In Dubrovnik, from November 9 to 12, 2022, the 4th International Congress on Food Safety and Quality entitled "One Health" was held in a hybrid form. The congress gathered a multidisciplinary team of experts from all over the world in the Hotel Lacroma, with the aim of connecting the academic, scientific and professional community and exchanging knowledge and experience necessary for the implementation of the project of establishing a Centre for Food Safety and Quality.
The Congress was organized by the Institute of Public Health "Dr. Andrija Štampar", the Croatian Metrology Society and the South-East European Food Quality and Safety Control Network (SEEN-FSQC). The co-organizers of the congress were the Faculty of Agriculture and the Faculty of Food and Biotechnology of the University of Zagreb, the Institute for Health and Food Safety in Zenica and the Institute for Public Health of Vojvodina. The joint conclusions of the participants will be of vital importance for the final opening of the Centre for Food Safety and Quality, an institution that will provide Croatian citizens with healthier and better nutrition, with confirmation of authenticity and thus a higher quality of life.
One health – for humans, plants, animals and the environment
The official opening of the 4th International Congress on Food Safety and Quality "One Health" was opened with speeches by Mr. Vera Katalinić Janković, special advisor to the Minister of Health of the Republic of Croatia, doc. Zdravko Barać, Director of the Directorate for cattle breeding and food quality of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia, Ph.D. Darja Sokolić, Director of the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, Laura Martin, General Secretary of EUROLAB – the European Federation of National Associations of Measuring, Testing and Analytical Laboratories and President of the Congress prof. prim. Ph.D. Branko Kolarić, MD, director of the Institute of Public Health "Dr. Andrija Štampar". At the ceremonial opening, he emphasized that the significance of this congress is best reflected in the number of organizers, co-organizers, sponsors, participants, as well as the support shown by the Ministry of Science and Education, including it among the strategic scientific meetings of exceptional importance for the Republic of Croatia in 2022. He added that the concept of one health does not refer only to health of people, but rather to the uniqueness of health from the aspect of humans, plants, animals and the environment: "As a population, we are in a major crisis, a climate crisis, where we must also focus on one global health, without borders. The quality and safety of food is extremely important, and today we deal with this topic much more than it was the case in the past. Our relationship and attitude towards food have changed, quality control has greatly developed, both from the laboratory, as well as from the health and safety aspect. As a leader in public health, we will soon open our Centre for Food Safety and Quality. The issue of one health is not only the issue of the Ministry of Health, it is the issue of all of us", he concluded.
Important communication between producers and consumers
Declaration of food and nutritional supplements is a set of important information that manufacturers use to communicate with consumers about all essential ingredients, food origin and nutritional composition. That is why one of the main conclusions of the meeting was that it is necessary to educate both producers and consumers to read and understand them. Food contaminants continue to represent a major challenge in food analysis, and it is therefore necessary to monitor the development of new technologies and analytical methods and to invest in the education of laboratory workers, so that they can apply the acquired knowledge in practice on a daily basis and transfer their knowledge to others.
Along with the scientific community, producers play the most important role in ensuring the quality and authenticity of food. That is why, on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia, the Director of the Directorate for cattle breeding and food quality at the Ministry, Zdravko Barać, pointed out that we must all work together to ensure sustainable food systems that will enable high-quality and affordable food, which will favourably affect the lives of citizens. He added that such items are an integral part of the Strategy of the Ministry of Agriculture for the development of agriculture until 2030 and are part of the European strategy "From field to table", as well as the Croatian one - "From farm to table". The main goal of both strategies is to increase the quality of food, increase its volume, work on quality policies and reduce the amount of food waste.
The main partner of the overall initiative and project of establishing the Centre for Food Safety and Quality is the European Union, together with its professional organizations. On their behalf, at the opening of the congress, the general secretary of EUROLAB (European Federation of National Associations of Measurement, Testing and Analytical Laboratories) Laura Martin spoke, who emphasized fraud and food counterfeiting, the number of which has increased during the pandemic, so it is important to inform consumers that there are counterfeit products that can seriously endanger their health.