Trends in Food Science & Technology, the official journal of the European Federation of Food Science and Technology (EFFoST), and the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) (Impact Factor: 11.077), accommodates the report of the 34th EFFoST International Conference entitled Bridging High-tech, Food-tech, Health and Consumer-oriented Innovations. The event was hosted by Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) and was due to be held in Tel Aviv, Israel but as a result of the CoViD pandemic it was held on-line (10–12 November 2020).
The report, which is written by professor Ronan Gormley from the University College Dublin, Institute of Food and Health and recipient of the 2017 EFFoST Science to Society Award, recaps the most important research presented in the nine plenary presentations held on day 1 and parallel sessions held on day 2 and 3.
SafeConsume was present in a special session entitled The SafeConsume perspective on food safety with the following topics:
- General presentation of the project - Solveig Langsrud, Senior Scientist at Nofima, Norway, and the project coordinator
- European consumer perceptions and practices affecting food safety - Silje Elisabeth Skuland, Researcher at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
- Using design thinking for safer food - Antje Gonera, Senior Scientist at Nofima, Norway
- Education for food safety - Magda Hann, Project Assistant for e-BUG, Department of Health from Public Health England, UK
- Food safety risk communication practices and networks across Europe - Joachim Scholderer, Professor and Head of Academic Unit at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and Gyula Kasza, Head of Department at the National Food Chain Safety Office, Hungary
The session was moderated by Anca Nicolau, Professor at the Faculty of Food Science and Engineering from the Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania.
Our project participation and our main message are highlighted by professor Gormley:
“Special Session 2: SafeConsume – reducing food borne infection through safer consumer practices: About 40% of foodborne infections occur at home and to mitigate risk there is a need for more effective strategies. In a recent transdisciplinary study, sociologists and microbiologists observed how consumers prepare food and identified both common and different practices across Europe that will affect risk of foodborne infection. Results from the ongoing H2020 research and innovation action SafeConsume will be of interest to those involved in improving food safety practices in the consumer part of the chain.“
Reference
Ronan Gormley. 2021. EFFoST 2020: Outcomes from 34th International Conference - Bridging food technology, health and innovation, Trends in Food Science & Technology, ISSN 0924-2244, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2021.01.001