Objectives
The mission of this task force is to contribute to the understanding of the risks to human health and the environment that result from food production and food processing, and to promote best practices to manage these risks. It addresses scientific issues related to the assessment and control of the agricultural and industrial impact on the environment and promotes the sustainable use of natural resources.
Impact
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Task Force publications are widely read and disseminated among Europe.
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This task force is supporting an activity, of current interest, such as providing recommendations for safety evaluation of Food Crops for Non-food Use.
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The current activity on ‘Sustainable Water Management for Crops’ addresses relevant issues related to the actual water demands and future perspectives in the terms of water availability.
Activities
Food Crops for Non-food Use (FCNFU)
Crops that traditionally have been used for food and feed production are increasingly employed to produce other valuable substances like biofuels, bioplastics and pharmaceuticals. These food crops can be modified by modern conventional breeding or genetic modification techniques to improve their performance for non-food use. The entire crop may be used, or only parts that are not used for human consumption.
Optimisation of food crops for non-food use may introduce features that make the crop unfit for human consumption. For instance, rapeseed (Brassica napus) optimised for biofuel production may contain high concentrations of erucic acid which are not desirable in food. Crops grown for the production of industrial chemicals, vaccines or pharmaceuticals may contain the respective chemical, vaccine or drug. Even if the FCNFU is not modified, its consumption may still pose a risk because the crop will probably not be monitored for natural and manmade contaminants like mycotoxins and pesticide residues.
This activity aims to provide recommendations for safety evaluation of FCNFU, and practical application of these scientific recommendations for the purpose of managing co-existence situations (food crops for food use vs. modified food crops for non-food use) in the supply chain, ensuring consumer protection and food safety. This might include an inventory of FCNFU, including processing of waste streams for feed (and perhaps food ingredients).
Sustainable Water Management for Crops
Agriculture is the world’s largest water user. For decades, it has been responsible for the withdrawal of about 70% of all fresh water consumed worldwide. Global water consumption rose six-fold between 1900 and 1995 –more than double the rate of population growth– and continues to grow rapidly as agricultural, industrial, and domestic demand increases. In particular, agriculture is projected to require 17% more water to meet the demands of the growing population by 2025.
The objective of the project is to identify the environmental water impact of crops used for the production of vegetable oils, to analyse the sustainability of these crops in various areas of origin and to suggest potential ways to improve their sustainability.
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The first step will be to evaluate the current situation for water demand per ton/acre of the relevant crops.
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The second step will be to compare the actual situation and future scenarios in respect of environmental sustainability of different crop/region combinations.
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The third step will be to outline the future perspectives on water availability.
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The final step will be to produce a list of crops that can be used for vegetable oils and a best practices guidance document for improving the environmental sustainability of these crops in various areas of the world.
Water Safety and the Food Chain
The WHO Guidelines for drinking water quality set microbial and chemical quality targets for potable water. Water as used by industry is currently classified as either potable or non-potable. One can argue that what is important is suitability for intended use, e.g. there is no need to wash the beets delivered to a sugar plant with drinking water. Therefore, an expert group prepared an outline for a conceptual framework to evaluate the safety of water required to achieve fitness for purpose. They elaborated a risk assessment-based framework compatible with current HACCP protocols to optimise water use and to assess the potential impact of changes in water quality on food production/processing.
The report, published in the ILSI Europe Report Series in April 2008, can be downloaded here.