bioMérieux to Host International Food Safety Symposium to Address Safety Issues Related to Food Supply

bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, today announced plans to host its Ninth Annual Scientific Symposium at IAFP 2010. The symposium, titled, “Validation and Verification of Laboratory Methods: Industry Needs and Laboratory Expectations will feature an expert panel that includes:

• Michael Brodsky, President, Brodsky Consultants
• Carl J. Sciacchitano, Director, Division of Field Science, Office of Regulatory Affairs, U.S. FDA
• Victor Cook, Chief, Microbiology Issues Branch, Microbiology Division, Office of Public Health Science, USDA/FSIS
• Brad Stawick,Independent Auditor, Stawick Laboratory Management
• Matilda Freund, Sr. Director, Worldwide Food Safety, Kraft Foods

For more information, visit www.biomerieux-usa.com/iafp2010

Regulatory agencies are increasingly requiring commercial and industry laboratories to use validated microbiological methods and to verify that they are using these methods according to the validated procedure. This event will be moderated by Michael Brodsky, past president of IAFP, AOAC International, and the Ontario Food Protection Association. The symposium will be held at the Hilton Anaheim on Tuesday, Aug. 3 at 7 p.m. Registration will begin at 6 p.m.

bioMérieux is also the proud sponsor of the Larry Beuchat Young Researcher Award. Given in honor of Dr. Larry Beuchat, University of Georgia, the award recognizes an active IAFP member who has shown outstanding ability and professional promise as a researcher in food microbiology/food safety. This year’s winner is Michelle Danyluk, an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, housed in the Citrus Research and Education Center at the University of Florida. The award will be presented during IAFP’s Awards Banquet on Wednesday, Aug. 4.

“Creating an environment for scientific exchange is critical and time sensitive given the recurring food safety issues,” said Manuel Méndez, general manager and executive vice president, bioMérieux North America. “Sharing industry best practices and collaborating with regulatory agencies improves our chances of managing current food safety challenges.”

bioMérieux will also showcase a variety of solutions including VIDAS® UP E. coli O157 (including H7),a pathogen detection method utilizing the award winning technology of recombinant bacteriophage proteins for the rapid detection of these critical organisms. Other innovative solutions include TEMPO®, the automated system for quality indicator enumeration, highlighting its recent AOAC approval for the TEMPO® YM kit, for the enumeration of yeasts and molds.

Visit bioMérieux at the 2010 IAFP meeting at booth #215.

About bioMérieux

Advancing Diagnostics to Improve Public Health

A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics for over 45 years, bioMérieux is present in more than150 countries through 39 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors. In 2009, revenues reached €1.223 billion with 85% of sales outside of France.

bioMérieux provides diagnostic solutions (reagents, instruments, software) which determine the source of disease and contamination to improve patient health and ensure consumer safety. Its products are used for diagnosing infectious diseases and providing high medical value results for cancer screening and monitoring and cardiovascular emergencies. They are also used for detecting microorganisms in agri-food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

bioMérieux is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris market (Symbol: BIM – ISIN: FR0010096479). Other information can be found at www.biomerieux.com.

Contacts

bioMérieux
Allan Mohess
Tel: + 1 919 620-2937
allan.mohess@biomerieux.com

Fleishman-Hillard
Kimberly Mays
Tel: + 1 216 928-3459
kimberly.mays@fleishman.com