Report on UK publicly funded research relating to foodborne viruses: November 2005

The new report published in November 2005 is available below. This report is a review of publicly funded research relating to foodborne viruses and covers research funded by the members of the MSFFG, a total of 21 projects, over the period 1990 to October 2005. Research has focused primarily on the reduction of levels of viruses in shellfish, and in seeking to understand how the most common viruses could be transmitted to man from different sources. The overall conclusion is that this is not likely to become a major research area, and that research will tend to develop in response to microbiological food safety issues related to consumer needs and industry practice.

The MSFFG is a cross-representational body involving public bodies who fund microbiological research in the area of food safety. Membership includes representatives from the Food Standards Agency (FSA), Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSA Scotland), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Department of Health (DH), the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Northern Ireland (DARD), the Food Safety Promotion Board of Ireland (FSPB), the Health Protection Agency (HPA), the Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC), the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) and the Scottish Executive Department of Health (SEDH). The Group's terms of reference are:

'To assist the co-ordination of publicly funded research and development on the microbiological safety of the food chain with a view to informing the R&D effort, identifying gaps and overlaps, and providing reports as appropriate.'