Food Standards Agency — FS101068 Effectiveness of depuration in removing norovirus from oysters.

Descriptions

The Agency wishes to commission work to quantify and optimise the effectiveness of standard UK depuration practices in reducing norovirus in oysters and to explore the potential for novel approaches to significantly improve the effectiveness of this process. Depuration is effective in reducing bacterial contamination but is known to be less effective in reducing norovirus. The lack of an effective process capable of reliably removing norovirus from oysters is an important knowledge gap and a priority for further research. Proposals are therefore invited for a laboratory-based project which will improve our understanding of the interaction between norovirus and shellfish and lead to the identification of optimised or novel depuration practices that could be applied in the UK, to significantly improve the removal of norovirus from oysters placed on the market. It is anticipated that the data generated from this project will provide an evidence base to demonstrate the potential for optimised or novel depuration processes to effectively reduce norovirus titre in oysters and contribute to increased public health protection in relation to norovirus infection associated with eating raw oysters. This will address one of the recommendations arising from EFSA's Scientific Opinion on norovirus in oysters, for research to establish and optimise the effectiveness of depuration and relaying for norovirus reduction using the standardised CEN method. It is anticipated that approaches shown to be effective in significantly reducing norovirus in oysters could form the basis of separate field trials (subject to legal compliance) and inform the development of an evidence-based norovirus risk management programme to support the FSA's strategic aim of reducing food-borne norovirus in the UK. This research call is seeking novel ideas to address the research areas identified and collaborative and/or multidisciplinary applications with an appropriate management framework are encouraged to promote well-balanced, innovative proposals that offer value for money and make use of the best available research and analytical approaches. The study should include reviews of relevant available evidence (published and unpublished) as the starting point for the investigations and to justify the design of new laboratory studies. Production of a comprehensive final project report is required which should include consideration of any continuing knowledge gaps and identification of priority areas for further research. If appropriate, suggestions for future field trials to validate successful findings should also be provided. It is envisaged that the project may take up to 2 years.