A major four day conference which brought some of the world’s leading food microbiologists to Aberdeen has been hailed a huge success.
Almost 950 delegates attended Food Micro 2008 which was organised by Dr Norval Strachan and Mr Iain Ogden of the University of Aberdeen and which concluded this afternoon.
Scientists at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre event discussed a huge range of food safety and quality issues including the safety of ready to eat foods as well as the bugs E.coli O157 and Campylobacter.
The Food Standards Agency were the main sponsor of the event which was the biggest conference of its kind in Europe and also the largest Food Micro ever to be staged – this was the 21st Food Micro which takes place every two years.
Dame Deirdre Hutton CBE, Chair of the Food Standards Agency, helped bring Food Micro 2008 to a close.
She said the conference was "formidably successful" and that work discussed was of absolute importance to the FSA in helping shape their strategies for dealing with foodborne disease.
Foodborne disease accounts for 500 deaths a year in the UK a year and is to blame for 750,000 people falling ill.
In Scotland there are 250 reported cases each year of E.coli O157 and 6,000 reported cases of Campylobacter. The actual number of Campylobacter cases – cases not reported to the authorities - is thought to be seven times higher.