NETHERLANDS – The Netherlands is set to create a unique knowledge and research institution for food and feed safety to further its capabilities in research as well as food security matters.
The institute will be formed through a merger between RIKILT Wageningen University & Research and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA)’s Laboratory for Food and Feed Safety effective from June 2019.
The new organisation called Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), will be part of Wageningen University & Research.
It will provide knowledge, research and laboratory support to for the NVWA and the national government in the area of food and feed safety and food fraud.
As an organisation tasked to reinforce the activities of the government in food safety, WFSR will be critical during incidents and crises that affect the NVWA, the ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (MZS).
It plays a role with environmental incidents and (food) poisoning in addition to functioning as a national and European reference laboratory.
Situated on Wageningen Campus, the centre is set to expand its activities as an internationally renowned research center by joining forces.
Food safety is a continuous area of concern.
There are many changes that affect food safety and should be dealt with, including climate change, new production techniques, novel food products and consumption patterns.Consumer behavior and the globalization of food production/supply also have an impact on circular economy/agriculture.
RIKILT Wageningen University & Research Director Robert van Gorcom to FoodIngredientsFirst.
Consumers expect a zero risk with food, which causes big concerns with the smallest incidents, and the industry must react.
New capabilities
The new institute will employ over 350 technicians and researchers and will be the biggest analytical institute/laboratory in the non-commercial domain in the Netherlands.
The merger will seek to create new research opportunities, especially in the field of food microbiology and food virology.
It combines the activities of the two organisations.
Laboratory for Food and Feed Safety of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority is tasked to safeguard animal and plant health, animal welfare, and food and consumer product safety.
The Wageningen University & Research institute RIKILT focuses on the official control of feed, all forensic analyses for the government in the agro domain.