The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has held two meetings recently looking at chemicals in water and the use of foresight in food safety.
The water quality meeting was organized by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO). The event in May was attended by 11 experts from different regions. A full report is expected later this year but a summary was recently released.
The use of good quality water at stages from irrigation, animal farming, aquaculture, cleaning and food processing to drinking water is crucial for food safety.
Circular economy polices and processes are promoting solutions such as closed-loop water reuse and recycling of water from waste sources.
Main hazards
Agrifood water sources can contain a wide range of contaminants. While significant progress has been made in recent years in assessing the microbiological risks related to such water, the implications of chemical water quality and safety are less well characterized.
A prioritization exercise identified key chemical hazards in water. Contaminants assessed as a high priority based on reported dietary exposures resulting from agrifood water sources exceeding health-based guidance values were: anatoxin-a and analogues, arsenic, cadmium, cylindrospermopsins, fluoride, lead, microcystins and nodularins, perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, radium, saxitoxins, and thallium.
Eleven contaminants were assessed as a medium priority and 29 substances were rated as a low priority for food safety. While a number of contaminants were considered unlikely to enter the food chain or had insufficient data to judge food safety risk, this may change in the future.
Experts said many chemical contaminants in agrifood water sources lack food safety risk management and guidance and this gap should be addressed.
Scientists recommended that authorities at a national or regional level should ensure that food safety is covered when guideline values are established for chemical contaminants in agrifood water sources; develop monitoring strategies for these contaminants; and create standardized sampling and testing protocols.
Foresight work
FAO also held a Food Safety Foresight Framework Meeting in April. The event was attended by 16 experts from different regions representing governments, the private sector, international organizations, universities and research institutes.
According to FAO, foresight enables the proactive identification of emerging food safety issues, including challenges and opportunities, and can help preparedness to support timely decision-making.
A document set for publication later this year will aim to outline the principles for a general food safety foresight approach from which stakeholders can build on and adapt to meet their interests, needs, and resources.
Participants discussed how their organizations are using foresight. Methods include horizon scanning, scenario building and analysis, signal assessment, predictive risk assessments, and the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) for early risk identification, alongside manual information collection techniques.
Benefits include the development of more robust action plans and the early detection and response to food safety risks. Foresight informs longer-term decision-making, enhancing preparedness for future issues and increasing knowledge about unusual or unknown hazards.
Challenges include the lack of data on emerging topics, limited open access data, and the difficulty in processing large volumes of data. Timely information gathering remains an issue. Experts also emphasized the need to translate findings into relevant, meaningful insights tailored to specific contexts.
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