Report on UK publicly-funded research relating to verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC)

Wednesday 27 October 2004

A report in a series providing an overview of publicly funded research relating to the microbiological safety of food has been produced by the Microbiological Safety of Food Funders Group (MSFFG).

The MSFFG is a cross-representational body involving public bodies who fund microbiological research in the areas of food safety. Membership includes officials from the Food Standards Agency (FSA), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Department of Health (DH), and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The Group's terms of reference are:

'To assist the co-ordination of publicly funded research and development on the microbiological safety of the food chain with a view to informing the R&D effort, identifying gaps and overlaps, and providing reports as appropriate.'

A new report published in October 2004 is available below. This report is a review of publicly funded research relating to verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) and updates the previous report published in September 2001. The new report covers research funded by the members of the MSFFG, a total of 102 projects, over the period 1999 to 2003.

The predominant research areas have been the pathogenicity and epidemiology of VTEC and the reduction and elimination of the organism from cattle and the food supply chain.