Innovation is crucial for the development of the organic sector. By launching a Call for Innovations, TP Organics invites farmers, researchers and companies from the organic and other sectors to propose innovative solutions to one of the following needs of the organic sector:

• Innovation for animal health and welfare in organic production systems
• Increasing productivity and quality in organic arable farming
• Improving the transparency of the organic value chain

These are the themes of 2016 Call that are based on the priority topics identified by the TP Organics Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda. The call closes on 12 September 2016. The authors of the best solutions will have the opportunity to present their innovation at the second edition of the Organic Innovation Days on 6 December 2016 in Brussels (first edition).

The book Regulating Safety of Traditional and Ethnic Foods (ISBN 9780128006054) has now been published and is available from the Elsevier store and other retailers.

Key features:

• Addresses the need for balance in safety regulation and retaining traditional food options
• Includes case studies from around the world to provide practical insight and guidance
• Presents suggestions for developing appropriate global safety standards

Follow this link for detailed information.

Release date: November, 25, 2015

BEUC is offering a trainee program in the field of food safety for period of 6 months.

BEUC has a membership of 41 well respected, independent national consumer organizations from 31 European countries. BEUC acts as the umbrella group in Brussels for these          organisations and its main task is to represent their members and defend the interests of all Europe’s consumers.

The program includes:

• Monitoring key developments at EU level on food safety issues
• Helping develop position papers and briefing on food safety issues
• Conducting specific research on topics related to food safety
• Attending conferences and meetings on food safety organized by the EU institutions and other stakeholders.

Please find attached the flyer for the announcement.

Submission deadline: January 31, 2016

The first edition of the book "Regulating Safety of Traditional and Ethnic Foods" is now available for pre-order on the Elsevier Website under the following link.

Description

Regulating Safety of Traditional and Ethnic Foods, a compilation from a team of experts in food safety, nutrition, and regulatory affairs, examines a variety of traditional foods from around the world, their risks and benefits, and how regulatory steps may assist in establishing safe parameters for these foods without reducing their cultural or nutritive value.

Many traditional foods provide excellent nutrition from sustainable resources, with some containing nutraceutical properties that make them not only a source of cultural and traditional value, but also valuable options for addressing the growing need for food resources. This book discusses these ideas and concepts in a comprehensive and scientific manner.

Release Date: December 11, 2015

The ERASMUS+ Knowledge Alliance project will establish an independent “EuFooD-STA Centre” (virtual platform plus physical hubs) as a legal and organisational frame for international and sustainable collaborations between industry and academia in the food sector.

Involved are 7 universities, 2 food companies and 7 multiplier organisations and training providers based in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and UK.

The independent “EuFooD-STA Centre” will enhance on the one hand innovative education & training for students, targeted towards the needs of the industry and thus increasing their employability and on the other hand innovative continual professional development (CPD) for academic and company staff by facilitating experience exchange.

These will be achieved by:

• work and training experiences through industrial and university placement
• promoting of best practices of already existing training materials and methods
• joint academic/company tutoring and supervision
• joint development of guidelines for the design and implementation of joint “industrial master” curricula
• joint development of a CPD programme and certification scheme for company and university staff
• joint development of trainings material, modules, courses, etc. to improve existing academic curricula and CPD training
• development of a digital library consisting of tutorials, recorded webinars, online courses, etc., a multilingual database and an e-learning platform

To achieve our goals first of all we need to identify the needs and challenges of food companies.

Please help us by filling out a short questionnaire about the needs of your food company.

The questionnaire is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Greek, Italian and German.

Industry partners can train their staff and make use of placement of researchers who can collect practical experiences.

University partners can train their teaching staff, tune their study programmes, make use of modules from other Universities or new modules developed in collaboration with Industry and other academic partners.

The independent “EuFooD-STA Network” is open to other Universities, food companies and multiplier organisations & training providers.
To be involved, please fill in the membership application form.

 Website

Taste of Science is a web-based platform that provides information in the form of small articles about different food-related subjects to support small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs). The website is realized by TRAFOON's partner organization TRADEIT and The European Federation of Food Science & Technology (EFFoST).

Their website also features an event-ticker that shows the most recent and upcoming food conferences  workshops and events.

Taste of Science