Is innovation for sustainability risking food safety?
Abi Stevenson (AS): New and evolving food safety threats are constantly emerging, exacerbated by climate change, agricultural practices and more. At Mars, as a global food manufacturer, we believe we have a responsibility to help identify solutions, but we also know that it is not possible to address global food safety challenges effectively on our own. That’s why we partner with leading experts such as WFP, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), universities, regulators, and industry bodies around the world to develop sustainable solutions, improve practices and strengthen supply chain resilience. It is only through robust science-led insights, collaboration and best practice standards and regulations, food safety training, and capability building, that we can help strengthen the supply chain.
Tom Heilandt (TH): I agree with Virginia and Abi, and just to build on this point: a holistic approach that considers the entire food system is needed. All actors will have to address the way they tackle food safety challenges. For example, food producers and distributors need to understand that food is not a commodity like any other. Profit and fair income need to be made but it is also a huge ethical responsibility to produce and market food. Similarly, consumers should know their responsibility in keeping food safe, reducing food loss and waste, and choosing the right foods in the right amount. Finally, governments need to provide the policies that lay the foundations for sustainable food systems – ideally based on international standards.
VS: Exactly, at WFP we know we cannot develop our internal best practice standards and guidance alone. We work with experts from CODEX, Mars and others to develop these guidelines. The expertise from our partners continues to be an invaluable resource for us and we welcome the opportunity to work with others in the future. It is only through collaborative efforts that we can ensure that all assistance we distribute is safe, nutritious and of good quality.
2. As the world’s population grows, the intensification and industrialisation of agriculture and animal production to meet demand is creating an increasingly complex supply chain; what impact does this have on food safety?
AS: For many agricultural raw materials, where and how they are grown and harvested can significantly influence their safety, and this is where partnerships between industry and organisations like WFP can really make a difference.
VS: Indeed, at WFP we are seeing and will continue to see increasing pressures on the global food system due to increased demand for growing populations. The effects of climate change on food safety in particular are profound. More extreme weather patterns and events such as higher temperatures, droughts and floods are pushing an already fragile food system further to its limits than ever before. Because of this, the challenges to food systems are becoming more complex with new hazards and food safety threats emerging all the time; for example, the changing climate may promote growth of invasive plant species that could be harmful to food crops and eventually impact plant, animal and/or human health.
AS: Absolutely, and we are experiencing this across global food supply chains. On top of that, in the last few years, pre-existing vulnerabilities in sourcing communities have been compounded by disruptions including restrictions on movement and trade, political instability, changes in demand, currency devaluation, workforce challenges and more. When supply chains are disrupted, there is a higher risk of food contamination, spoilage, and other safety issues, such as increased prevalence of food fraud. The true scale of instability of the supply chain owing to these disruptions is likely still not fully known. As we look ahead, we need a deep understanding of our supply chains in order to build resilience, enabling us to continue to ensure that food is safe for everyone.
TH: To me, imagining a future in which the world population continues to grow, we could theorise that relatively soon (50-100 years from now), agriculture and food production as we know it today may be only a niche area. The bulk of food production may be replaced with new industrial technologies that will require sustainable energy use.
New production methods such as food printing, cell-based foods, nanotechnology, biotechnology and others will bring their own food safety, nutritional, societal and environmental challenges which, like any innovation, must be researched. Risks must be analysed and standards set just as they are today – although new methods will bring new approaches to risk management. The transition from classical agriculture to new food systems will increase complexity, while concentrated production might reduce logistical complexity but increase the risk of high impact of any food safety incidents. Continued investment in food safety standards and their implementation will be essential.
3. What will sustainable supply chains look like in the future? Are there any additional risks to food safety and security to be mindful of in the event that these future supply chains become a reality?
TH: A sustainable food system can supply everyone on this planet with sufficient safe, nutritious, tasty food in a manner that provides a fair income to those delivering it, and that can continue indefinitely without depleting resources. It must be a system where all stakeholders assume their responsibility, from the primary producer to the consumer. The transition to such a system presents both opportunities and challenges for food safety and security and requires a coordinated effort from all stakeholders to ensure success.
VS: At WFP our approach to achieving a sustainable global supply chain requires a local focus. Investing in capacity building, procuring food and implementing resilience programmes at the local level enables sustainable economic development, while engaging with stakeholders – including vulnerable communities – and sharing information and expertise is paramount. The FAO recently published a Foresight report providing insights into the need for profound risk assessments to understand and conclusively define mitigation measures for emerging risks when building newer and sustainable food systems.
AS: A key risk to food security and a real threat to our business and planet is climate change. At Mars we source around seven million tons of raw materials annually that nearly one million farmers and growers produce for us – the impact we can have by making our supply chain more sustainable cannot be overstated. We are urgently working to drive true systems changes through partnerships across our supply chains including with the farmers that grow our ingredients, academic institutions, governments, non-government organisations (NGOs), suppliers and industry peers. An example of this is our research partnership with the University of California-Davis and the University of Arkansas to study the ‘alternate wetting and drying’ (AWD) technique for growing rice. Rice is a staple food for 3.5 billion people and as the maker of BEN’S ORIGINAL®, the world’s largest global rice brand, the grain is a critical raw material for us. We’ve found AWD can reduce water use by 50 percent and GHG emissions by 40 percent – all without reducing yield. We are now partnering with the farmers who grow our rice in the US, Europe and Asia to implement sustainable practices and make our supply chain more sustainable.
About the speakers
Virginia Siebenrok, Chief, Food Safety & Quality at WFP
Virginia Siebenrok is Chief Food Safety and Quality for the World Food Programme in Rome, Italy. She leads the team in ensuring food safety and quality standards, policies and procedures are developed, monitored and implemented across all WFP operations from programme design to distribution of assistance.
Before joining WFP in 2018, she worked for over 15 years with the private sector, always in areas linked to food safety and quality – systems implementation, supplier auditing, sanitation and hygienic design, HACCP and development of global food safety and quality policies.
Virginia is a chemical engineer with post-graduation in processing engineering and is a national of Brazil.
Tom Heilandt has been the Secretary of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission since 2014. He joined the Secretariat in 2005 as Senior Officer responsible for communication. From 1994-2005 he worked in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva first in the Secretariat of the European Agreement on the transport of dangerous goods by road and later as Secretary of the Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards. Previous work experiences include chemical industry (BAYER) and enterprise consulting (Trinzic Corp, Aion Corp) from 1990-1994. Tom holds degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Düsseldorf.
Abigail Stevenson is Mars’ Chief Science Officer and Vice President of The Mars Advanced Institute (MARI).
As Chief Science Officer she is responsible for championing Mars’ involvement in global, cutting-edge science discovery. This means driving forwards partnerships with academia, non-governmental organizations and peers, helping build the pipeline of leading science and technology talent at Mars and leading the Mars Science Leadership Team.
As Vice President of MARI, which connects Mars with emerging science and technology to spark discoveries with the potential to reinvent the future of its business, Abi guides MARI’s focus on future discovery, ensuring the team has the freedom to explore higher risk technologies while never losing sight of business relevance.
Prior to these roles, Abi has held a number of other key roles at Mars. From 2017 to 2020, she was Director of the Mars Global Food Safety Center in Beijing, China, where she led a global team addressing significant food safety challenges facing global food supply chains. Abi also served as Director of Stakeholder Relations and Science Communications for the Mars Petcare business, where she led development of the Mars Petcare Academy Associate advocacy program alongside segment communications.
In addition, Abi was a member of the Waltham Petcare Science Institute leadership team, acting as Head of Science Communications. She has a PhD in cat nutrition and urinary health from University College London.