Abstract

Each European Union member state has a specialised laboratory which examines pathogenic bacteria in food or animals. These are the European National Reference Laboratories (NRLs). In May 2025, the EU Reference Laboratory (EURL) for Salmonella organised the 30th annual workshop for the NRLs-Salmonella. The purpose of the workshop is to exchange information between the EURL and the NRLs. The workshop was organised as a virtual meeting.

As at earlier workshops, the EURL gave presentations about the Proficiency Tests it carries out every year to monitor the quality of the NRL laboratories. The NRLs scored well in the three Proficiency Tests organised in 2024 and 2025. In two of those tests, the laboratories had to analyse fabric swabs and flaxseed for the presence of Salmonella. In the third test, they had to type Salmonella bacteria. This report gives a brief summary of those Proficiency Tests. More details about the results will be published separately for each Proficiency Test.

Every five years, the European Commission (EC) assesses the quality of the EURL-Salmonella. The positive review for 2025 was discussed in a presentation. In another presentation, the audience received information on Salmonella infections in humans caused by eating vegetables. Additionally, there was a presentation on the creation of the new EURL for public health covering food- and waterborne bacteria.

The EURL-Salmonella, which is part of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), organises this workshop every year. An important task of the EURL-Salmonella is to monitor the performance of the European NRLs for this bacterium.