Future Food and Feed Lab - Stakeholder workshop on new food/feed sources and technologies

Background

Innovation is one of the key drivers in accelerating the transition to more sustainable, healthier, and inclusive food systems from primary production to consumption.

Innovation in the food and feed production sector has been substantial over the last decades, both in terms of the production technologies it employs, as well as the products it brings forward. Changes in production technologies and global supply chains, along with the need to ensure food and feed safety, to foster the sustainable use of resources, and to address societal concerns provide key drivers for future developments.

Innovative production technologies can drive a new generation of foods and feeds, necessitating multifaceted pre-market evaluation to protect human animal health and the environment.

This stakeholder event will set the scene on developing a more advanced knowledge base about food and feed innovations by assessing and/or identifying potential weak signals and emerging risks from the use of new food/feed sources and production technologies.

Objectives

This stakeholder event aims to increase understanding of innovation in the food and feed sector by assessing and/or identifying potential “weak signals” – early indicators of possible future developments and emerging risks.

The event aims to:

• Gather feedback on the weak signals identified by EFSA during its project on ensuring preparedness for the assessment of safety of new food/feed sources and production technologies;
• Review the research methodology used to identify weak signals;
• Identify additional weak signals that would have been missed by the above-mentioned project;
• Identify additional food and feed sources, and production technologies of interest.

Structure

The event will kick off with a general introduction to the project of ensuring preparedness for the assessment of safety of new food/feed sources and production technologies followed by more in-depth discussion on the four selected sub-topics for which weak signals were retrieved:

• Cell culture-derived meat
• Nanotechnology
• Novel feed
• Edible insects

The meeting will be held in Milan on 7-8 March 2023 from 13:00 to 18:00 (CET) on the first day, and from 9:00 to 13:00 on the second day.

Throughout the event, the audience will be able to submit questions to the speakers and discuss with fellow participants, grasping insights both on the general topic and on the specific sub-topics.

After the meeting, EFSA will publish a short summary of the discussion on its website.

Who should attend?

The meeting is intended for all interested stakeholders with expertise in areas of new food/feed sources and production technologies and more specifically in the fields of alternative source of proteins (cell cultured-derived meat and novel insects), nanotechnology, biotechnology, innovative processing technologies, novel food and novel feed.

Participation is limited to a maximum of 80 participants, including speakers and other experts already identified by EFSA. A further selection will ensure a sufficient representation of the different fields of expertise, the various stakeholder groups and a geographical balance.

Registration

Registrations are now closed. For any additional information please contact max.blanck [at] efsa.europa.eu (max[dot]blanck[at]efsa[dot]europa[dot]eu).

Logistics

The event will take place in Milan, Italy at Double Tree by Hilton Hotel.

English is the official language of the event; no translation will be provided.

Contact

Do not hesitate to contact max.blanck [at] efsa.europa.eu for content related information or events [at] efsa.europa.eu for organisational information.