In Europe, each year foodborne hazards, including bacteria, parasites, bacterial toxins and allergens, already cause more than 20 million cases of illness and thousands of deaths. Foodborne chemical risk, often associated with occurrence of toxins, are of growing concern. Food safety management systems established over the past decades in our European food businesses, and European food safety governance need to be adapted to make the food system more robust towards multiple stressor coming dynamically up (so as climatic impacts). FoodSafeR aims to design, develop and test the building blocks of an innovative pro-active and holistic food safety warning and management system with a look on the dynamics of emerging risks at its heart. FoodSafeR embodies integrated approaches to hazard characterisation and risk management in a comprehensive suite of future oriented case studies, tools, methods, strategies, models, guidance and training materials. An open and accessible digital hub designed to form a core of a sustaining information system will be set up as a One-Stop-Shop vehicle targeted at risk managers and assessors, food safety authorities and the relevant actors and stakeholders operating in the European food system. To reach the ambitious goal, FoodSafeR has united a world-class consortium of 18 organisations from across 14 European countries integrating science, industry, SMEs and policymakers. FoodSafeR will contribute to prevent food safety incidences occuring from biological and chemical hazards in the European food system as well as relevant socio-economic impacts. By bringing this approach to a success, FoodSafeR contributes to sustainable, healthy and inclusive food systems delivering co-benefits for climate mitigation and adaptation, environmental sustainability and circularity, sustainable healthy nutrition, safe food consumption, food poverty reduction, the empowerment of communities, and flourishing food business operations.

It is acknowledged that historically anti-food fraud capability within Europe has not been consolidated and lacks the coordination and support structures available to those working in food safety. There are various initiatives underway to redress this balance e.g. DGSanté’s Food Fraud network, DG Research’s FoodIntegrity project, as well as numerous national programmes and industry initiatives. One pivotal area that still needs to be addressed is bringing together national research funding bodies to facilitate the development of transnational research programmes. AUTHENT-NET will address this need by mobilising and coordinating relevant research budget holders in order to facilitate the eventual development of a transnational European funding vehicle that will allow Members States (MS) to jointly fund anti-fraud research. Authent-Net comprises a core group of 19 participants from 10 MS, 1 NGO and the US, who are either National research funding bodies; experts in food authenticity, and/or experts in transnational funding mechanisms. AUTHENT-NET will: 1) Bring together relevant MS R&D budget holders to coordinate inter-disciplinary research effort and build a cohesive and sustainable network 2) Undertake stocktaking of existing national research and assess against the international landscape 3) Establish transnational mechanisms and instruments for collating and exchanging information on food authenticity research 4) Develop a high level research and innovation strategy for transnational research and a rationale for a potential ERANET on food authenticity The two year project will have the following expected impacts: improved coordination and communication between relevant MS research budget holders; enhanced cognisance of existing national research; joint strategy for food fraud R&D; agreed priorities and capability to deliver transnational European research on food fraud.