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Recent food safety incidents and the introduction of genetically modified foods in Europe have resulted in an intense public debate regarding the safety of the European food supply. Consumers have little confidence in the safety of their food supply and remain skeptical and distrustful of the management procedures currently in place. This Integrated Project addresses the issue of how consumer confidence in consumer protection and risk analysis can be restored and strengthened. The proposed research attempts to improve current risk analysis practices for foods produced by different breeding approaches and production practices deploying high and low input systems. The research activities will result in designing new effective procedures for risk analysis under pinned by new scientific assessment methods, and embedded in a broad impact analysis of social, financial and economic consequences, and with high levels of transparency, active public engagement and improved risk communication.
The IP consists of a number of research projects with a high degree of coherence: 1. Comparative Safety Evaluation of Breeding Approaches and Production Practices Deploying High- and Low Input Systems 2. Early Detection of Emerging Risks Associated with Food Production 3. Quantitative Risk Assessment of Combined Exposure to Food Contaminants and Natural Toxins 4. Consumer Confidence in Risk Analysis Practices Regarding Novel and Conventional Foods 5. Investigation of the Role of Regulatory Institutions in Risk Management 6. Design of a New Integrated Risk Analysis Approach for Foods. The proposed Consortium consists of a unique combination of high-level expertise of natural and social sciences present at universities and other research centres, expertise of regulatory aspects and of breeding practices and food production across Europe. Inclusion of participants from other continents (South Africa, Cuba, China and the US) adds real value to this programme and brings it
<P>For more information about this project, please visit the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/research/biosociety/food_quality/projects/005_en.ht…; target="_blank">European Commission Food Quality and Safety in Europe</a> Web site.