Conference
Network event: Food and feed safety in circular food production systems
The European food production system has become very effective, but resource depletion, loss of biodiversity and climate change put the system under pressure. Transitioning towards a circular production system is one of the means to obtain a more sustainable food production system.
Registration deadline: 28 March 2024
Meeting aims
We are organising a 1.5-day network and scientific event including a networking dinner. This event will target different stakeholder groups including policy makers, scientists and companies. It aims to bring experts in this field together and to share information, knowledge and views on managing food and feed safety in circular food production systems.
Key-note presentations by renowned experts
The official programme includes four sessions, each comprising a key-note presentation by a renowned expert in the field, poster presentations with short poster pitches and interactive sessions so all attendees can contribute to the topic. You are kindly invited to present a poster to show your research (you can indicate this during the registration). For this event we will choose non-conventional interactive ways for creating the optimal networking atmosphere.
The four session topics are:
New hazards and risk assessment
In this topic the rise of new and emerging hazards will be discussed. What kind of hazards appear when the production loops are closed? Are these already known and regulated hazards which show up in unexpected places? How about previously unknown hazards which should be dealt with? Do risk assessment approaches need adjustments when moving to more circular production systems? These and other aspects will be discussed in this topic.
Speaker:
Dr. Gianfranco Brambilla, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
The fate of hazards in the circular food production system
Hazards might be introduced in one place, but how do such hazards move through the production system? And are those hazards persistent and accumulating or do they degrade during production and processing? These questions are related to the fate of biological, chemical and physical hazards. The goal of this topic is to is to elaborate on food and feed processes that influence the fate of hazards in circular food production systems.
Speaker:
Prof. dr. Benny Chefetz, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Israel
Mitigation strategies
In circular food production systems, the presence of hazards might increase. For instance, contaminants detected at low concentrations in water may accumulate and circulate in agro-food production. To reduce the impact of such hazards, it is essential to look at mitigation measures. Several approaches and combinations may be employed for mitigation, such as microbial and/or chemical degradation strategies. Different mitigation strategies will be discussed in this topic.
Speaker:
Dr. Nora Sutton, Environmental Technology, Wageningen University
Needs for testing approaches
Testing approaches are needed to be able to determine the occurrence and fate of biological, chemical and physical hazards and to determine the efficiency of mitigation strategies. Different techniques could for instance be used for this such as high-end hrMS measurements to determine possible new emerging chemical hazards or on-site techniques to quickly scan for the presence of certain hazards. Even effect assays might
come in useful. And how to deal with mixtures of compounds? These aspects will be discussed in this topic.
Speaker:
Dr. Milou van de Schans, Wageningen Food Safety Research
This network event will be chaired by Dr. Stefan van Leeuwen, Wageningen Food Safety Research, The Netherlands.
Key-note speakers
Dr. Gianfranco Brambilla
Gianfranco Brambilla (DVM, EAVPT diplomate, vet public health specialist). Senior investigator at the Italian National Health Institute in Rome, Italy, the technical and advisory body of the National Health System. His expertise in food safety/ food security aspects linked to circular economy-driven hazards has been started from the Mad Cow and Dioxins Crises in the 1990-2000. Currently, he is involved in the definition of Environmental Quality Standards and End-of-Waste criteria supporting safe and sustainable food systems.
Prof. dr. Benny Chefetz
Prof. Benny Chefetz is an Environmental Chemist. His main research scope is to enhance knowledge and understanding of the fate and interactions of organic chemicals such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and other anthropogenic compounds in soil and water in the agro-environment. The Chefetz’s research group is based at the campus of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the Hebrew University. He served as the Head of the Department of Soil and Water Sciences, and was the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment between 2017-2022. Currently, Chefetz is the Director of the Hebrew University Center for Sustainable Food Systems, FOOJI. Prof. Benny Chefetz served as a member at the Editorial Board of Geoderma and Environmental Science and Health, Part A. He was an Associate Editor of the Journal of Environmental Quality and a Member at the Editorial Advisory Board for Environmental Science & Technology.
Dr. Nora Sutton
Dr. Nora Sutton is currently Associate Professor in Biotechnology for Resource Quality at the Department of Environmental Technology at Wageningen University. She started her career obtaining a BSc in Biochemistry in the US and a MSc in Geochemistry at Utrecht University. In 2014 she obtained her PhD at Wageningen University researching the combination of chemical oxidation and biodegradation for the remediation of organic contaminants. Since then, her research focuses on understanding the fate and transformation of organic micropollutants, pathogens, and antibiotic resistance in natural and engineered systems. Her research particularly centers around developing fundamental knowledge on the behavior of these contaminants in order to design and implement mitigation strategies to achieve a safe circular economy.
Dr. Milou van de Schans
Dr. ir. Milou G.M. van de Schans is Program manager & Food Safety Scientist. During her PhD project Milou combined in vitro bioassays and analytical chemical techniques to study plant compounds. Afterwards, Milou started at Wageningen Food Safety Research where she is a researcher in the department of veterinary drugs and works, among other things, on the analysis of veterinary drug residues in food products of animal origin. Furthermore, she is experienced in the analysis of human and veterinary pharmaceuticals in manure and environmental samples (water, soil, sewage etc.) and their dissemination and circulation in the environment. Milou is also program manager of the ‘Knowledge Base Program Food Safety’. In this program applied research is performed to ensure Food Safety in the future. New testing approaches have a central role in this program.
Programme
