As part of the two-day event, a youth session titled "Youngs Acting for the Future of Food Safety" was held. Following a Europe-wide competition, six of the most innovative and intriguing projects were selected for short presentations by young researchers. The top three winners earned the opportunity to explore their projects further on the "Young Minds of Food Safety" podcast.
We are proud to share that Tiina was among the top winners, presenting a joint project between LABRIS - National Centre for Laboratory Research and Risk Assessment and the Estonian University of Life Sciences, titled “Food safety of high-risk plant-based foods and meat alternatives.”
The project involves collecting over 300 samples from retail stores and analyzing them for microbiological, molecular biological, and chemical indicators. It aims to determine the prevalence of major foodborne pathogens in selected product groups and analyze them for mycotoxins and toxic alkaloids.
The project focuses on two product categories:
- Plant-based ready-to-eat foods, such as salads from open salad bars, processed (e.g., grated or sliced) and packaged vegetables, and ready-to-eat plant-based sandwiches.
- Plant-based meat alternatives: plant-serived that are designed and marketed as meat substitutes, including poultry and seafood. This category includes various plant-based burgers and sausages, as well as vegan pâtés, and plant-based shrimp and salmon substitutes.
Conference home page: https://foodsafety4.eu/event/eu-food-safety-forum-2024/
Additional information:
Tiina Mandel
Chief specialist of risk assessment department
tel +372 56 689 755
email [email protected]
