On 10 October 2024, a total of 25 stakeholder presenters from various parts of the world gathered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for a global meeting on cell-based food and precision fermentation. The meeting welcomed approximately 60 participants, including representatives from various departments and agencies of the Government of Canada, to discuss various technical issues around foods derived from cell culturing and precision fermentation. The meeting was hosted by the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and held at the Ontario Investment and Trade Centre. FAO Liaison Office for North America has also collaborated in this...

FAO has published the meeting report of the 2023 Food Safety Foresight Technical Meeting, along with a series of video interviews and an infographic. The report explores three focus areas addressed at the meeting – plant-based food products, precision fermentation and 3D food printing. The way we produce food puts enormous pressure on the world’s finite natural resources and contributes a third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, the growing global population is driving demand for increased food production, posing a challenge to stay within planetary boundaries. To meet the demand for food while addressing...

Circular production promises vast benefits towards sustainability across all dimensions – economic, environmental and social. Yet, it also implies a significant departure from the linear “take-make-use-dispose” model of the current system. Circular economies are critical to achieving the transformation needed for our agrifood systems to guarantee adequate food for all produced within the planetary boundaries. At the same time, this transformation requires adapting food safety policies and principles to ensure that food remains safe. The FAO food safety foresight programme is actively working in this area and released a report, Food Safety in a...

A joint event organised and delivered by FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture  and Food Systems and Food Safety Divisions including contributions from Codex Secretariat experts and technical experts. The training event will take place online from 21 to 23 October 2024. A thorough understanding of the hazards associated with fisheries and aquaculture products is crucial for implementing an effective HACCP system. The knowledge...

At the IUFoST World Congress on Food Science and Technology, FAO presented its ongoing efforts in improving national food control systems using the FAO/WHO Food Control System Assessment Tool. The tool, developed jointly by FAO and the World Health Organization, provides a structured, transparent, and evidence-based method to assess food control systems across the entire food chain, from production to consumers, enabling countries to implement targeted strategies for measurable and sustainable improvements. The session emphasized the critical role of science and risk analysis in support of food control systems, as highlighted by the tool. Based on Codex Alimentarius principles, one...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in cooperation with the National Food Safety Agency (NFSA), concluded an eight-month assessment of Egypt’s food control system with a final workshop held in Cairo from 9-12 September 2024. Stakeholders, experts, and officials from various ministries within Egypt’s food control system convened to review the assessment’s findings. The group endorsed the recommendations, established priorities and developed a roadmap aimed at enhancing the country’s food safety framework. Speaking at the Strategic Workshop in Cairo, Dr Tarek El Houby, Chairman of the National Food Safety Agency (NFSA), stressed...

An article by FAO authors has been published in Nature on the opportunities and challenges for global food safety in advancing circular policies and practices in agrifood systems.   A shift from linear practices in agrifood systems to circularity aims to do “more with less”, reducing waste by closing material and processing loops. However, the adoption of circular practices is rarely preceded by a full understanding of the food safety hazards that may arise from these processes.   The review article, co-authored by Andrew Pearson, Keya Mukherjee, Vittorio Fattori and Markus Lipp of FAO’s...

The use of antimicrobials in agriculture and food production has significantly contributed to improved animal welfare and safer production systems. These medicines are the only way to treat bacterial diseases and remain a critical piece of global agri-food systems. However, overuse and misuse of these critical tools can lead to the development of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), which not only threatens human health but also undermines the long-term viability of agricultural production. This global health crisis, if left unaddressed, could diminish decades of progress in healthcare and agriculture. Ensuring these medicines remain effective in the decades to...

Food is a basic necessity for life. Yet foods can also be associated with adverse health effects, including those resulting from dietary exposure to chemical substances, whether naturally occurring, process-induced, or in the form of additives or contaminants.   FAO has released a

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will organize a global meeting on whole genome sequencing (WGS) for food safety and water surveillance within the One Health framework. The call for applications is now open until 4 November 2024 for those who would like to be considered to participate in the meeting. WGS identifies the DNA sequences of an organism, significantly contributing to a better understanding of variations within and between species of various foodborne and waterborne pathogens. Because the genomic information of such species significantly varies among different geographical areas, having a global collaboration would...