This year's QS laboratory managers' meeting for residue monitoring took place on February 2, 2021. Due to the Corona pandemic, the meeting, which traditionally takes place on the opening day of Fruit Logistica, was held online for the first time this year and registered a new record number of participants: A total of 159 responsible employees from laboratories active in the QS scheme and laboratories in the recognition process from 17 countries took part in the event.
The focus of the laboratory managers' meeting was on the innovations in the field of QS residue monitoring and on current topics in the residue analysis of fruit and vegetables. The event was opened by a lecture of Dr. Lutz Alder (Dipl. Chemiker) on the question on which basis priorities can be set for the scope of analysis of pesticides. Claudia Rotter, responsible at QS for the laboratories involved in residue monitoring, then informed the participants about the results of the laboratory performance assessment carried out by QS last year. The technical evaluation of the results was carried out by Dr. Günther Kempe (consultant for residue analysis of pesticides and veterinary drugs) and provided the attendees with further assistance and information on laboratory analytics. At the end of the event and as an already fixed part of the laboratory managers' meetings, Dr. Kempe gave another lecture on current legal developments in residue analysis.
This year's laboratory managers' meeting was rounded off by two further presentations: Andreas Hentschel from Institut Kirchhoff Berlin GmbH gave the participants a summary of the 13th European Pesticide Residue Workshop (EPRW), which took place last May. The analytical aspects of bromide determination in plant foods were the focus of a joint technical presentation by Dr. Hermann Unterluggauer (AGES-Österreichische Agentur für Gesundheit und Ernährungssicherheit), Dr. Andreas Schürmann (Kantonales Labor Zürich) and Dr. Günther Kempe.
Despite the online format chosen for the first time, many participants took advantage of the opportunity to ask their questions via chat, so that a good professional exchange was also possible in this format,
explains Claudia Rotter. Nevertheless, we look forward to hopefully meeting the participants in person again next year in the run-up to Fruit Logistica.
