The complexities of food fraud require an understanding of criminology to remove incentives for criminals and to create more resilient food supply chains.      Introduction Today, food fraud is regarded mainly as a food regulatory/quality issue and it is addressed with the typical approach well known to the food business: risk analys [...]

The second quarter of 2020 saw a drop in RASFF notifications, a plausible consequence of the pandemic measures, but has the anticipated increase in food fraud actually occurred?     It is hard to think of another event that has had such far-reaching effects in such a short period of time as the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been witness to s [...]

Is it possible for valorised food processing by-products to be both safe and sustainable?      The European Commission’s aspiration to move towards a circular economy is no secret. With the recent unveiling of the Green Deal, an ambitious plan to make Europe carbon neutral by 2050, it is clear that in the near future, businesse [...]

Recommendations to facilitate the adoption of non-targeted mass spectrometry-based methods in food authenticity assessments.      Introduction Food authenticity is one of the major concerns of producers, consumers, and regulators. Today it is important to verify that food package labelling corresponds to the actual characteristics of [...]

Are regulatory limits a good compromise between public health and economic interests?     The EU undoubtedly has the strictest mycotoxin regulations in the world. The complex and supposedly well-structured system that enforces these regulations and guarantees the highest level of safety for EU citizens actually has some weak points and ev [...]

An overview of the last ten years of notifications related to food contaminated with mycotoxins.     In order to protect food consumers and livestock, mycotoxin levels in food and feed need to be controlled because they have toxic properties that can sometimes cause chronic negative health effects (Bhat et al. 2010; Wild and Gong 2010). W [...]

Affidia interviewed two of the principle players in testing inspection and certification of grain shipments to learn how real investigations are conducted and to understand the unmet challenges in this field.Globalization has increased the international circulation of commodities. For some of these commodities, globalization has meant the establish [...]

Unsafe foods incidents occur for many reasons and can lead to public health issues, sales losses, and harm to a company’s reputation. The response to unsafe food crises requires careful methods and precise procedures.     Food businesses are placing more and more emphasis on quality and safety control and on the traceability of prod [...]

One of the most expensive nuts is sometimes contaminated by aflatoxin at levels above EU regulatory limits. Here we try to understand to what extent the dramatic decrease in Iranian pistachio border rejections has been due to the change in regulatory limits.     The origin of the word pistachio comes from the Persian word pesteh. Iran has [...]

Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, faces mycotoxin-related challenges in an expanding export market. This article explains how grain stakeholders in Ukraine conduct mycotoxin risk management, which analysis methods they use, and why they choose them.     The impact of mycotoxins on human health and on the economy M [...]

Abstract  With the comprehensive legislation in many countries and co-existence of mycotoxins in different agricultural commodities and foods, as well as large monitoring and risk assessment programs related to these compounds, finding rapid, easy-to-use, accurate, and cost-effective solutions for multi-mycotoxin detection is of high demand. T [...]

Testing food manufacturing surfaces for SARS-CoV-2 has been widely promoted during the pandemic but is this approach effective for decreasing virus transmission of the virus?     Introduction COVID-19 is not considered a foodborne illness and surface contamination is not likely a significant source of contamination. Yet, food industry pla [...]

While consumers around the globe have gradually lost trust in poorly-applied precautionary allergen labelling (PAL) schemes, the UK food industry appears to be willing to embrace the new allergen approach utilising allergen thresholds.      Introduction Food allergies are a significant problem, with an estimated 20 million sufferers [...]

Alongside other current industrial approaches, next-generation sequencing (NGS) plays an important role in addressing food fraud and ensuring food authenticity.     Introduction Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been primarily associated with work in academia and work in human health-related fields. The insulation of NGS within these f [...]

Abstract – Ochratoxin A has been regulated in Europe since 2006, with the first official risk assessment dating back to 1994. There have been many efforts over the years in the agro-food system to control, monitor, and mitigate its occurrence in food commodities. However, the recent scientific evaluation of EFSA shed light on several still-op [...]

A never-ending story and lessons learned.     At the beginning of the first dioxin crises at the end of the last century, we did not anticipate that they would continue to pop up as a problem in the world for so long and that so many unexpected dioxin sources existed in the feed and food sector (see the figure on page 46). Over time, we h [...]

A lot of words, reports, and good will but where is the reduction in agricultural antibiotic use?      “Antimicrobial resistance is the ability of microorganisms, such as bacteria, to become increasingly resistant to an antimicrobial to which they were previously susceptible. AMR is a consequence of natural selection and geneti [...]

The presence of antibiotics in fresh water: the global antimicrobial resistance threat, inadequate legislation, and technical gaps in water treatment systems.     The worldwide use and abuse of antimicrobials in the past 50 years has had a heavy impact on the planet’s ecosystems. Antimicrobial-resistant genes, already present in bac [...]

Antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance; personal experience, policies and regulatory response.     Background Antimicrobial compounds are a natural phenomenon in any microbiome. As an example, in the human microbiome it is estimated as many as 1011 organisms per milliliter are found in the large intestine. A healthy human microbiome, [...]

Insight to the point of view of animal health authorities, food producers and retailers.     The point of view of animal health authorities in one EU country: education and training are very important, aside the regulations, in order to reduce antibiotic use. In the EU, total antibiotic use on average has decreased significantly over the [...]

The European food production industry has been shaken over the past two years by multiple reports of foodborne outbreaks. Food safety authorities also report a trend in the growing number of outbreak-related recalls. Is something going wrong?     Introduction The summer of 2019 saw numerous foodborne outbreaks linked to Listeria and Salmo [...]

Because of its relatively high price and its liquid form, honey has been a target for food fraud perpetrators from time immemorial.     Honey. Naturally delicious, syrupy and sweet, with a delicate, unique flavour, honey has been prized as a special food since pre-history. Cave paintings in Europe that date back more than 8000 years depic [...]

Although multiresidue detection seems like the ideal screening test for antibiotic residues, just a few platforms that accomplish this are actually available. Advantages and limitations of the commercially available systems are hereby presented.     Although multiresidue detection in food and feed seems like the ideal screening test, and [...]

How new fraud definitions and production guidelines together with state-of-the-art analytical tools help to ensure that honey in the marketplace is authentic and truly labeled.     Food authenticity and food fraud by economically motivated adulteration have been major issues in the food sector since the horse meat scandal in 2013. The EU [...]

Do we know how many people suffer from food allergies?        The socio-economic impact of food allergies  Allergy-related health loss is estimated to be of the same order of magnitude as prostate cancer or rheumatoid arthritis and it may be more severe than that of heart disease, skin cancer, or Parkinson’s disease ( [...]

European Union, USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zelando: an update      Abstract  As part of an EU-funded project (FP7) to develop “Integrated approaches to food allergen and allergy management”, a database was constructed from publicly available information on allergen recalls between 2011 and 2014 in Eur [...]

Product labeling is uneven in different countries and, even at the European level, legislation has gaps both for food producers and for consumers. Some countries, such as the UK, are moving to implement new national legislation.     Introduction  According to the final RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) report for 2018 (Eur [...]

ELISA kits can hardly be considered quantitative and LFDs play a key role in the food industry but performance is rarely documented.     Regulatory environment  EU Regulation No 1169/2011 specifies fourteen substances or products causing allergens or intolerances for which food labeling is mandatory when they are known ingredients. I [...]

A complex interrelationship of global, regional, national, and private trade and analytical standards for olive oil and olive oil grading provides assurance at every step from tree to consumer.      Introduction  Olive oil is an ancient food oil with a long history and current prominence in dietary approaches based on traditiona [...]

Digital communication technologies have tremendous potential to facilitate effective risk communication about existing and emerging food safety threats. However, some caution regarding social exclusion and ethical issues is needed.      The need for effective risk benefit communication  Effective risk communication about food is [...]

Simple devices that can be operated by non-laboratory staff are sufficiently accurate for identifying suspected non-compliant food batches. This kind of smart sampling can replace random sampling and make way for more efficient food fraud and safety controls.     The food industry goes to great lengths to ensure the safety and quality of [...]

Do method sensitivities comply with recommended allergen reference doses? The ThRAll-EFSA project is developing a tool to quantify allergens in complex foods using MS techniques for improved analytical accuracy.     The size of the food allergy problem Food allergies are a growing health burden worldwide. Although the true prevalence of f [...]

A perfect tool for implementing the allergen analysis as part of the food safety quality control assessment.   It is well known that food allergies are an immune system reaction to a food or a substance in food. Even a tiny amount of allergy-causing food can trigger signs and symptoms such as digestive problems, hives or swollen airways. In s [...]

New assay for measurement of gluten in oats and avoiding false negatives in the analysis of milk substitutes.     While there are many kits available for the detection of gluten from wheat, barley and rye, there has not been a reliable kit for the detection of oat prolamins until now.  ELISA Systems has recently released a kit for t [...]

An International Standard based Real-Time PCR detection portfolio.   DNA based technology is a relatively new approach for the detection of food allergens, a field traditionally dominated by immunoassays.   DNA methods are indirect methods to detect food allergens as they do not detect the allergenic protein itself, but the DNA sequences [...]

Russian scientists and environmentalists have raised concerns that some food on the grocery shelves could be contaminated with agricultural chemicals.     Abnormal bee mortality in Central Russia caused losses close to 1 trillion rubles (USD 5 billion) for farmers over the past few years according to official estimates from the Russian Na [...]

Dietary supplements: how natural contaminants may turn botanical remedies into a Pandora’s box.       Food supplements: a growing market trend  According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA 2009), food supplements are “concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological e [...]

A mandatory, unique, standardized register for all EU member States is necessary, despite the difficulties of implementation. However, such a register is still a long way off.         Introduction   While most people around the world can enjoy their meals without a second thought, for an unlucky few, what is on their plate [...]

Introducing alternative and sustainable sources of proteins in the human diet is crucial to guarantee nutrition security while reducing the impact on the environment. Allergenicity assessment of novel ingredients aims to provide safe food to consumers.         Introduction     The world population is increasing by 1% e [...]

Agrochemicals and pesticides as indirect actuators of antimicrobial resistance.     Introduction   Agriculture is important for a country’s economy. With increasing industrialisation and growing populations, land resources for cultivation are decreasing. Large amounts of chemicals are used worldwide to control pests and weeds a [...]

European consumers spent years unknowingly eating eggs contaminated by a banned pesticide. Was it really unpredictable? Could it happen again?     A brief history On 22 July 2017, Dutch consumers read in their newspapers that the eggs in their markets may be contaminated by a pesticide. In a few days, the alarm spread and became a Europea [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic will lead to a fundamental change on how we view the health of food industry workers. It will impact every aspect of the plant layout, the physical distancing, the methods for disinfection.   Background   No single global event in recent history has had such a profound impact on food industry workers as the spread of [...]

Organic food is promoted as “better” food. But what does “better” mean? And do industrialised processes mean organic production encounters the same pitfalls as conventional agriculture?     Introduction Consumer cotestncern over the quality and safety of conventional food is one of the drivers of the increasing dem [...]

The impact of food allergies on human health is a growing concern. We present here both a review of prevalence data and an analysis of food product recalls. The first paper demonstrates how difficult epidemiologists’ work is in this area. The second introduces the world of food manufacturing, a complex industry where allergen sources are diff [...]

“Modern factory farming methods could not be carried on without the use of antibiotics.” “The resistant bacteria can be passed direct from animals to man and secondly, they can be passed on in the food so produced.” These sentences are not from one of the authors of this issue of Affidia. I am quoting Ruth Harrison from 1964 [...]

First of all, I want to express my joy to be here again. Italy, as you all certainly know, was the first Western country affected by Covid-19 after the outbreak in China. At this point, we have had 35 000 deaths in Italy and for a few weeks in some parts of northern Italy hospitals had difficulties caring for all of the sick people. The lockdown, t [...]

During the first wave of COVID-19 here in Italy where about 30 000 people died in just a few weeks, many new — and a few weird — things happened. Scientists and laboratories started looking for the virus in the air and in airborne microparticles (a good idea), in sewage (a good idea), and on food packaging and in food itself (a much les [...]

This issue of Affidia is the last one of 2020, but it is the first issue in our new format, designed as a fully digital magazine. What you see is part of a larger editorial program, not just a different look. The Journal, which will continue to be available in its printed form, is now more than just a quarterly publication: it is a dynamic, continu [...]

Four years ago the EU food market was hit by the fipronil scandal. The epicenter was in the Netherlands, the EU’s largest egg exporter. Contaminated eggs were found in almost every European country. In this issue, we will revisit this case because there is still much to learn from it. The US perspective was enlightening: “The case appea [...]

The EU 2019 One Health Zoonoses report is a hefty document that summarizes relevant and (sometimes) comparable data on zoonoses and foodborne outbreaks. Here is the CliffsNotes version.     Introduction Infectious diseases originating from animal reservoirs (zoonoses) are a constant threat to public health, with effects on humans that can [...]

Next generation genetic manipulation techniques provide research groups tools for deep modification of different organisms. How do different countries regulate these technologies? Are current regulations rational or are they driven by illogical fears?     Introduction   From the beginning of human history, tribes and populations have [...]

India’s food safety system is complex and continually evolving to support five million food business operators and to share responsibility for a safe global food supply.           Introduction   India is the leading global producer of a number of foods and has the potential to be the food basket of the world. Thi [...]

There is a temptation - and a risk - to externalizing internal activities like laboratory diagnostics. Is an internal lab always necessary? Is an external lab always better? The answer lies somewhere in between.          Introduction   Monitoring processes for product composition, for process control and variability, o [...]

Russian authorities and businesses have yet to achieve a consensus on how best to improve the domestic food market laboratory testing system.     The Russian government is set to strengthen the state laboratory diagnostic system in order to ensure that all products of the Russian-origin landing on the domestic and foreign markets have suf [...]

With Campylobacter infections on the rise and treatment options disappearing because of growing antimicrobial resistance, how should the food industry respond?     Why Campylobacter?   Campylobacter is one of the major foodborne pathogens of concern. C. jejuni and C. coli are the major causative agents, with C. jejuni accounting for [...]

Overcoming the bottlenecks slowing rapid methods, looking beyond the speed of qPCR     Microbiological quality and safety of food, feed and water is a major global concern. Many people suffer from illnesses through consumption of food products contaminated by a variety of foodborne pathogens. In addition, food contamination by spoilage m [...]

Validation of a new and novel Patulin ELISA kit   Background   The presence of toxic chemical contaminants in food, particularly those intended for children's consumption, is a matter of great concern to consumers and health authorities. Mycotoxins in food, animal feed, and beverages have been recognized as a potential threat to human and [...]

Affidia’s editorial policy is to provide insights into topics that are often neglected by other journals. Every article in this issue is relevant and interesting, but I first want to direct your attention to the article by Francois Bourdichon and Anett Winkler, “Analytical laboratories in the food industry: in-house or third-party? (Or [...]

Food fraud (FF) that generates monetary gains is also known as Economically Motivated Adulteration (EMA). It is a widespread practice that undermines not only food authenticity, but also food safety due to the potential presence of toxic or undeclared adulterants. Increasingly accurate and sensitive authentication methods, including a variety of sp [...]

In the last 20 years, aflatoxin M1 has been found in milk in southern Europe at unprecedented levels on several occasions. Is it the result of climate change? What do experts think about the risk for consumers, both now and in the future? Is the best approach to move from an M1 limit in milk to a “total aflatoxin metabolites” limit in m [...]

The safety and regulatory procedures of plant-based meat alternatives have recently been questioned. Many food safety experts advise against regularly consuming plant-based meat due to the possible presence of allergens, anti-nutrients, and thermally generated carcinogens.    Consumer’s increased desire for meat substitutes may be t [...]

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 expect [...]

How the EU regulatory context for food contact materials and articles (FCMs) may change on the way to a toxin-free environment.     The European Green Deal, Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, and Farm to Fork Strategy set the stage The European Union’s October 2020 Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) paves the path towar [...]

The legalization of cannabis has opened the door both to new markets and new concerns about quality and safety. While analytical methods to detect fungal infection and mycotoxin occurrence in cannabis have been developed, questions still remain.       Cannabis products for medicinal and recreational use   Cannabis as an agricult [...]

Microplastics are found not only in the oceans, but also in our food. The scientific community is turning its focus to this potential health threat.   Introduction   Concerns about the potential impact of microplastics (MPs) on the natural environment have gathered momentum during recent decades. The number of scientific investigations ha [...]

A key initiative to disseminate information and a platform to test food, train food business operators, and spread awareness to all stakeholders in the food supply chain.   Introduction   The World Food Safety Day theme of “Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow” highlights the importance of producing and consuming safe food f [...]

Increasing Russian grain production could push the country to look more closely at mycotoxins to take advantage of new export opportunities.     Russia is set to ramp up agricultural production and exports in the next few years, but mycotoxin contamination remains an open challenge hindering the export of more products to foreign mar [...]

The historical lack of reference materials for food allergens limited the possibility to evaluate the performances of detection methods. Generon makes available a new range of reference materials suitable for any downstream detection method.         Food allergies are a growing health burden worldwide. Although the true prevale [...]

This article provides the non-specialized reader with an overview of the major techniques employed by food testing laboratories for the analysis of mycotoxins, including a brief description of the complex analytical tools required.         Introduction   Most consumers think the word natural is synonymous with safe, healthy [...]

How tech developments have made possible the detection of large numbers of targets in a single run. What we are still missing for quantitative detection by multi-class methods. The introduction of ion mobility in high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The need for shared databases.   The (r)evolution of analytical methods over the last two [...]

With support from the EITFood program, researchers from ISPA-CNR developed the NUTRIBOX e-commerce platform based on safe and nutritionally balanced virtual shelves to increase consumer protection and to guide vulnerable people in making safe and mindful food choices.           After the pandemic: changes in eating habits a [...]

Primary outcomes from the industry perspective.   The FoodIntegrity “Ensuring the Integrity of the European Food Chain” program was a successful €12 million European Commission 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technical Development (FP7) research project that ran from 2014 to 2018, spanning both the FP7 and the Horizon [...]

Some analytical scientists report an analytical result and others report a result and its interpretation. There are good reasons for doing the former. The complexity of modern analytical science requires specialisation; it is often safer for the specialist to report just a result. It must be properly described with unambiguous units, a brief inform [...]

A focus on cereals.   A review of the impact of climate change on chemical exposures affecting human health identified 8 contaminants as high risk of getting worse due to climate change, one of which was mycotoxins (Balbus et al. 2013). Guerin (2022) evaluated the risks and responsibilities of Directors of companies that supply food in relatio [...]

Meaningful reporting best practice linking customer, method developer, laboratory, and risk assessor to generate confidence and trust in allergen analysis.         Increased momentum on the risk assessment and risk management of food allergens suggests we may be on the cusp of real progress that will help consumers, food busines [...]

Why doing Precautionary Allergen Labelling right matters.   Let’s take a short walk through history. Back in 1985, the Codex Alimentarius published its ground-breaking labelling standard (FAO/WHO 1985) for the labelling of pre-packaged foods. It was meant to be a better, more harmonized way to inform consumers about the composition of th [...]

How the EU regulatory context for food contact materials and articles (FCMs) may change on the way to a toxin-free environment.   This article provides an overview of the most significant Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) and Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy updates that may be included in new European Union (EU) Food Contact Material (FC [...]

Initiatives and efforts to meet stricter mycotoxin regulations are helping the country overcome contamination challenges in its domestic and export markets.       Brazil is one of the largest food producers and exporters in the world. It is the fourth-largest grain producer and the second-largest grain exporter, accounting for about [...]

The food chain, or at least most food sectors, has shown over the last two years an incredible resilience in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, with seemingly fewer outbreaks of foodborne illness despite operating difficulties due to labour shortages. Yet in the last three months, outbreaks in the United States (Cronobacter spp. in powdered infant [...]

An overview of MYTOX-SOUTH® activities and their goal of strengthening global capacity to tackle the mycotoxin problem and its associated food safety and food security issues.     The majority of the world’s food crops are contaminated with mycotoxins that have dangerous human health effects and cause significant food loss. The [...]

Novel and fully integrated management strategies to reduce and control mycotoxins - EU project under grant agreement n°678012.      At the international trade level, mycotoxin presence in foodstuffs has serious economic and sustainability consequences with significant implications for food and feed safety and food security. The E [...]

This Special Issue gathers some of the mycotoxin papers we have published since 2020. I would like to highlight some milestones in the evolution of this food safety issue. The decision of the European Union to establish Maximum Limits is probably the most significant change in the history of mycotoxin regulation and risk management in the EU. The i [...]

When I was asked to write this piece for Affidia Journal’s Special Issue dedicated to the 2022 World Mycotoxin Forum, the first thing that came to my mind was the association between Pandemic - Mycotoxin - Speed. It may seem strange to you, but you will soon see how the three are closely interconnected. The evolution of analytical methods for [...]

Affidia is now in its third year of activity. We started just a few months before the Covid-19 pandemic shook the world. One of the consequences of this global disaster was the cancellation of scientific conferences in 2020-2021. Even at the beginning of 2022, some conferences are still being cancelled, others are taking on hybrid forms, and the nu [...]

In the last 20 years, aflatoxin M1 has been found in milk at unprecedented levels in southern Europe on several occasions. Is it the result of climate change? What do experts think about the risk to consumers, both now and in the future? Is the best approach to move from an M1 limit to a “total aflatoxin metabolites” limit?   Intro [...]

Are regulatory limits a good compromise between public health and economic interests?     The EU undoubtedly has the strictest mycotoxin regulations in the world. The complex and supposedly well-structured system that enforces these regulations and guarantees the highest level of safety for EU citizens actually has some weak points and ev [...]

Affidia interviewed two of the principle players in testing inspection and certification of grain shipments to learn how real investigations are conducted and to understand the unmet challenges in this field.     Globalization has increased the international circulation of commodities. For some of these commodities, globalization has mean [...]

A survey to investigate topics including the technologies used, the number of analyses conducted, and the test kits’ certifications.     Rapid testing for grain Aflatoxin and deoxynivalenol (DON) contamination of grain depends on several factors, primary among them weather conditions in the pre-harvest period. In Europe, aflatoxin i [...]

Dietary supplements: how natural contaminants may turn botanical remedies into a Pandora’s box.       Food supplements: a growing market trend  According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA 2009), food supplements are “concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological e [...]

The legalization of cannabis has opened the door both to new markets and new concerns about quality and safety. While analytical methods to detect fungal infection and mycotoxin occurrence in cannabis have been developed, questions still remain.       Cannabis products for medicinal and recreational use   Cannabis as an agricult [...]

In the last 20 years, aflatoxin M1 has been found in milk in southern Europe at unprecedented levels on several occasions. Is it the result of climate change? What do experts think about the risk for consumers, both now and in the future? Is the best approach to move from an M1 limit in milk to a “total aflatoxin metabolites” limit in m [...]

This article provides the non-specialized reader with an overview of the major techniques employed by food testing laboratories for the analysis of mycotoxins, including a brief description of the complex analytical tools required.         Introduction   Most consumers think the word natural is synonymous with safe, healthy [...]

How tech developments have made possible the detection of large numbers of targets in a single run. What we are still missing for quantitative detection by multi-class methods. The introduction of ion mobility in high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The need for shared databases.   The (r)evolution of analytical methods over the last two [...]

Novel and fully integrated management strategies to reduce and control mycotoxins - EU project under grant agreement n°678012.      At the international trade level, mycotoxin presence in foodstuffs has serious economic and sustainability consequences with significant implications for food and feed safety and food security. The E [...]

How to apply and adjust processes to achieve levels of acrylamide as low as reasonably achievable below the benchmark level.       Cooking is an ancient practice that improves organoleptic properties of foods, nutrient bioavailability, and microbiological safety. Nowadays cooking practices like baking, frying, and roasting are indisp [...]

Nowadays, we are exposed to thousands of chemicals in our daily lifes by many pathways of exposure, for example, by ingestion of food and water, inhalation of air and dust, dermal contact with personal care products, etc. In terms of public health, environmental monitoring is normally used to control the exposure of the population to these substanc [...]

 “Education of consumers, healthcare providers, food business operators, risk assessors and risk managers is critical to PAL management” (FAO/WHO 2021)             Introduction     What is PAL?  PAL means precautionary allergen labelling. It is sometimes also referred to as the “ [...]

Managing microbial risks in plant-based dairy and meat alternatives: from raw material variability to effective processing and hygiene strategies across the supply chain.     Introduction   Consumers are increasingly opting for plant-based alternatives to dairy and meat, driven by environmental concerns, lifestyle choices, and health [...]

While promoting sustainability, plant-based diets may increase mycotoxin exposure; new evidence shows contamination risks in meat and milk analogues and the need for updated regulations.   Introduction   In recent years, there has been a significant transition towards plant-based diets, driven by concerns related to the health risks assoc [...]

Exploring the role of insects in valorising organic waste for resilient food production, from current challenges and global initiatives to farming innovations and humane considerations.   Reshaping the food system for a sustainable future   Ensuring access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food is one of the greatest challenges of our t [...]

On March 13, 2025, we hosted a webinar titled “Plant based milk alternatives: Nutritional value, food safety issues,” gathering experts across nutrition, allergen management, microbiology, and chemical safety. Moderated as a series of expert presentations, the webinar delved into the burgeoning plant based dairy market-examining its hea [...]

After 20 years of GMOs, a new method for plant variety creation has emerged, sparking debate between regulatory authorities and opposing NGOs. Let’s explore arguments for and against.   In several countries, creating new plant varieties through the so-called “geneediting” technology or New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), specifica [...]

Voices from the field: Two perspectives on Europe's evolving plant-based landscape.   Introduction The plant-based food market in Europe is flourishing, as a result of a significant shift in consumer preferences and dietary habits. According to the ProVeg International (2023) survey, over 51% of European meat-eaters reported reducing their ann [...]

A narrative review of available evidence, current evidence gaps, and next steps.   Our food system places a huge strain on the planet, and plant-based meat alternatives have emerged as one of several ways to reduce this burden. Typically made from legumes (e.g. soy) or fungi (e.g. mycoprotein), they aim to recreate the taste and texture of ani [...]

How policy logic and institutional design shape the future of plant-based protein products in two major markets.   This article offers a structured comparison of regulatory frameworks governing plant-based protein foods in China and the European Union (EU), two of the world’s most influential markets. It explores key compliance dimension [...]

From October 21 to 23, 2024, the FoodRevolution 2024 conference took place at the Paganini Congressi center in Parma, Italy. This inaugural event, themed "Conference on sustainable, safe, and healthy new foods,” united experts from academia and industry to discuss the future of food through a comprehensive lens based on the OneHealth approach [...]

A comparative analysis of Chinese and EU regulatory frameworks on honey   In recent years, debates over the authenticity of honey have repeatedly surfaced in European public discourse. Chinese honey has frequently been labelled as “fake honey” or “adulterated honey”. Following the introduction of the new isotopic method [...]