To disseminate information on using test equipment and developing method to comply with various food safety regulations such as detecting metal in food, BIOTROP, in collaboration with PT SPEKTRIS METALAB conducted a one-day seminar on Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP MS) Food Safety Implementation on 15 December 2015. This seminar was also funded by PT SPEKTRIS METALAB.

In his opening speech, Mr Samsul A. Yani, Manager of BIOTROP's Product Development and Services Department, said that various problems in food safety, either physical, chemical or biological hazards encourage us to keep trying to control them. “Food, feed and drinking water have small particles, therefore, we need more specific equipment in testing. The ICP MS will help us to test the presence of metal in food,” he added.

Thirty participants from Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Balai Besar Laboratorium Kesehatan Jakarta, Directorate General of Customs, MBRIO Food Laboratory, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, BIOTROP, Faculty of Agriculture Engineering and Technology IPB, UNILAB Perdana and private companies attended this seminar.

Topics presented dealt with introduction to thermo ICP MS spectrometry basic theory and application, overview and guidance of food safety analysis, trending on food safety regulation and analysis and validation methods. The seminar activity consisted of both oral presentation and QA session.

Information on the use of test instruments using a reliable test method is expected to guide stakeholders in formulating and implementing regulations related to food security, especially metal contamination, as a form of consumer protection.

The seminar’s resource persons were Dr Rosi from Research Center for Chemistry of Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Prof F.G. Winarno from Atmajaya University, and Mr A.M Suryanto from PT SPEKTRIS METALAB.