Foreword Vol.3 Nr.3/4

This issue of Affidia Journal combines 2021’s third and fourth issue because we began producing virtual events this year. We have adopted this hybrid model because of the overwhelmingly positive feedback we have received from the community of food safety and food analytics professionals. The audience we have had has been far beyond our expectations. We will continue to publish the Journal, of course, and I want to thank our authors for their excellent work here, but we will also broadcast more live events featuring food safety experts from around the world.    

Like you, I have been to many scientific conferences. Most of the time, we see plenty of PowerPoint presentations, some done very well by brilliant speakers, others just slide after slide of data, and in a few cases presentations by speakers that struggle with the material. The time for questions and discussions is very limited and many people are too shy to submit a question. It’s rare that someone offers a counterargument to the content or thesis presented. And there are only a few conferences where the speakers are gathered for panel discussions in front of the audience after their presentations.  And these panels are almost never convened to discuss the practical issues faced by Food Business Operators (FBOs).    

This is why we at Affidia are going to continue to produce virtual events that complement the insights of the Journal with live events where experts discuss new knowledge, new methods, and new products to guarantee food safety. Our events take place where the real world of food and feed industries meet the science and research that keep consumers safe, where stakeholders can challenge authorities and scientists, where FBOs can gain useful new leads without sitting through presentations that are not relevant to them, where all participants gain new insight into how their work affects the entire food chain.    

In 2022, we will publish just two issues of the Journal, but we will host four virtual events. Affidia virtual events are more like a forum than typical webinars. The format we will continue follow is the one we used for “EU Mycotoxin Regulations” (see side panel). Food industry experts will share their experiences and opinions before moving straight into our panel discussion, skipping long slide presentations that can found also elsewhere. At the end, there are brief product presentations by vendors. As with the Journal, Affidia virtual events are independent of vendors; scientific facts, tech news, and discussions about regulations, technologies and standards, along with opinions about risk management remain separate from vendor advertising. Our industry requires both the scientific and technical expertise to set food safety standards, but we also require the tools to achieve those standards, so we are always clear if an author or speaker has a business interest in the topic they are presenting.    

Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you at our 2022 Affidia event series (see the back cover for the program).