Global megatrends and emerging food safety issues

Fonterra commissioned the Centre to update a much-cited 2017 paper on emerging issues in food safety.  The research has been carried out under the direction of Centre Chief Scientist, Distinguished Professor Phil Bremer.  The lead author who did much of the ‘leg work’ is Margaret Thorsen, who has a background in nutrition and food waste research and has written other research papers with Phil. 

The paper, published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, is indeed comprehensive, including implications for both developed and developing nations. The issues and mitigation strategies can be quite different.

Phil says he learnt some new things from the research. For example, the potential food safety issues with vertical farming, which is catching on in cities like New York and Singapore.

The megatrends identified include: climate change (especially spread of diseases), the drive for sustainability (new packaging formats), microplastics, aging populations (more susceptible to disease), urbanization (vertical agriculture: for example, food can get contaminated by mercury from lights, air pollution and asbestos in some buildings), and geopolitical tensions (major disruptions to supplies, breakdown of cross border regulatory controls, lack of trust).

The paper reports that “these megatrends are increasingly driving resource depletion, reducing the vitality of plants and animals, increasing the geographical spread of animal and plant pathogens, increasing the risk of mycotoxins, agrichemical residues, and anti-microbial resistant pathogens contaminating foods, and threatening to destabilize food systems and the food regulatory network.”

“Science-based actions, adopting continual and dynamic risk assessments, alongside the use of more sensitive and accurate methods for the detection of contaminants, may counter these challenges. The use of artificial intelligence, robotics and automation, enhancement of food safety cultures, continued education and training of workforces, and the implementation of risk-based food regulations will help ensure preventative controls are in place.”

Phil will be presenting the research findings at the NZIFST Conference in Palmerston North, at the end of June. 

Phil was extremely complimentary about the expertise, experience and international knowledge  provided by the other co-authors:  Frank Yiannas (former Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and former director of food safety for Walmart and Disney, who, incidentally, is coming to NZ to give a NZFSSRC workshop in May), Jeffrey Farber (former Director of Microbial Food Safety at Health Canada and former Director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety), Ivonne Rietjens (Professor in Toxicology at Wageningen University, The Netherlands, member and chair of various European Food Safety Authority Panels), Ryk Lues (Director of the Centre for Applied Food Sustainability and Biotechnology at the Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa), Jeremy Hill (Fonterra’s Chief Science and Technology Officer) and Pierre Venter (Director Research & Development, Fonterra). 

Published on: 7 April 2025