In the media spotlight: new foods and food production systems

Recently, an article on new foods and food production systems by Keya Mukherjee, FAO Food Safety Specialist, and Vittorio Fattori, FAO Food Safety Officer, was published in the Food Safety Magazine.

New foods are those that have not been widely consumed, either because their consumption has been historically restricted to certain regions in the world or they have recently emerged in the global retail space thanks to advances in science and technology. Some of these new foods are already showing up on our supermarket shelves - from plant-based oat or almond beverages to seaweed-based snacks and protein bars made from cricket flour. There are many others in this emerging landscape at different stages of development, such as cell-based food, 3D printed food, new proteins through precision fermentation, among others.

This fast-expanding and popular area of new foods is being driven and shaped by consumer demands and the need to find both environmentally sustainable and nutritionally sound solutions to feed the growing global population. The FAO food safety foresight programme is closely monitoring this emerging area to proactively identify and optimize opportunities as well as address any possible food safety risks.

Some major new foods and their associated food safety implications have been covered in a recent FAO publication, entitled Thinking about the future of food safety – A foresight report. In addition, this area is receiving growing attention at the Codex Alimentarius Commission as well.

Links to previous articles on new foods: here, here and here

Read about FAO’s work on foresight in food safety

Video: Using foresight in food safety