-1113.

Park, J.E., Sun, Y., Tam, J.P., Sze, S.K., Lim, S.K., Dekker, M. & Chen, H. (2017) Dietary phytochemical PEITC restricts tumor development via modulation of epigenetic writers and erasers. Scientific Reports 12(7): 40569.

Phua, T., Sng, M.K., Tan, E.H.P., Chee, D.S.L., Li, Y., Wee, J.W.K., Teo, Z., Chan, J.S.K., Lim, M.M.K., Zhu, P., Tan, N.S., Arulampalam, V. & Tan, C.K. (2017) Angiopoietin-like 4 mediates colonic inflammation by regulating chemokine transcript stability via tristetraprolin. Scientific Reports 7: 44351.

Serra, A., Gallart-Palau, X., See-Toh, R.S.E., Hemu, X., Tam, J.P. & Sze, S.K. (2016) Commercial processed soy-based food product contains glycated and glycoxidated lunasin proteoforms. Scientific Reports 6: 26106.

Sunil, S.A., Anita, R. & Siu Kwan, S. (2015) Data for iTRAQ secretomic analysis of Aspergillus fumigatus in response to different carbon sources. Data in Brief 3: 175-179.

Zhang, S., Weng, T., Guo, T., Chan, H., Sze, S.K., Koh, C.G. & Cheruba, E. (2017) Phosphatase POPX2 exhibits dual regulatory functions in cancer metastasis. Journal of Proteome Research 16: 698-711.

Production and Processing

Wang, Y., El-Deen, A.G., Li, P., Oh, B.H., Guo, Z., Khin, M.M., Vikhe, Y.S., Wang, J., Hu, R.G., Boom R.M., Kline, K.A., Becker, D.L., Duan, H., Chan-Park, M.B. 2015. High-performance capacitive deionization disinfection of water with graphene oxide-graft quaternized chitosan nanohybrid electrode coating. ACS Nano 9: 10142-57.

El-Deen, A.G., Duan, H., Chan-Park, M.B., Boom, R.M., Kim, H.Y. & Choi, J.H. 2016. Flexible 3D nanoporous graphene for desalination and bio-decontamination of brackish water via asymmetric capacitive deionization. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 8: 25313-25325

Goh, K., Jiang, W., Karahan, H. E., Zhai, S., Wei, L., Yu, D., Fane, A. G., Wang, R., Chen, Y. 2015. All carbon nano-architectures as high performance membranes with superior stability. Advanced Functional Materials 25: 7348-7359.

Goh, K., Heising, J.K., Yuan, Y., Karahan, H.E., Wei, L., Zhai, S., Koh, J.X., Htin, N.M., Zhang, F., Wang, R., Fane, A.G., Dekker, M., Dehghani, F., Chen, Y. 2016. Sandwich-architectured poly(lactic acid)-graphene composite food packaging films, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 8: 9994–10004.

Hemu, X., Qiu, Y., Nguyen, G.K. & Tam, J.P. 2016. Total synthesis of circular bacteriocins by butelase 1. Journal of the American Chemical Society 138: 6968-71.

Jiang, W., Zhai, S., Qian, Q., Yuan, Y., Karahan, H.E., Wei, L., Goh, K., Ng, A.K., Wei, J., Chen, Y. 2016. Space-confined assembly of all-carbon hybrid fibers for capacitive energy storage: realizing a build-to-order concept for micro-supercapacitors. Energy & Environmental Science 9: 611-622.

Jiang, W., Zhai, S., Wei, L., Yuan, Y., Yu, D., Wang, L., Wei, J., Chen, Y., 2015. Nickel hydroxide-carbon nanotube nanocomposites as supercapacitor electrodes: crystallinity dependent performances. Nanotechnology 26: 314003.

Karahan, H.E., Wei, L., Goh, K., Christian, W., Liu, Z., Xu, C., Jiang, R., Wei, J., Chen, Y. 2016. Synergism of water shock and a biocompatible block copolymer potentiates the antibacterial activity of graphene oxide. Small 12: 951-962.

Nguyen, G.K., Hemu, X., Quek, J.P. & Tam, J.P. 2016. butelase-mediated macrocyclization of amino-acid-containing peptides. Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English 55: 12802-6.

Nguyen, G.K., Qiu, Y., Cao, Y., Hemu, X., Liu, C.F. & Tam, J.P.2016. Butelase-mediated cyclization and ligation of peptides and proteins. Nature Protocols 11: 1977-1988.

Wei, L., Karahan, H. E., Goh, K., Jiang, W., Yu, D.S., Birer, O., Chen, Y. 2015. High performance metal-free electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction from bacteria derived carbon, Journal of Materials Chemistry A 3: 7210-7214.

Wei, L., Liu, B., Wang, X., Gui, H., Yuan, Y., Zhai, S., Ng, A. K., Zhou, C., Chen, Y. 2015. Single walled carbon nanotubes from aqueous two-phase separation for thin film transistor applications, Advanced Electronic Materials 1: 1500151.

Wei, L., Karahan, H.E., Zhai, S., Yuan, Y., Qian, Q., Goh, K., Ng, A.K., Chen, Y. 2016. Microbe-derived carbon materials for electrical energy storage and conversion. Journal of Energy Chemistry 25: 189-196.

Yu, D.S., Zhai, S., Jiang, W., Wei, L., Goh, L., Chen, X., Jiang, R., Chen, Y. 2015. transforming pristine carbon fiber tows into high performance solid-state fiber supercapacitors. Advanced Materials 27: 4895–4901.

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Annual Report 2017

10th Global Microbial Identifier Meeting, 15 – 17 May 2017, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Food for the Future: Quality, Safety & Sustainability, iFood Conference, on behalf of the NTU iFood Initiative, 6-7 Sep. 2017, Singapore.

Food safety risk analysis, seminar, co-hosted with Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore, & International Life Sciences Institute Southeast Asian Region, 14 Sep. 2017, Singapore.

Diagnostics of foodborne infections and antimicrobial resistance in foodborne pathogens, seminar, presented by Prof. Karen A. Krogfeldt, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark, 14 Nov. 2017, Singapore.

CoursesCH9220 – Food Standards – In Food Production & TradeCourse Coordinator: Joergen Schlundt

Teaching Assistant(s): Natasha Yang, Kelyn Seow Lee Ghee

INFOSAN banner at NTU entrance

Hosted eventsOn Decision Support for Sustainability and Resilience of Infrastructure, Seminar, presented by Michael Havbro Faber, Technical University of Denmark, 8 June 2016, Singapore.

International Food Safety Authorities Network Conference on New Science for Food Safety, co-organised with The World Health Organization & The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 7-9 November 2016, Singapore.

International Food Safety Authorities Network Whole Genome Sequencing Training Workshop, co-organised with The World Health Organization & The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 10 November 2016, Singapore.

NAFTEC representative at the BfR Summer Academy in Berlin

NAFTEC participation at the 10th Global Microbial Identifier Meeting

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NAFTEC

Keynote presentationsSchlundt, Joergen. “NGS And One Health: The

Case For An Open International Database For Whole Genome Sequences Of Microorganisms”, 3rd Annual Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Conference, Singapore, 12.Oct 2016.

Schlundt, Joergen. “Creating a Global System to share Whole Genome Sequences of all Microorganisms”, The Global Microbial Identifier, Int. Food Safety and Quality, Shanghai, China, 2-3 Nov. 2016.

Schlundt, Joergen. “The Need for Surveillance to Document Effect of Policies to Reduce Animal Use of Antimicrobials”, International Conference on Global Food Safety and Antimicrobial Resistance, Shenzhen, China, 14-16 Nov. 2016.

Schlundt, Joergen. “Foodborne Disease Burden and Antimicrobial Resistance, Growing Global Problems”, Global One Health Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 4-7 Dec. 2016.

Schlundt, Joergen. “Empowering Global Food Safety through Whole Genome Sequencing”, Int. Conference on Next Gen Sequencing, Bangkok, Thailand, 20-22 Feb, 2017.

Conway, Patricia. “The Role of Probiotics in Infant Health and Well-being”, 2nd Probiotics Congress, Hong Kong, 1-2 Mar. 2017.

Schlundt, Joergen. “Foodborne Disease Surveillance: the Need for Science-based Action, National Food Safety Training”, Jakarta, Indonesia, 13-14 Mar, 2017.

Schlundt, Joergen. “Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Fishery Sectors - Opportunities for Science-based Change”, Asian-Pacific Aquaculture Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26-28 July, 2017.

Conway, Patricia. “The Prebiotic Properties of Australian Honeys: a Possible Dietary Intervention for Healthy Ageing”, iFood Conference: food for the future: quality, safety and sustainability, Singapore, 6-7 Sep. 2017.

Schlundt, Joergen. “Antimicrobial Resistance and Foodborne Disease Burden”, Meerut Inst. of Engineering and Tech. Research Conference, Delhi, India, 23 Sep. 2017.

Schlundt, Joergen. “The Revolutionary Future Global Use of NGS: Global Microbial Identifier”, USFDA & DA Genome Trackr NGS Meeting, Washington DC, USA, 13-15 Oct, 2017.

Conway, Patricia. “ Antimicrobial Resistance: from Knowledge to Action”, Public Health Thought Leadership Dialogue presented by Professor Keiji Fukuda, Singapore, 1 Nov. 2017.

Schlundt, Joergen. “Whole Genome Sequencing - Linking Public Health and Food Safety in S.E. Asia”, China Int. Food Safety and Quality Conference, Beijing; China, 1-2 Nov. 2017.

Conway, Patricia. “Targeting Digestive Health to Delay the Development of Degenerative Diseases in the Elderly”,1st ARISE Research Symposium, Singapore, 11 Nov. 2017.

Conway, Patricia. “The Role of Gut Microbiota in Human Health and Disease”, 10th Scientific Seminar on Probiotics and Prebiotics: Role in Promoting Gut Microbiota & Health– A scientific and regulatory update. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 22 Nov. 2017.

Schlundt, Joergen. “Moving forward the AMR Agenda - New Lab and Epi Tools Meeting: WHO International Food Safety Authorities Network, Geneva, Switzerland, 12-13 Dec 2017.

Participants at the iFood 2017 Conference

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Annual Report 2017

News articlesBoh, Samantha. “New Research Centre at NTU to

Study How Food Can Be Made More Efficiently and Safely”. The Straits Times. 7 Nov. 2016. Online

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-research-centre-at-ntu-to-study-how-food-can-be-made-more-efficiently-and-safely

Boh, Samantha. “New NTU Unit to Study Food Safety, Boost Health”. The Straits Times. 8 Nov. 2016. Online

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-ntu-unit-to-study-food-safety-boost-health

Cheow, Su-Ann. “AVA to Ramp Up Monitoring of Farms for Resistant Bacteria”. The Straits Times. 4 Dec. 2017. Online https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/ava-to-ramp-up-monitoring-of-farms-for-resistant-bacteria

Schlundt, Jorgen. “Fighting a Plague that Could Lead to More Deaths than Cancer”. The Straits Times. 2 Nov. 2017. Online https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/fighting-a-plague-that-could-lead-to-more-deaths-than-cancer Interviews

“Interview with Prof. Joergen Schlundt”, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTS-Asia Consortium Annual Conference 2018, Singapore, 27-28 March 2018. Online https://youtu.be/tmW9agcbQ50

Khew, Caroline. “Facts, Not Fears, the Key to Dealing with GM Foods”. The Straits Times. 1 Apr. 2016. Online https://www.straitstimes.com/tech/facts-not-fears-the-key-to-dealing-with-gm-foods

Tay, Tiffany Fumiko. “No Traces of Banned Antibiotics in Shrimps and Prawns from Malaysia and Singapore: AVA”. The Straits Times. 11 Apr. 2016. Online https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/no-traces-of-banned-antibiotics-in-shrimps-and-prawns-from-malaysia-in-singapore-ava

Wee, Lea. “Mosquito Repelling Plants Fly Off Shelves”. The Straits Times. 10 Sep. 2016. Online https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/home-design/anti-mozzie-plants-snapped-up

“Eating Too Much Saturated Fat Can Cause Gut Inflammation: NTU Study”. The Straits Times. 3 May 2017. Online https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/eating-too-much-saturated-fat-can-cause-gut-inflammation-ntu-study

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6. Future outlookThe creation of NAFTEC at the Nanyang

Technological University represents a clear indication of the University’s wish to strengthen food science and food technology research in Singapore.

This comes at a time where international developments suggest major opportunities for science-based improvements for food technology optimisation. The practical use of science to make better decisions in relation to food production, food security and food safety is now often referred to as ‘decision support’. The focus of NAFTECs work to develop decision support tools and data relates to the benefit of integration in at least four dimensions:• Integration throughout the food production chains

‘Farm-to-Table’, • Integration across food technology disciplines

(microbiological, chemical risk/benefit assessments, sustainability assessments and solutions),

• Integration with relevant engineering sectors (environmental, chemical, biological, economical), and

• Integration with global development and use of novel technologies and big-data (e.g. DNA sequencing).

NAFTEC has initiated work specifically based on the revolutionary introduction of next-generation DNA sequencing in relation to microorganisms and food. This relates to good microorganisms in food and their health effects in the gut of humans (and animals), and it relates to the characterisation and prevention of pathogenic microorganisms in food, responsible for a significant disease burden and for an increase in problems with antimicrobial resistance. In these endeavors NAFTEC relies on the already existing capacity for next generation sequencing at NTU, specifically in SCELSE (Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Science Engineering). The concentration of expertise in relation to sequencing technology, but also the development of bioinformatics at NTU has created the possibility for rapid introduction of these ground-breaking techniques also in the food area.

Since food technology and food production in general involves many different disciplines, the continued NAFTEC construction will involve significant interaction across school and centre boundaries at NTU, constituting a hub of applied science supporting technology as well as decision support developments. This hub will link into other

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Schools and Faculties at NTU, and on the outside NAFTEC will reach out specifically to NUS, A-STAR, AVA, NEA, MoH as well as various polytechnic colleges.

In a broader sense the initiative will build capacity in Singapore for food technology and for risk-, benefit, and sustainability assessment, i.e. for the decision support needed to optimise food production, food innovation and food control, thus providing a needed support hub for industries and regulatory agencies nationally and in the region. Specifically, collaborative links have already been built with ASEAN member countries as well as other countries in Asia.

The future of decision support will be based in microbiological, chemical and modelling expertise. While such expertise is needed in general in Singapore’s food production environment, a specific focus on food ingredients (development, measurement and evaluation) is an area where the new initiative will provide novel capacity to the region. It should be noted that specific collaboration with some (of the few) countries with specific ingredients science centers is a real possibility already under investigation.

Specific technological innovations, including venture into 3-D printing of foods for specific nutritional needs as well as techniques for encapsulation and release of specific (microbiological or chemical) ingredients for optimised delivery of food ingredients is already under investigation at NAFTEC.

Likewise, NAFTEC has initiated work in the full food production chain in order to enable Farm-to-Table and One-Health analysis of food production issues and food technology solutions. This is based on the recent international understanding of the need for new preventative, technological approaches in the food production chain to enable safer, more sustainable and healthier food production.

NAFTEC has also already at this stage initiated significant collaborative links with external partners, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the WHO Collaborative Centre for Genomics at Technical University of Denmark, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Such scientific contacts, and others, will enable exchange of scientific staff and ideas, while strategic agendas will be enabled through direct links to APEC and ASEAN initiatives in the region.

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AnnexesANNEX I INFOSAN 2016: New science for food safety: supporting food

chain transparency for improved healthOutcome of plenary sessions (PS)PS1: Foodborne Disease Burden In a number of disease areas, efforts are prioritised

through the application of science-based estimations of disease burden, typically assessed through the use of ‘Disability Adjusted Life Years’(DALYs). This approach enables objective comparison of different disease complexes. In the area of foodborne diseases, efforts lead by the WHO has focused on providing the first global estimates of foodborne disease burden, culminating in the release of a report in December 2015, with global and regional estimates. The regional application of tools for this type of estimation and comparison will enable a focused, science- based and coordinated approach. During this session, experts involved in the development of the global FBD burden estimates presented the various applications from the perspective of their own country-context. Facilitated group discussions elicited feedback on the potential for regional use of FBD burden estimates in food science and food regulation.

PS2: Risk Assessment and Sustainability The capacity to model in areas with major inherent

uncertainties has resulted in a general move from deterministic to stochastic risk assessments. This has been the background for the recent developments in microbiological risk assessment, which come at a time when technologies enable novel use of side-streams in food production, for example through significantly improved extraction capacity for both proteins and carbohydrates. During this session, experts explained how such developments can improve the production efficiency and sustainability of food production chains and at the same time enable the use of new data in decision-support systems based on stochastic modelling for an integrated assessment of risks, benefits and sustainability of food production throughout the food chain.

PS3: Next Generation (DNA) Sequencing The emergence of the novel ‘Next Generation

DNA Sequencing’ (NGS) will enable direct, real-time, linkages of microbiological data between primary production, food sector and clinical sector, in effect enabling a better One Health perspective relative to food production and prevention of foodborne disease locally, regionally and globally. Of particular importance is the fact that this new technology not only can drive change in relation

to more efficient foodborne disease prevention and outbreak detection, it can also lead to food technology and food quality improvements (using positive microbiology) as well as to better food chain traceability, based on a novel capacity to share large volumes of relevant data around the globe. During this session, experts from the Americas, Europe and Asia provided the latest developments and applications of whole genome sequencing (WGS) in food safety. Facilitated group discussions elicited feedback on ideas for potential collaboration related to NGS in food science and food regulation in the region and beyond.

PS4: Novel Food Technology – Food Fraud Detection and Prevention

The addition of microorganisms (probiotics) and chemical substances (prebiotics) to food has received a great deal of attention, for their potential alleviation to a long list of non-communicable (obesity, diabetes, cardio-vascular disease) and communicable diseases. Linked to such developments are also the issues around health claims and ways of assessing them, an area presently receiving significant interest in Europe and North America. These issues also have significant implications for the rapid rise in internet sales of food and associated challenges, as well as food fraud and the new methods to combat these. Communication about quality, risk, benefit, nutrition and safety need to be clear and simple – and preferably consistent across borders. During this session, experts from academia, industry and international organisations presented some of the latest trends in food fraud detection techniques. Discussion during plenary reiterated the importance of this area as an emerging issue that requires due attention, with an apparent need for international agreement about how national information on food fraud can be shared across borders.

PS5: Role of INFOSAN The INFOSAN Secretariat opened the session with

some introductory remarks about INFOSAN and the ways in which members communicate, highlighting the use of the INFOSAN Community Website as a platform for information exchange. Six panelists including INFOSAN Emergency Contact Points, Focal Points, and Advisory Group members discussed the role of INFOSAN with respect to the implications of new technologies and initiatives for the prevention, detection and response to international food safety

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emergencies. Several panelists, with the use of case studies, discussed how we must adapt our systems, work collaboratively, and think creatively to stay current and keep food safe with a rapidly changing global food supply. Themes from the meeting were tied together to showcase how INFOSAN is or can be used as a platform to communicate during food safety emergencies, improve national multi-sectoral collaboration, and share information that could be useful to INFOSAN members around the globe to keep food safe.

Panelists shared experiences with meeting participants to illustrate INFOSAN in action during food safety emergencies in Asia and beyond. Panelists also shared their thoughts on future directions in light of new scientific and technological advances and initiatives that were discussed during the previous sessions of the meeting. The session served as a capstone to the meeting, and provided the INFOSAN Secretariat with some parting wisdom on how to best utilise INFOSAN in the region and globally in a changing world. By sharing examples of best practices in their respective countries, and tying these to INFOSAN aims, panelists demonstrated to participants what has worked in their respective national context and made suggestions on how other INFOSAN members may engage in the future.

Conclusions and future outlook Overall, it was concluded that the meeting: 1. Provided a unique forum for knowledge exchange

between food safety regulators, scientists INFOSAN members and academicians from Asia, Europe, Oceania, Africa and the Americas with a focus on new scientific developments in food science and risk assessment;

2. Facilitated the understanding of new scientific developments including the application of NGS technology for food safety and highlighted important areas for potential regional collaboration in Asia to improve food safety in the region and beyond;

3. Provided the opportunity for participants to debate the systematic use of a risk analysis framework including science-based, independent risk assessment and new foodborne disease burden estimates to prioritise and focus food safety and food control action;

4. Highlighted the utility of INFOSAN in the region for identifying and responding to food safety emergencies, and identified several ways in which INFOSAN can be strengthened in the region and beyond through actions taken by members as well as by FAO and WHO;

5. Emphasised the need for regional efforts to continue fostering collaboration between food safety regulators and scientists in the future, and INFOSAN could play an important part by encouraging information-sharing on relevant training opportunities, best practices and lessons learned, and by facilitating information exchange on relevant food safety issues.

ANNEX II IFOOD 2017: Food for the future: quality, safety and sustainabilityDiscussion and outcomeIn the discussion section for Day 1, presenters and

participants exchanged their opinions about the real life challenges in food safety monitoring. They also discussed about food sustainability and its connection and combination with risk assessment. One presenter gave an example of synthetic meat to better illustrate this discussion. Some participants also raised interest about the advanced food processing technology discussed and the feasibility of the application of these technologies to industry. There was an interesting and enthusiastic debate about how to deal with the gap between researchers, industry and policy makers relative to new technologies/new methodologies. The aspects including confidentiality, data sharing and transparency were discussed. Through the experience shared by several participants, it came to a conclusion that everyone should work with an open mind. The industries have responsibility to the society that they cannot merely focus on benefit and keep things to themselves, but also the timely communication

with researchers and better feedback to the public. The government shall improve the transparency of research data and results to the public, who has the right to understand and comprehend what is happening in their everyday life.

In the discussion for Day 2, there was questions about the value of sustainability assessment which brought a lively discussion about the assessment of urban farming/food production in land-limited areas like Singapore. The participants from an industry background were more concerned about the requirements of sustainability assessment before a product/process is generated. Experts in this area illustrated the current situation of sustainability assessment versus benefit and also research interest versus. industry interest. The comparison of ’natural’ food and processed food and science-based guidance to the public about these issues as well as the issue of optimised food selection was also debated. There was also debate about antibiotics and the alternatives of antibiotics which may bring risk in.

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ANNEX III – GMI letter to all Ministries of Health and Agriculture in 183 countries

NTU Food Technology Centre (NAFTEC)Nanyang Technological University,

62 Nanyang Drive, Block N1.2-B3-27Singapore 637459

Email: NAFTEC@ntu.edu.sg

NTU Food Technology Centre (NAFTEC)Nanyang Technological University,

62 Nanyang Drive, Block N1.2-B3-27Singapore 637459

Email: NAFTEC@ntu.edu.sg