Cultivating collaboration and innovation in food safety: outcomes of the “2nd EU Food Safety Forum′

EU Food Safety Platform Statement

The 2nd EU Food Safety Forum reaffirmed the EU Food Safety Platform’s commitment to advancing food safety, sustainability, and innovation through a systemic and multi-actor approach and collaboration.
EU Food Safety Forum serves as a Science-Policy-Society interface, an open space for discussion and collaboration as a periodic appointment for the actors for the Food Safety Systems. During the 2nd Forum edition, with the support of seven EU-funded projects and research infrastructures, experts, policymakers, and stakeholders collectively identified key challenges shaping the future of food safety governance in Europe, which are summarized below.

Key Challenges and Priorities identified:

🔹 Integrating One Health Principles: strengthening cross-sector collaboration between human, animal, and environmental health to address interconnected food safety risks.

🔹 Informing and enhancing Regulatory Frameworks with Data-Driven insights: leveraging science and evidence-based policymaking to ensure food safety regulations remain effective, adaptable, and aligned with emerging risks.

🔹 Addressing Climate-Related Food Safety threats: developing adaptive strategies to mitigate the growing impact of climate change on foodborne hazards, contaminants, and supply chain vulnerabilities.

🔹 Leveraging AI and digitalization: implementing AI, machine learning, and big data for food fraud detection, traceability, and risk assessment, while ensuring ethical and transparent use of technology.

🔹 Fostering Circular Economy approaches: supporting the transformation of food systems by integrating circular economy principles into food production while safeguarding food safety.

🔹 Strengthening Resilience against Supply Chain disruptions: addressing vulnerabilities exposed by global crises (e.g., COVID-19, geopolitical conflicts) by developing rapid-response mechanisms and ensuring diversified sourcing.

🔹 Boosting cross-sector collaboration and multi-stakeholder cooperation: encouraging stronger partnerships between scientists, policymakers, industry, and civil society to develop coordinated, science-based responses to emerging food safety challenges.

The EU Food Safety Platform remains committed to collaborative innovation and shaping policies that drive a safer, more sustainable, and resilient food system.

Read the policy brief and the full conference report here