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.

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.

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 cultured meat
• Nanotechnology
• Novel feed
• Edible insects

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 meat and novel insects), nanotechnology, biotechnology, innovative processing technologies, novel food and novel feed.

On 11 January 2023 at 10:00 registration will be closed.