While the EU has some of the toughest food safety regulations in the world, the food supply chain remains susceptible to disease and danger. Sharing knowledge and best practice is an effective means of ensuring that any possible weak link in the chain can be dealt with as swiftly and as effectively as possible.
An EU-funded project has sought to address this by achieving a more efficient transfer of knowledge between experts throughout the food chain – and throughout the world. The FOODSEG project brought together a consortium of 35 international partners in July 2011, to share information on issues such as Salmonella, listeria, BSE and E. Coli outbreaks.
The ultimate goal of the three-year project is to significantly improve the quality – as well as the implementation – of existing research findings over the entire chain, from feedstock and animal feed to the consumer table.
This objective will be achieved in a number of ways. Firstly, expert working groups to coordinate research activities and to support policy development at EU level have been formed. These will contribute to identifying research agendas for future community research in the field of food safety and quality, along the whole food chain.
The consortium has also been cooperating and contributing to several EU technology platforms, especially those which have food safety as part of their Strategic Research Agenda. These include Food for Life, Plants for the Future, Global Animal Health, Farm Animal Breeding and Reproduction and Water Supply and Sanitation.
Three symposia have also been organised, to help integrate experts from across the Member States and associated countries and to disseminate research results through an online platform. A researchers’ exchange programme has also been set up.
FOODSEG is different to many other EU projects in that it is a coordination and support action; it does not cover the research itself but rather the networking of projects, programmes and policies. It is also forward-looking, in that it will establish an online platform with best practise examples and a plan for the preparation of future activities.
The FOODSEG project, which is due for completion in 2014, has received EUR 999 915 in EU funding. The FOODSEG network comprises existing EU and international consortia from all EU countries, along with Serbia, Egypt and Vietnam.
- Coordinator: RTD Services Tirol, Austria
- University of Vetenary Medicine Vienna, Austria
- The University Court of the University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom
- TEAGASC – Agricultural and Food Development Authority, Ireland
- University of Naples Federico II, Italy
- Technology Transfer Center Bremerhaven, Germany
- The French National Institute for Agricultural Research, France
- Technical Research Center VTT, Finland
- University of Thessaloniki, Greece
- University of Copnhagen, Denmark
- ISS Instituto Superiore di Sanita, Italy
- University for Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria
- Fundacion Gaiker, Spain
- The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom
- National Vetenary Institute, Sweden
- Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
- Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
- CentMa Gmbh, Germany
- National Research Development Institute for Animal Biology and Nutrition (IBNA)
- Institut of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation, Poland
- Food Research Institute VUP, Slovakia
- Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, Czech Republic
- Universitatea Dunarea de Jos Din Galati, Romania
- University of Food Technologies, Bulgaria
- University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania
- University of Zagreb-Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Croatia
- Institute for Food Technology of Navi Sad, Serbia
- Biomin Holding Gmbh, Austria
- Eurofins CTC Gmbh, Germany
- Nutrition Sciences NV, Belgium
- Coop Italia – Societá Cooperativa (Scarl), Italy
- SmartGene GmbH, Switzerland
- Nofima MAT AS, Norway
- Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam
- National Research Center, Egypt
Source: Envirocentre.ie – Strengthening the Food Supply Chain Through Stronger Cooperation
