The global food system is one of the most important, if not THE most important, system we have on earth. Without the food we eat we cannot survive. Over the last 75 years the food sector has evolved extensively, which in turn has helped reduce hunger, increased economic growth around the world, and supported the enhancement of One Health (human, plant, animal and environmental health). But how do we ensure our food system continues to deliver what society expects from it in an ever changing and more complex world? How do we make sure it remains fit for purpose? And how do we make sure we keep our food supply safe?

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SSAFE has developed a provocative knowledge paper, in collaboration with renowned leaders Steve Wearne and Markus Lipp, to set out a set of pragmatic ideas for an integrated, risk-based future approach to food safety that supports global trade, food security and sustainability. In the paper we suggest that the binary, compliance-based approach to food safety curtails the role of food safety, polarizing food as “safe” or “unsafe”.  It recommends that, through collaboration between partners across public, private and third sectors,  sufficient attention needs to be given to the broader implications of consumption of foods that are non-compliant, where the highly conservative safety margins inherent in normative risk assessment processes are eroded but where there are important gains in terms of food security and/or the sustainability of food systems. By integrating considerations across food safety, security and sustainability when setting regulatory policy and implementing specific risk management measures significant gains can be made to future proof our food system for decade to come.

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The target audience for this document is anyone interested in discussing the future of our global food system and One Health, and the opportunities that lay in front of us to advance food safety through a more risk-based approach resulting in more sustainable, secure and effective trade in food.