SAFE FOODS
Encyclopedia
_(100).jpg){kind=logo}
Food safety
Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....
. It aims to contribute to the restoration of consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
confidence in the safety of the European food chain
Food chain
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
, to protect the consumer from foodborne illness
Foodborne illness
Foodborne illness is any illness resulting from the consumption of contaminated food, pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as chemical or natural toxins such as poisonous mushrooms.-Causes:Foodborne illness usually arises from improper handling, preparation, or...
, and to refine risk analysis
Risk analysis (engineering)
Risk analysis is the science of risks and their probability and evaluation.Probabilistic risk assessment is one analysis strategy usually employed in science and engineering.-Risk analysis and the risk workshop:...
practices for food safety
Food safety
Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....
via an interdisciplinary approach. The full title of the project is "SAFE FOODS - Promoting a new, Integrated Risk Analysis Approach for Foods". The project is funded by the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU) Directorate-General for Research (European Commission)
Directorate-General for Research (European Commission)
The Directorate-General for Research or DG Research, located in Brussels, is a Directorate-General of the European Commission.- Mission :The Directorate General’s mission is evolving as work on the European Research Area continues...
via the Sixth Framework Programme, under the ‘Quality and Safety of Food’ Priority Area. SAFE FOODS is also a founding member of COMMNET
CommNet
CommNet is an informal network of communications managers from EU funded research projects about food quality and safety.CommNet was established in early 2005 based on an initiative from the Network of Excellence CASCADE. It is an informal network and started with Communicators from about 15...
, a communication managers' network of several Sixth Framework projects dealing with food quality and safety issues. More than 95 natural and social scientists are involved in the project, coming from 37 institutions in 21 countries.
Thematic research areas
A broad range of research disciplines are used in the SAFE FOODS project, including molecular biologyMolecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
, microbiology
Microbiology
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
, toxicology
Toxicology
Toxicology is a branch of biology, chemistry, and medicine concerned with the study of the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms...
, probabilistic modeling, and disciplines of the social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
and the political sciences.
SAFE FOODS is divided in 5 sub-projects, namely
- Comparative safety evaluation of plant breedingPlant breedingPlant breeding is the art and science of changing the genetics of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. Plant breeding can be accomplished through many different techniques ranging from simply selecting plants with desirable characteristics for propagation, to more complex molecular...
approaches and production practices, - Early detection of emerging food and feed risks,
- Quantitative risk assessmentRisk assessmentRisk assessment is a step in a risk management procedure. Risk assessment is the determination of quantitative or qualitative value of risk related to a concrete situation and a recognized threat...
of combined exposure to food contaminantsFood contaminantsFood contamination refers to the presence in food of harmful chemicals and microorganisms which can cause consumer illness. This article addresses the chemical contamination of foods, as opposed to microbiological contamination, which can be found under Foodborne...
and natural toxins, - Consumer research of food risk managementRisk managementRisk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unfortunate events or to maximize the realization of opportunities...
perceptions, and - Institutional challenges and solutions to systemic risk management.
Background
The governanceGovernance
Governance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of management or leadership processes...
of food safety has long been regarded as the domain of “experts” and professional risk managers, with minimal input from other interested parties such as consumers. However, a number of food safety incidents in Europe, related to, for example, genetically modified organisms, bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
, and dioxins
Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds
Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds are by-products of various industrial processes, and are commonly regarded as highly toxic compounds that are environmental pollutants and persistent organic pollutants . They include:...
, have severely damaged public trust in food safety regulation and management. This exposed a need for improvement in the current approach to food risk analysis.
The SAFE FOODS project has been funded by the EU to develop a new approach in food risk analysis, integrating risk-benefit assessment of human health, consumer preferences and values, as well as impact analysis of socio-economical aspects.
Compared to current frameworks, a lot of attention is given to active stakeholder (corporate) participation, increased transparency (humanities)
Transparency (humanities)
Transparency, as used in science, engineering, business, the humanities and in a social context more generally, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed...
in decision-making, improved interaction between risk assessors and risk managers and more effective communication throughout the risk analysis process.