The Institute of Applied Sciences (IAS), University of the South Pacific (USP) hosted the Project Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) workshop on Food Sampling and Onboarding Workshop for its laboratory staff and Research Fellows on Friday, 18 October 2024 at the USP Lower Campus, Laucala Bay Road, Suva.
The workshop was a specialised training event designed to equip laboratory staff and researchers with essential skills for food sample collection, handling, and safety protocols for the PTFI Project samples collection of native and underutilized foods from Fiji. Select foods not found in Fiji will be collected from the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. Appropriate metadata will be recorded as part of PTFI requirement and samples information will be available on sample management system (Freezerworks). All samples will be analysed for fatty acids (FAMEs) and minerals/heavy metals (Ionomics) at the IAS Laboratory using Gas Chromatography (GC) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICPOES).
IAS is one of the nine selected Centres of Excellence (CoE) from around the world to use PTFI standardized tools to generate food composition analysis with the PTFI COE Project, IAS Laboratory will contribute data towards a large public reference database of food composition that will be used by researchers and policy makers in food, agriculture, nutrition, and health. The other selected CoEs are based in the USA, Columbia, Mexico, Australia, Ghana, Netherlands, Thailand, and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute.
Staff that had been conducting sampling shared experiences on best practices in sampling. Mr. Sivorosi Kete, an experienced food and water sampling Technician at IAS shared best practices on sampling. “It is important that a sampling plan is prepared that also anticipates any issues that may arise during sampling,” he said.
Ms Suzanne Turaganiwai, the IAS Media and Graphics Assistant shared the best ways to capture photographs and videos of the sampling environment. “Ensuring that photos are properly labeled and stored are important in recording of details pertaining to the samples,” she said. The session also provided the IAS Food EDU Project Fellows to share their research progresses.
Dr Vincent Lal, IAS Manager Laboratory in sharing the sampling plan stressed the importance of teamwork and collaborations. “The workshop is part of our commitment to advancing food nutrition research and ensuring sampling practices align with the PTFI Project objectives as well as maintain sample integrity.
Through the interactive sessions, participants gained a solid foundation in laboratory food sampling techniques, learning to manage samples accurately and prevent contamination—vital for generating reliable results in food nutritional content studies.
Dr Vincent stated that the “The PTFI Project Laboratory Food Sampling Onboarding Workshop” was designed to build confidence in new team members by equipping them with the skills they need to handle food samples safely and accurately. Their enthusiasm and engagement showed by our staff members and Research Fellows showed that we’re on the right path to achieving excellence in food nutrition research,” he said.
