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Countdown to DF2012 - only a few days left!

If you have not made your arrangements to attend the Dietary Fibre 2012 Conference yet, your last chance to register at the regular fee is by 26 April 2012. Thereafter only on-site registration will be possible.

A special offer for short term visitors: 1-day-ticket at a reduced price. For details go to df2012.icc.or.at/register.

Excellent speakers and outstanding contributions in the areas of dietary fibre definition, analysis, nutritional roles, dietary recommendations and labeling, food processing, innovation and development of new ingredients and products, impact of fermentation, health benefits, marketing potential and consumer acceptance are waiting for you at the DF2012. Check the programme for details at df2012.icc.or.at/programme.

We would also like to thank our main sponsors for their support. Meet the sponsors in the exhibition hall of the Centro Congressi Fontana di Trevi, the exquisite venue of DF2012.

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The 14th ICC Cereal and Bread Congress 2012 "Science and Technology Innovation for Healthy Cereals & Oils" will take place in Beijing, China, 6-9 August 2012. Cereals and oils are the basic foods for people around the globe. Relevant research and innovation is a matter of consistent concern.

The 14th ICC Cereal and Bread Congress will provide a unique opportunity to meet and exchange new ideas and valuable information with the global science and research community, and technology, processing and trading professionals in the cereal and grain, oil and food fields worldwide.

Topics will include:

Cereal Storage - Fumigation and pest control - Cereal Processing - Novel cereals products - Improvement on food additives - Oil and Fat Industry - Biotechnology on oil seeds and oil & fat - Eastern and Western Staple Food - Food Safety and Quality - Safety evaluation on GMO food - Cereal Food Nutrition and Health - Dietary fiber and whole grain food - Ingredients of bioactive components - Technologies on rice and flour fortification - Global Food Security and Sustainable development - Energy saving and emission reduction of cereal and oil industry.

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Mark Your Calendar! Continuing the successful series of MoniQA International Conferences (Rome, Italy, 2008; Krakow, Poland, 2010; Varna, Bulgaria, 2011), targeting participants from regulatory, industry, research and technology, method providers, media and consumer associations, the 4th MoniQA International Conference will be taking place in Budapest, Hungary, 26 February - 1 March 2013, conveniently scheduled just prior to the IAM ( Inter-Agency-Meeting) and Codex Alimentarius CCMAS 2013! Please mark your calendar now, and contact us, if you are interested to be involved in the organization of specific sessions related to "Food Safety: driven by Globalisation, Climate Change, Food Security and Economic Crises". Contact: roland [dot] poms [AT] icc [dot] or [dot] at or tomoskozi [AT] mail [dot] bme [dot] hu.

The 3rd International Symposium on Gluten-Free Cereal Products and Beverages is organised by the Department of Food Sciences and Technology (DFST), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria in partnership with the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC)), to be held in Vienna, Austria, 12-14 June 2013.

This symposium will be a three day event, and will span the whole food supply chain from agricultural over analytical and processing to consumer and industrial aspects. It addresses international scientists and technologists, specialists from coeliac societies, health professionals, physicians, breeders, millers, bakers, food processors, suppliers and traders to discuss relevant aspects of gluten free cereal products and beverages, and the significance of minor cereals.

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ICC is now calling for expressions of interest in two new positions of Technical Co-Director. The successful applicants will be suitably qualified and experienced scientists in cereal science or related fields and their roles will be to assist the current Technical Director and Chair of the Technical Committee Dr. Meinolf G. Lindhauer of the Max Rubner Institute, Detmold, Germany.

The development, distribution and promotion of Standard laboratory methods has been one of the ICC's primary aims since its inception in 1955. It is now time to revise many of those methods, particularly those that have been in use for a long time. This will also provide an opportunity to revitalise the activities of Working Groups in specific fields of activity and to establish a strong methods/equipment validation program whereby ICC will coordinate the necessary testing and statistical evaluation of results, on a fee for service basis.

The Technical Co-Directors will assume responsibility for much of this work, working in close cooperation with Dr. Lindhauer. These are voluntary positions but all reasonable expenses incurred in attending meetings and conducting relevant work will be re-imbursed.

Applications are open to individuals working or residing in ICC Member Countries that are in good financial standing. Applications should be submitted in writing to the ICC Secretary General, Dr. Roland Ernest Poms by email to office [AT] icc [dot] or [dot] at and to Dr. Meinolf Lindhauer at meinolf [dot] lindhauer [AT] mri [dot] bund [dot] de.

We also appreciate recommendations by the National Delegates or Deputies for individuals that would fit the profile.

We look forward to hearing from you by 15 March 2012 at the latest. 

ICC Cereal and Bread Congresses are the major events on the ICC Calendar. They are held every four years, the most recent examples being in 2000 in Surfers Paradise, Australia, 2004 in Harrogate, UK, 2008 in Madrid, Spain and 2012 in Beijing, China.

ICC is now calling for expressions of interest from potential hosts for the 15th International Cereal and Bread Congress to be held in 2016. Applications are open to organisations in ICC Member Countries that are in good financial standing. Applications should be submitted in writing through the respective National Delegate of the Member country, and addressed to the ICC Secretary General, Dr. Roland Ernest Poms by email to office [AT] icc [dot] or [dot] at for consideration at the 14th International Cereal and Bread Congress to be held in Beijing, 6-9 August 2012.

These Congresses have traditionally focused on the milling of wheat and other cereals, bread making, and the production of other cereal-based foods from around the world. However in more recent times ICC Congresses have expanded their focus to address issues that contribute to improved food quality, food safety and food security for the health and well-being of all people.

The organisation of Congresses is shared by the respective ICC Member Country and ICC with a local Organising Committee having primary responsibility for the planning and operation of the event. Management and financial responsibility for the overall event rests with the hosting ICC Member Country, unless otherwise negotiated. There are also a number of requirements that must be met before an application can be approved, the main one being the provision of a preliminary budget proposal with a cost summary. Detailed Terms and conditions for potential host organisations can be found at the ICC website, www.icc.or.at. Proposals will be accepted until 15 April 2012. 

ICC is very pleased to report on the outcomes of a highly successful 1st ICC India International Grains Conference held in New Delhi India 16-18 January 2012

The meeting was held in Partnership with ICRISAT, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in Hyderabad, and we were delighted to have Dr. S. Ayyappan, Director General – Indian Council of Agricultural Research as opening speaker.

The Conference Theme was the Developments in Grain Science and Technology to Ensure High Quality, Safe and Healthy Grain-based Foods and delegates enjoyed three days of excellent presentations from a number of respected Indian and International speakers including Dr William Dar, Director General – ICRISAT,  Dr V. Prakash - President of the Indian Nutritional Society and former Director of the Central Food Technological Research Institute, India, Dr Kiran Sharma - CEO ICRISAT's Agribusiness and Innovation Platform, India, Dr Kaisa Poutanen - VTT Finland and Coordinator EU HealthGrain Project, Finland, and Dr Peter Shewry - Rothamsted Research, UK, to name but a few.

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The 14th ICC Cereal and Bread Congress 2012 "Science and Technology Innovation for Healthy Cereals & Oils" will take place in Beijing, China, 6-9 August 2012. Cereals and oils are the basic foods for people around the globe. Relevant research and innovation is a matter of consistent concern.

The 14th ICC Cereal and Bread Congress will provide a unique opportunity to meet and exchange new ideas and valuable information with the global science and research community, and technology, processing and trading professionals in the cereal and grain, oil and food fields worldwide.

Topics will include:

• Cereal Storage
• Fumigation and pest control
• Cereal Processing
• Novel cereals products
• Improvement on food additives
• Oil and Fat Industry
• Biotechnology on oil seeds and oil & fat
• Eastern and Western Staple Food
• Food Safety and Quality
• Safety evaluation on GMO food
• Cereal Food Nutrition and Health
• Dietary fiber and whole grain food
• Ingredients of bioactive components
• Technologies on rice and flour fortification
• Global Food Security and Sustainable development
• Energy saving and emission reduction of cereal and oil industry

Do not miss ICC's 14th Congress which will continue the successful series of ICC Cereal and Bread Congresses - 2008 in Madrid (Spain), 2004 in Harrogate (United Kingdom), 2000 in Surfers Paradise (Australia), and more.

Please find more details at

ICC Headquarters, Vienna 17 October 2011 - As ICC's Contribution to World Food Day- We are proud to announce the Invited Speakers for the 1st ICC India International Grains Conference in Partnership with ICRISAT.

The ICC India Conference is being held in partnership with the CGIAR International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in Hyderabad.

Conference Theme:
Developments in Grain Science and Technology to Ensure High Quality, Safe and Healthy Grain-based Foods

The Conference is a unique opportunity to network with decision-makers in the Indian cereals and food industry and the food cereals, food and nutrition science community.

Dates and Venue:
Monday 16 - Tuesday 18 January, 2012, The Eros Hotel (operated by Hilton Hotels), New Delhi, India

Announced Confirmed Invited Speakers include:

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The 5th International Dietary Fibre Conference DF12 will take place in Rome, Italy in May 7-9, 2012.
DF12 will continue the highly successful series of the earlier DF Conferences as seen during the past 4 editions, from Ireland in 2000, to latest in Vienna 2009: integration of nutritional and consumer science with food technology, product development, analysis and legal aspects. DF12 is the occasion where scientists, regulators and industry representatives from all over the world can meet in a unique location where participants can develop modern ideas while drawing inspiration from the beauty of Rome, the cradle of progress and civilization of the Ancient World.

DF12 will discuss all sources of dietary fibre: natural fibres (from vegetables, cereals, legumes, fruits, etc.), isolated and synthetic fibres and their role in human nutrition and innovative food products. DF12 will therefore offer a wide forum for all disciplines and industrial sectors involved in the research, exploitation and utilization of dietary fibre. A rich table top exhibition of products, machinery and scientific tools will contribute to giving the participants a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in the field of dietary fibre.

Don’t miss your chance to throw a coin in the Trevi fountain waters!

For more information and to register please go to the conference website at

http://df2012.icc.or.at/

(Vienna, 12 October 2011) The 3rd MoniQA International Conference (September 27-29, Varna, Bulgaria) brought together more than 150 participants from around the globe to discuss food safety issues and their impact on the consumer. The event also hosted the official launch event of the MoniQA Association, a non-profit-distributing organisation dedicated to collaborative research promoting a more secure and safer food supply.

The 3rd MoniQA International Conference, held in Varna, Bulgaria (September 27-29, 2011) brought together more than 150 international stakeholders from research, industry, authorities and consumer representatives to discuss “food safety and consumer protection”. Sessions focused on risk, understanding and choice, food safety, food security and climate change, socio-economic impact of food safety regulations, allergens, emerging issues in food (such as nanotechnology) chemical contaminants and mycotoxins, research undertaken by young MoniQA scientists and food safety education curricula around the globe; all under the umbrella of the impact on consumers.

The conference also hosted the official launch event of the new MoniQA Association, a non-profit-distributing organisation dedicated to collaborative research promoting a more secure and safer food supply, which will continue the activities of the project. In early August 2011 the association was incorporated as a non profit association (a so-called “Verein”) under Austrian law. Since then, most of the partners of the distributing original MoniQA Network of Excellence consortium (2007-2012) have joined the MoniQA Association and several new members have joined the Association prior to its first MoniQA Association General Assembly, which took place in Varna on 29 September 2011. To date nearly 40 institutions from 18 countries from 5 continents have become members of the MoniQA Association.

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The first ever ICC India International Grain Conference, to be held in New Delhi, India, 16 - 18 January 2012. The conference theme is "Developments in Grain Science and Technology to Ensure High Quality, Safe and Healthy Grain-based Foods".

Importantly, the conference being held in partnership with the world-renowned International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), based in Hyderabad.

Not only is India the second most populous country in the world, it also has one of the fastest growing major economies.

Thus, this not to be missed international conference, which includes a major technical exhibition, is the opportunity for all people involved in the grain industries (scientists and commerce) to share knowledge and network with colleagues from India and the Indian Sub-Continent.

For more information and to register please go to the conference website at

(Vienna, 31 January 2011) Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods (QAS), the official Journal of ICC and MoniQA, has been selected for coverage in Thomson Reuters products and services. The journal will be indexed and abstracted in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SciSearch), the Journal Citation Reports (Science Edition) and Current Contents ® and will receive an impact factor in the course of this process. Coverage will start with volume 1 (2009).

QAS is an international journal publishing peer-reviewed scientific research papers and review papers in the areas of cereals, grain crops, their quality and issues relating to food safety. The relatively young journal has reached wide acknowledgement for providing peer-reviewed information and research results in the area of food safety and quality assessment. QAS is published by Wiley-Blackwell with Stanley Cauvain and Roland Poms as the Joint Editors in Chief.

MoniQA (Monitoring and Quality Assurance in the total food supply chain, www.moniqa.org) is an EU-funded project which involves experts from around the globe working for safer foods by harmonising worldwide food quality and safety monitoring and control strategies. QAS is a major dissemination channel for MoniQA relevant research papers and related issues and MoniQA results such as validation studies, surveys, harmonised protocols and identified gaps and challenges in food safety management and analysis.

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ICC National Delegates are invited to nominate technical experts from their country to serve on ICC’s new enlarged Technical Committee, which is tasked with updating and expanding the ICC Standards. The persons concerned should be active in cereal analysis and have both a good technical and academic background in cereal science and technology, they are expected to serve as member of at least one ICC Working Group working on a specific Standard and possibly act as chair or deputy chair of that Working Group. The new Technical Committee will mostly meet via e-mail or teleconference and there will be a once every year face to face meeting. An ICC priority is to update and expand the ICC Standard Methods so that they will be of even greater use to the cereals community worldwide.

Dear National Delegates, Dear Institutional Members Representatives, Dear Corporate Members Representatives, Dear ICC Academy Members, Dear Secretary General, Dear Acting Deputy Secretary General, Dear ICC Team in Vienna,

it is now my turn to be ICC President.

I feel very honoured and thrilled at the start of my mandate.

I believe in cereals.

They are part of my every day life, as, I imagine, for most, if not all, of you. In the country where I come from, Italy, we eat cereals at breakfast, lunch and dinner and, moreover, I deal with cereals at work!

What I really like about cereals is the idea that everywhere in the world, from the Northern to the Southern hemisphere, from East to West, they are at the base of the daily diet of all human populations. Cereals are truly global.

This also means that they carry many values: genetical, agricultural, commercial, nutritional, and cultural values. So, the protection of cereals and their values is a great opportunity to try and improve the actual quality of life worldwide.

How can this be achieved? There are, in my view, several ways and they can all take advantage of the existence of ICC, this great international organization which, at present, brings together representatives of many countries worldwide.

The following objectives can therefore be pursued by means of ICC:

• to organize scientific events and activities aimed at spreading the culture of quality “from farm to fork” in the interest of all the cereal food chain actors, i.e. breeders, growers, dealers, products manufacturers, equipment manufacturers and most of all consumers;
• to study production and processing systems which are driven by the concept of sustainability
• to exploit the key role of ICC as publisher of international standard methods to establish common standards of different levels of complexity to cater for the different needs of different countries which might have different levels of development;
• to favour and encourage the application of hi-tech science for the development of simple, rapid, easy to use kits that can be applied widely for the screening of quality parameters and the improvement of the cereal sectors also in developing countries.

It will be easier to reach the above mentioned objectives if the following actions are also taken:

• to improve and find ways to encourage participation of more countries to ICC for an effective exchange of knowledge and for cross pollination between different knowledge levels and cultures;
• to pay more attention to cereals other than wheat;
• to promote integration between all actors of the cereal food chain;
• to multiply initiatives aimed at spreading knowledge of the existence of the Association itself and its missions also within member countries along with initiatives aimed at encouraging corporate members’ and young scientists’ participation;
• to reinforce and possibly enhance ICC influence and authoritativeness upon decision making or consultative bodies at the multinational level (i.e. European Food Safety Authority, FAO, etc.);
• to strengthen scientific and technical cooperation with international or national organizations working in the same or related fields as ICC (AACC, AOAC, ISO, UNIDO, etc.).

Having served as National Delegate for Italy and as Member of the Technical and Executive Committees for several years, I got to know ICC and his community and, for this reason, I am looking at the future with confidence and enthusiasm because I trust that I shall have the opportunity to preside a group of competent, fair, supportive and committed people.

In this regard I wish to thank my near Predecessors as ICC President, in particular John Taylor, Concha Collar and Stan Cauvain whom I got to know better and who have given a lot of their time and efforts for the well-being of the Association. They are a great example for me to follow!

Special thanks also go to our Secretary General, Roland Poms, who has always tried and exploited new opportunities for ICC growth and visibility, to our new Acting Deputy Secretary General, who is performing really well and to all the great ICC team at the Head Office in Vienna.

ICC needs the help, support, ideas of all its Members to grow and thrive in the age of globalisation. Therefore I encourage all of you to consider yourselves as active members of the ICC family and to feel free to let ICC know about your opinions, initiatives, experiences, wishes and anything you deem useful for the ICC furtherance.

I shall always be pleased to hear from you and I look forward to working with you all.

Marina Carcea

Rome, Italy
January 2011

Dear Members of the ICC Family,

it has been my great honour to serve you as ICC President for the past two years. This has been a very exciting and rewarding period for our Association and for me personally. There have been very many highlights, including:

• The launch of our own scientific journal “Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops and Foods,” QAS for short, which is being very ably edited by Stan Cauvain and Roland Poms.
• ICC’s coordination of the EU MoniQA (Monitoring and Quality Assurance in the Food Supply Chain) Network of Excellence, the outcomes of which are being published in QAS.
• ICC’s participation in the EU Healthgrain Project on the science and technology of health-promoting components in whole grain cereals, and in its successor, the Healthgrain Forum.
• ICC’s participation in the EU PlantLIBRA Project, which is fostering the safe use of food supplements containing plant or botanical preparations, by improving science-based decision-making.
• The coordination by ICC of several major scientific conferences, including the Dietary Fibre DF09 Conference in Vienna in 2009, and the Healthgrain Conference in Lund in 2010.
• ICC’s hosting of a Summit on Staple Food Security, and our Association’s declaration on Food Security, whereby ICC has committed itself to using our expertise to help eliminate global grain food insecurity.
• The introduction of greatly improved ICC member benefits for Country and Corporate members, and the introduction of the category of Institutional Membership.

None of these would have been possible without the great ICC team, especially at the Head Office in Vienna, in particular our highly energetic Secretary General, Roland Poms and Marcella Gross, our very capable Acting Deputy Secretary General.

During the past two years it has also been my great privilege to visit with ICC associations across the world, including China, Sudan and Taiwan. I wish like to thank these local associations for their wonderful hospitality. It was also my personal privilege to welcome many of you to my home country of South Africa in February this year at our local CST-SA – ICC Grains Symposium in Pretoria, and again in August at the IUFoST Congress in Cape Town.

I would also like to especially thank my predecessors as ICC President, Concha Collar and Stan Cauvain, who voluntarily took on far more tasks than they should have, greatly easing my load.

It is with every confidence that I hand over the Presidency to my successor, Dr Marina Carcea, Italy’s National Delegate. Marina is a wonderful person and a great scientist. She will bring considerable innovation and flair to our Association. This year 2010, you also voted Dr Joel Abecassis, France’s National Delegate as incoming President-elect and Dr Fengcheng Wang, China’s Deputy National Delegate, to follow him. This is an outstanding team and the future of ICC is in very good hands indeed.

Thank you
John Taylor

Pretoria, South Africa
December 2010

Joel Abecassis from INRA, France, was elected ICC President Elect by the ICC National Delegates, and the Representatives of the ICC Regions and ICC Corporate Members unanimously. Joel Abecassis will start his term as ICC President Elect on 1 January 2011 and will succeed Marina Carcea from INRAN, Italy, as ICC President in 2013. The new President-Elect will be finally appointed at the ICC General Assembly, which will take place during the II Latino-American ICC Conference in Santiago di Chile in April 2011.

Fengcheng Wang from Henan University of Technology, China, was elected to succeed Joel Abecassis as ICC President Elect. In a dual election for two successive terms for ICC Presidency both Joel Abecassis, France, and Fengcheng Wang, China, were elected by the ICC National Delegates, and the Representatives of the ICC Regions and ICC Corporate Members unanimously. Fengcheng Wang will start his term as President Elect on 1 January 2013 and will succeed Joel Abecassis as ICC President in 2015.

Jan Willem van der Kamp from TNO, the Netherlands, was elected new Chair of the ICC Academy. In an election by the Fellows of the ICC Academy, Jan Willem received 100% positive votes after being nominated by the Academy earlier this year. ICC and its Academy Fellows thank Bob Cracknell for his great efforts in setting up the ICC Academy in 2008 for the purpose of providing recognition to individuals from within the ICC membership who have made significant contributions to the work of the ICC and the furtherance of its aims and ideals, and to the profession of cereal science.

ICC Standard methods are internationally recognised and respected and have been used in grain trading since their inception nearly 50 years ago. In 1955 food security concerns in war shaken Europe were the drivers for establishing ICC. Today, the need for ICC Standards has never been greater in order to ensure high quality and safe cereal foods, and to promote worldwide food security. There are many major developments taking place in the area of cereal food analysis, especially with regard to rapid methods of analysis. Here especially ICC is playing a leading role through the coordination of the EU Project MoniQA - Monitoring and Quality Assurance in the Food Supply Chain, and the involvement of various bilateral initiatives with institutions and governments in countries affected by hunger and other forms of food insecurity.