SafeConsume
Safer food through better kitchen hygiene
SafeConsume was a large European project with the goal of helping European consumers avoid foodborne illness.
Start
01. May 2017
End
30. Apr 2022
Funded by
EU - Horizon 2020
Cooperation
The project is coordinated by Nofima and will run for five years with 32 partners in 14 countries in Europe
Project Manager(s):
The budget was 9.5 million Euro and 32 partners were involved in the project which ended in 2022.
Summary
- Based on risk analyses of common kitchen practices in European households and consumer knowledge, more targeted advice for consumers, educational materials for teenagers, a food safety game and tools to make it easier to store and cook safe food were made.
- To improve food safety policies, a self-evaluation tool for risk communication were developed and recommendations for policies that balance safety and environmental concerns given.
- 75 product- and business ideas from the project are available in the “Book of Ideas”
- A total of 53 scientific articles were published during the five years of the project.
- The project received wide media coverage: The five most covered stories were published through 715 media reports worldwide, including CNN and the New York Times.
A summary of the project can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7509468
Some results
Background
There is a need for new strategies to help consumers mitigate food risks. Hazards in food accounts for about 23 million cases of illness and 5000 deaths in Europe every year. Nearly 40 percent of foodborn outbreaks are domestic outbreaks and food safety violations at the consumer stage are common, particularly due to poor hygiene and insufficient heating and cooling.
To reach the objective we need to change consumers behavior to reduce exposure to hazards and decrease risk through:
- effective and convenient tools and products
- information strategies
- education
- inclusive food safety policy
The ambition was to initiate a new and broader approach in future research, innovation, education and food safety policy, widening the space of opportunities for improving food safety.
The top hazards
Through case studies, SafeConsumE will target the top five foodborne hazards in Europe, accounting for about 70% of the health burden related to foodborne illness. These hazards are the pathogens:
- Salmonella
- Campylobacter
- Toxoplasma
- Norovirus and
- Listeria.
Work packages
The project was organised into seven research and innovation work packages, one dissemination and implementation work package and one project management work package.
