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Food safety and quality

Whole genome sequencing and food safety

Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is one of the laboratory tools that identifies the DNA sequences of an organism. The precision, flexibility, efficacy and simplicity of WGS have provided advantages over the combined use of multiple traditional methodologies. The effectiveness of WGS in global monitoring and trend analysis was strongly evidenced during the pandemic, and WGS is expected to contribute  significantly to improving the work in various technical fields such as food safety, antimicrobial resistance monitoring and water surveillance.
FAO’s work on WGS and food safety

Country case study (Malaysia): FAO collaborated with the University of Putra Malaysia (UPM) to develop a case study on the WGS analysis of Streptococcus agalactiae, also referred to as Group B Streptococcus (GBS) in food (see FAO Risk Profile  ). Foodborne GBS, particularly of the sequence type (ST) 283 (see Factsheet), came to the attention of food safety authorities in 2015, when an outbreak was reported in the neighbouring country of Singapore. Because only this specific sequence type causes the severe foodborne disease, it is important for authorities to be equipped with WGS technical capacity to analyse food samples in order to investigate relevant cases and outbreaks. The project was conducted in 2023–2024 and the report is planned for publication in 2025.

Food safety and water surveillance: In collaboration with FAO's Land and Water Division and under the project, Water quality, irrigation and on farm controls for achieving global food safety and nutrition security, FAO contributes to strengthening the WGS capacity for food safety management in several low and middle income countries.
FAO technical workshop on the use of WGS for food safety management: FAO organized a technical workshop on the use of WGS for food safety management at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy from 18 to 20 April 2023. 

FAO keeps all Members informed of the latest scientific developments in the food and agriculture sectors and provides technical assistance to those that need it. FAO, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) has published several technical papers and convened meetings and international conferences on WGS, and on the applications and impact of WGS on food safety management. It also supports non profit technical initiatives working on WGS and food safety, such as the Global Microbial Identifier and PulseNet International, and facilitates an informal network of developing countries that was established to share information, knowledge and experience in using WGS for food safety management. The following publications document other FAO activities on WGS and food safety.

Meeting reports
Drafting the technical paper on Applications of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) for Food Safety Management
2016

The expert workshop on practical applications of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) for food safety management was held to develop a paper with concrete case studies on the use of WGS for food safety management in the regulatory frameworks at the national level.

Application of genome sequencing for sustainable agriculture and food security. Meeting Report
2016

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the joint division of FAO and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held a side event on “application of genome sequencing for sustainable agriculture and food security” on 30 September 2016 during the 25th session of Committee on Agriculture (COAG) at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Final Meeting Report: Technical Meeting on the impact of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) on food safety management: within a One Health approach
2016

The 9th meeting of Global Microbial Identifier (GMI), which was preceded by a Technical Meeting on the impact of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) for food safety management: within a One Health framework, was held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy on 23- 25 May 2016.

Side Event on the Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and Food Safety
2016

On 28 June 2016, FAO/WHO/OIE organized a side event to the 39th Codex Alimentarius Commission at the FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy on Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and Food Safety.