The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” (IZSAM) is a public health institute with administrative and managerial autonomy, which operates as a technical and scientific arm of the Italian Ministry of Health and of the Abruzzo and Molise Regions, performing analytical work for the public veterinary services and providing the technical and scientific collaboration necessary to enable them to carry out their functions in the field of veterinary public health. The Institute offers high added-value services backed up by in-depth knowledge and innovation in the areas of animal health, veterinary public health including food safety, and environmental protection, in the interests of safeguarding animal and human health. Over the course of the years the Ministry of Health has established at IZSAM a number of national excellence centres both in the food safety and animal health fields, including, among others, the National Reference Laboratory for Listeria monocytogenes. Moreover, international centres of expertise have also been established, including four OIE collaborating centres (including the OIE collaborating centre for Animal Productions Food Safety), four OIE reference laboratories and one FAO reference centre, becoming a ceaseless exporter of know-how in the field of research, training, risk analysis, food safety and animal welfare. Thank to specifically dedicated facilities, at IZSAM shelf-life studies on different types of foods are carried out, particularly on traditional dairy and meat products. Since 2008 experts from IZSAM have been included in specific working groups of the European Reference Laboratory for Listeria monocytogenes aimed to the production of EURL Lm technical documents in order to give guidance to food business operators and competent authorities for conducting and evaluating shelf-life studies.
