Viruses that can be transmitted via food are increasingly becoming the focus of public and scientific interest. Although viruses cannot multiply on food, they are very stable on it and even the intake of very small quantities can lead to illness.

Noroviruses (which cause severe vomiting and diarrhoea) and hepatitis A viruses get onto food almost exclusively through contamination with human faeces, although this can be prevented with the help of suitable hygiene measures. Food that comes into contact with contaminated water during production and is not subjected to a heating step before consumption harbours a high risk for the consumer. Recent studies show that even people without symptoms can excrete noroviruses. Food that passes through many hands - as in catering - is therefore classified as high-risk products. Against this background, the importance of personal hygiene and training as a preventative measure must be emphasised.
In contrast, the hepatitis E virus can occur in food-producing animals without them becoming ill and can be transmitted to humans via food produced from them.

As part of its tasks, the NRL for Foodborne Viruses carries out investigations for the detection and characterization of viruses in food. For this purpose, mainly sensitive and specific molecular biological methods are used. Due to the often low virus concentration and the presence of inhibitors in various foods, which can hinder virus nucleic acid detection by PCR analysis, elaborate sample processing adapted to the specific sample matrix is often necessary.

In exchange with the EURL, the analytics are kept up to date.