The most urgent issues in food safety in

the next 10 years

Robert van Gorcom PhD Managing Director RIKILT Wageningen University & Research

Vice-chair Management Board European Food Safety Authority

My personal selection of the most urgent issues

Strongly reduce the number of recalls

Enable responsible and accepted introduction/use of new

technology, resources and products

We eat/are exposed to mixtures: toxicology has to reinvent

itself

Society-wide trusted governmental supervision

Tools for the consumer to do his/her own ‘analysis’

This all should lead to an increase of consumer trust

2

3

The current high number of recalls should be

strongly reduced

Although recalls aim to prevent food safety incidents their

effect is also a reduction of consumer trust

Recalls are expensive and do not support the brand name

So there a clear need for better administrative processes

(wrong labelling) and better tools for detecting undesired

allergens, contaminants and quality parameters online and/or

at-line

Products should only be put on the market if all known

potential issues are checked

4

5

Enable responsible and accepted introduction/

use of new technology, resources and products

In the coming decade challenges lie ahead of us in:

● Feeding more and more people

● Introducing new protein sources

● The urgent need to make the food system circular

● Public acceptance of enabling technologies

These challenges are enormous and often opposite

The introduction of new protein sources will need new

technology but the public sentiment goes for ‘natural’

Circularity might lead to accumulation of unwanted compounds

which will cause the introduction of new technology again

6

Enable responsible and accepted introduction/

use of new technology, resources and products

Food safety has to become an important topic from the start of

new developments. Not only known risks but also risks that

might pop up by introducing new ingredients, technology,

circularity, ...

Safety by design has to become the standard

Food safety should not be an end of pipe problem but this

safety by design has to be taken into account through the

whole chain

Stakeholder management and in particular involvement of

consumers also has to become an integral part of product

development

7

8

Sola dosis facit venenum "Only the dose makes the poison“ Paracelsus 1493-1541

We eat/are exposed to mixtures: toxicology has

to reinvent itself

Our current safety limit setting is based on the toxicology of

single compounds

However we are exposed to (eat) mixtures and it is known

that many compounds (both seen as positive and seen as

negative) interact and/or act at the same receptor/system

Also natural elements of our food could have negative effects

We can not talk anymore of only risks or benefits. We will have

to find new ways of assessing and weighing their effects in our

diet

9

10

Sola dosis facit venenum "Only the dose makes the poison"

Sola dosis misce facit venenum "Only the dose of the mix makes the poison"

11

Society-wide trusted governmental supervision

The current European system with risk analysis and limit

setting/product admission at the EU level and supervision and

enforcement at the national level has not full support

National divergence (more strict) makes it not easier

Introduction of political arguments deviates from the principle

of our science based way of working

The lack of transparency on industrial data used in product

admission makes the system vulnerable

For society-wide trust full transparency is essential

For society-wide trust political interference should be absent

12

13

Tools for the consumer to do his/her own

‘analysis’

Risk perception in food safety is completely different from other

fields

We all drive cars and accept the risks but in food safety the risk

should be zero

As a driver we have the steering wheel in our hands

So let’s give the consumer tools that can support their own

informed choice

14

Tools for the consumer to do his/her own

‘analysis’ (2)

Tools for the general consumer (am I not being cheated: extra

virgin olive oil, frozen meat, organic, water content, ...) or is

this product ‘clean’ (pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, toxins,

environmental and process contaminants, ...)

Tools for the extra vulnerable consumer (allergens, lactose,

specific ingredients and/or additives, ...)

Tools for the consumer with specific wishes (halal, kosher,

veganism, ...)

So we urgently need new tools to empower the consumer

Towards citizen science drivers and validated tools in

food quality & safety testing (Michel Nielen, ASSET2018)

15

Tools for the consumer to do his/her own

‘analysis’ (3)

The development of these tools is still in its early infancy

RIKILT is coordinating

The smartphone side is the easiest part

Validated test strategies in the complex food matrix are the

real challenge

And at the relevant detection limits

So detecting fraud will be the easiest to complete (2-5 years)

But reliable tests for contaminants and allergens will need

many new breakthroughs

16

17

And I have not mentioned ...

Climate change and its effects on agriculture and new

emerging food safety issues (natural toxins, pesticides, ...)

Antibiotic resistance and the need for new antibiotics

Environmental pollution of the food chain

The lack of money to do what has to be done by the current

players involved

...

18

There is a clear

need for many

breakthroughs

in these fields

Food safety did not get much attention in H2020. I hope that it will be back on the agenda in FP9!

robert.vangorcom@wur.nl

19

Challenges and opportunities in food quality and safety

@FoodDrinkEU

Rebeca Fernández, FoodDrinkEurope

Food Nexus vision

@FoodDrinkEU

Fully transparent and consumer-focused

Safe, high-quality, nutritionally improved,

appealing food products

Helping consumers make well-informed

decisions

New safety risks arising from overarching challenges New materials, processes, packaging and distribution models Reconnecting with consumers

Challenges

@FoodDrinkEU

Reconnecting with consumers

@FoodDrinkEU

Severance of the mutual trust between

consumers and producers

How to win back the consumer?

High standard of quality and safety inherent to EU food products Cultural diversity of EU food traditions RRI, Societal engagement Education and disclosure of decision-making facts

Opportunities

@FoodDrinkEU

Thank you for your attention

www.fooddrinkeurope.eu

@FoodDrinkEU

.01 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

Integrating sustainability in food quality:

which research challenges?

Dr. Catherine M.G.C. Renard

Assistant Division Director

Science for Food & Bioprocess Engineering

INRA

2 .02 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

Science for Food and Bioprocess Engineering

• One of the 13 INRA’s divisions

– Appx 500 INRA staff (plus 300 – 400 co-workers from

universities and other research organisation)

– 23 laboratories across France

• Our mission:

– generate kowledge on processing technologies to create new

or improved food and biobased products

• Constructing quality in products

• Devising efficient processes for sustainable products

3 .03 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

Why should sustainability bring new challenges in

food processing?

Safety Pathogens

Toxins

Residues

Contaminants

Neoformed compounds

Allergens

Sensory

Service Health

Society

Storage

Convenience

Adapted to specific needs

Colour

Smell

Taste

Texture

Frugal Natural Ethically sound Proximity

Energy

Nutrients

Minerals

Vitamins

Phytonutrients

Data covering different points of view,

relying on various sources (scientific articles, manufacturing practices, consumers’

habits, preferences and choices, opinions, …)

4 .04 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

MANY challenges for food quality and safety!

• Source sustainably raw materials of adequate cost / quality

– Know the diversity, ensure traceability from the fields onwards, anticipate varability and availability

– Find alternatives for simpler formulations

• Eco-design, increase flexibility and modernise production lines WHILE maintaing safety and

traceability

– Introduction of captors / sensors to increase flexibility,

– Improve productivity, integrate new and frugal technologies, assist the operators

– Make changing scale easier: scale-down, multiply-up, intelligent control, integration of expert know-

how, robust low tech processes

• Improve and personnalise products and services in a new distribution context

– Local production, personnalised foods

– Integrate consumer knowledge (big data, virtual reality, differenciation)

5 .05 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

Two focus points

• Eco-design of food processes & supply chains

– Reduced uses of non-renewables, energy, water

– Better use of raw materials, Better valorization of co/by-products

– Increased flexibility,

• Smaller scale production and smaller production runs

• Raw material production and choice

– Which raw materials will we have in the future?

– Vegetal vs animal issues

– Clean label

6 .06 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

Research for eco-design

• Define trajectories following this processing logic

– Elaboration of « quality » products with all (?) dimensions of quality

– Measure environmental performances and adaptation to local issues

– Definition and monitoriing of processes at different scales

• Measure the performances for Multiobjective Optimization

– Data bases

– Development of methods and models

– Integration of simulation and decision-making tools

7 .07 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

The path of eco-design of food processes /

supply chains

CONTEXT CONSTRAINTS / DIFFICULTIES

We need to switch

• from one criterion optimization to

Multiobjective Optimization and

Multicriteria Decision Analysis

• from empirical to formal approaches establishing links between performances and operating conditions

• from forward engineering observing the

results of process conditions to Reverse Engineering selecting the right process conditions for a target output

• Explosion of scientific data that needs to be integrated into a comprehensive corpus of knowledge (ontologies)

• Heterogeneous data (qualitative, quantitative) difficult to merge for the building of decision support systems

• Difficulties in defining the goals on the possible outcomes of the process (participatory approach)

• Requirements in Multicriteria Decision and Visual exploration tools to facilitate human intervention / decision

Conception of food with expected quality”ies” demand more multicriteria Reverse Engineering approaches to fulfill consumers’ expectations

8 .08 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

Why different raw materials in the future?

• New production methods and conditions

– Renewed genetics

• Climate change – ex of wine production, plus increased risks

• Resistance to biotic and abiotic stress

– Agroecology

• Increased crop diversity locally

• Cropping systems with different crop equilibrium

• Impact on crop composition

• Which are expected to result in more diversity

9 .09 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

The path of diversity, variability and

heterogeneity

CONTEXT

The path of diversity, variability and heterogeneity

CIRCUMSTANCES CONSTRAINTS

New agroecological system

• Use of more varieties / biodiversity

• Coexistence of cultural trajectories

• Heterogeneous quality to sort

• Numerous varieties to process

Climate change

• Abiotic & biotic stresses

• Asynchronous maturity stages

• Seasonal & geographical variability

• Heterogeneous maturity stages to sort

More diverse and variable raw materials demand more flexibility in processing and the use of IT to identify variability and adapt in real time the chains

10 .010 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

A convergence point: smaller scale processing

• Multiple drivers for smaller scale processing

– A societal demand of proximity

– The need to deal with increased variability

• But it presents challenges in terms of sustainability:

– Thermodynamics are against us…

• which technologies multiply-up rather than scale-up?

– Organisational costs in connection with safety (and regulations),

training, …

– Infrastructure costs: integrating ITs

11 .011 Food Nexus Visionning Summit

May 29-30, 2018, Paris

• And just a few more research challenges

– Information technologies: from the field to the consumer

– Clean label: learn how to do without (some) additives?

– More pulses: as protein sources? As foods?

– Making « waste » a new raw material

• How? Acceptation? Regulations?