Validation of EN ISO method 15216 - Part 1 – Quantification of hepatitis A virus and norovirus in food matrices

J.A. A Lowther (1) , A. Bosch (2) , S. Butot (3) , J. Ollivier (4) , D. Mäde (5) , S.A. Rutjes (6) , G. Hardouin (7) , B. Lombard (8) , P. In'T Veld (9) , Alexandre Leclercq (10, 11, 12)

1 CEFAS - Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science [Weymouth]
2 UB - Universitat de Barcelona
3 Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences SA [Lausanne, Switzerland]
4 EMP - Unité Environnement, Microbiologie et Phycotoxines
5 Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety
6 RIVM - National Institute for Public Health and the Environment [Bilthoven]
7 AFNOR - Association Française de Normalisation
8 ANSES - Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail
9 NVWA - Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority
10 CNRL - Centre National de Référence Listeria - National Reference Center Listeria
11 Biologie des Infections - Biology of Infection
12 CC-OMS / WHO-CC - Centre collaborateur de l'OMS Listeria / WHO Collaborating Centre Listeria

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) and norovirus are important agents of food-borne human viral illness, with common vehicles including bivalve molluscan shellfish, soft fruit and various vegetables. Outbreaks of viral illness due to contamination of the surfaces of foods, or food preparation surfaces by for example infected food handlers are also common. Virus analysis of food matrices can contribute towards risk management for these hazards and a two-part technical specification for determination of Hepatitis A virus and norovirus in food matrices (ISO/TS 15216:2013) was published jointly by the European Committee for Standardisation and the International Organization for Standardization in 2013. As part of the European Mandate No. M381 to validate 15 standards in the field of food microbiology, an international validation study involving 18 laboratories from 11 countries in Europe was conducted between 2012 and 2014. This study aimed to generate method characteristics including limit of detection, limit of quantification, repeatability and reproducibility for ISO 15216 – Part 1, the method for quantification, in seven food matrices. The organization and results of this study, including observations that led to improvements in the standard method are presented here. After its conclusion, the method characteristics generated were added to the revised international standard, ISO 15216-1:2017, published in March 2017.

Mots clés: Bivalve molluscan shellfish; Bottled water; Hepatitis A virus; Norovirus; Real-time RT-PCR; Soft fruit; Standardization; Surfaces; Validation; Vegetables

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Médecine humaine et pathologie; Alimentation et Nutrition; Microbiologie et Parasitologie; Virologie

J.A. A Lowther, A. Bosch, S. Butot, J. Ollivier, D. Mäde, et al.. Validation of EN ISO method 15216 - Part 1 – Quantification of hepatitis A virus and norovirus in food matrices. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 2019, 288, pp.82-90. ⟨10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2017.11.014⟩. ⟨pasteur-02565140⟩