Daily wrap-up: EFFoST2019 Day 3

November 15, 2019

It was an early start for the 500 delegates attending the last day EFFoST2019 conference. After the parallel sessions, the delegates met in the Rotterdam hall for one last scientific plenary session and the awards ceremony to close this 33rd edition of the EFFoST International Conference.

During the parallel session ‘Regulatory, food safety and security’, keynote speaker Prof Marcel Zwietering from Wageningen University talked about the fact that zero risk does not exist. Zero risk is an ostrich policy and not helpful in determining balanced interventions.

In the New technology and food digestibility session chaired by Kate Howell, Syahrizal Muttakin from University of Birmingham talked about his research that aimed to engineer the digestion of rice by exploring

 

the functionality of hydrocolloid. The results showed that it is possible to add hydrocolloids to starchy food in order to formulate healthier staple foods.

Plenary session
In the last scientific plenary session of EFFoST2019 chaired by Ben Langelaan, Katinka Abbenbroek from Dutch Alliance for Sustainability in Food discussed the current sustainability crisis. Externalities of production are not included in the price and are paid for by biodiversity, climate, and human health.

 

She explained that the Netherlands could be considered a pressure cooker, with a high population density, intensive production and high export. Therefore sustainability challenges need to be addressed earlier in this small country and the generated solutions may be beneficial for other countries.

Manfred Aben from Unilever quoted Unilever’s main purpose during his presentation: “To make sustainable living commonplace”. With all the

 

existing problems across the world (e.g. obesity, malnutrition, climate change or food waste), it is a very challenging purpose to achieve.

The plenary session concluded with a fascinating talk by Eyal Shimoni from Strauss Group about the making of Israel’s Food Tech community that was initiated by Strauss Group in 2011. He emphasized the importance of being trustworthy and striving for the good for humanity, in addition to partnership and strength.

 


After the awards ceremony, the president of EFFoST, Prof Olga Martin Belloso, thanked Prof Vincenzo Fogliano from Wageningen University & Research who was the conference chair of this wonderful EFFoST international conference held in Rotterdam.
We would also like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to Ariette Matser, Ben Langelaan, Prof Remko Boom and Prof Erik van der Linden, who together with Prof Vincenzo Fogliano, were responsible for this year's scientific programme.

 

 

 

 

We looking forward to seeing you at the EFFoST2020 conference!

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