Due to the continuing growth of the world population from 7 billion today to 9 billion in 2050, we will face a shortage of protein sources for human consumption in the near future. For this reason, Horizon 2020 included the topic: ”Sustainable European bio-economy; bridging the gap between new technologies and their implementation” within their research program. Food safety assessment is an important requirement before new products can be brought to market. Such assessments include the investigation of microbiological and toxicological hazards as well as the risk of food allergy.
From an industry perspective, there is a need for a) relatively cheap, easy and reliable tools for screening for allergenicity of new or modified food proteins, b) early risk based decision-making during product development and c) an improved risk assessment strategy accepted by regulatory authorities.
The new multi-disciplinary scientific network will improve strategies to predict the allergenicity of novel or modified proteins or proteins from novel sources with novel and innovative approaches that have not previously been identified. This will allow the transfer of scientific advances to European food companies to develop safe products, advise food safety authorities on better risk assessment strategies and change public opinion on the safety of novel sustainable food.
food security - food safety - improved allergen risk assessment - food allergy - new or modified food
