Food safety foresight: Exploring the safety of new foods
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 the environmental impacts of agricultural systems, particularly intensive livestock production, there is significant interest in alternative models of food provision. New food sources such as plant-based food products, edible insects and seaweeds, and innovations such as precision fermentation and 3D food printing are being explored, encouraging diets that foster greater diversity in our food sources.
FAO aims to support its Members in preparing for the arrival of new foods on the market by providing sufficient information to protect consumer health and implement fair trade practices. Through foresight approaches, FAO has been monitoring this emerging sector and evaluating the opportunities and challenges it brings for agrifood systems, especially in the context of food safety.
“Food safety considerations are paramount to the future food system”
In a series of videos recorded during the meeting, experts discuss the safety of new food sources and production systems. “Food safety considerations are paramount to the future food system … Food safety considerations will no longer just be risk assessment, but the innovation can actually be applied to mitigate this risk, such that collectively we work together towards safe and nutritious food for the future food system”, said William Chen, Director of the Singapore Future Ready Food Safety Hub.
Angela Parry-Hanson Kunadu, Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, said, “We believe that FAO, WHO and Codex have set up the groundwork or the foundation for food safety to be managed properly by providing science-based information, for example, standards and guidelines that are freely available to all using evidence-based strategies. And these tools help competent authorities and all stakeholders, including producers, processors and the end user, to understand these new foods and apply the risk analysis principles to identify food safety risks and manage them appropriately.”
The meeting report delves into the key food safety issues, nutritional characteristics, environmental aspects, and consumer perceptions related to plant-based food products that mimic animal-derived foods, precision fermentation and 3D food printing.
Cormac McElhinney, Manager at the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, commented that “much of the innovation over the next five to fifteen years will be consumer-centric, with a focus on new foods, food sources, sustainability, food security and restricting food fraud opportunities, and the utilization of new production and processing technologies”.
Some new foods are already on the market, with many more in the pipeline. In addition to the nutritional and sustainability aspects of new foods, the food safety of these products is an important consideration. Food safety concerns identified in new foods must be addressed to guide the development of relevant standards and other food safety management measures needed to propel the new food sources and production systems sector forward and instil consumer trust in these products.
For more information
Download the meeting report, infographic and summary report.
Videos:
The safety of 3D food printing
The safety of plant-based foods
The safety of food products from precision fermentation
Photo: © FAO/Alessandra Benedetti
