- SAFE FOODS
are involved in the project, coming from 37 institutions in 21 countries.
Thematic research areas
A broad range of research
disciplines are used in the SAFE FOODS project, includingmolecular biology ,microbiology ,toxicology ,probabilistic modeling, and disciplines of thesocial sciences and thepolitical sciences .SAFE FOODS is divided in 5 sub-projects, namely
* Comparative safety evaluation ofplant breeding approaches and production practices,
* Early detection of emerging food and feed risks,
* Quantitativerisk assessment of combined exposure tofood contaminants and naturaltoxins ,
*Consumer research of foodrisk management perceptions, and
*Institutional challenges and solutions to systemic risk management.Background
The
governance of food safety has long been regarded as the domain of “experts” and professional risk managers, with minimal input from other interested parties such as consumers. However, a number of food safety incidents in Europe, related to, for example,genetically modified organisms ,bovine spongiform encephalopathy , anddioxins , have severely damaged public trust in food safety regulation and management. This exposed a need for improvement in the current approach to food risk analysis.The SAFE FOODS project has been funded by the EU to develop a new approach in food risk analysis, integrating risk-benefit assessment of human health, consumer preferences and values, as well as impact analysis of socio-economical aspects. Compared to current frameworks, a lot of attention is given to active
stakeholder (corporate) participation, increasedtransparency (humanities) in decision-making, improved interaction between risk assessors and risk managers and more effective communication throughout the risk analysis process.References
* SAFE FOODS dissemination flyer #1: “SAFE FOODS: Promoting Food Safety through a New Integrated Risk Analysis Approach for Foods”, 2005.
* SAFE FOODS dissemination flyer # 2: “SAFE FOODS: Progress and Results”, 2007.
* [http://www.safefoods.nl/Paginas/Publications/SAFE%20FOODS%20posters,%20flyers%20and%20folders.aspx SSAFE FOODS posters, flyers and folders] . Safe Foods.See also
*
CommNet External links
* [http://www.safefoods.nl SAFE FOODS website]
* [http://www.safefoods.nl/Paginas/E-learning%20Modules.aspx SAFE FOODS e-learning module site]
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