Thursday, 06 April 2023
Food safety research is not only important to highlight risk and determine potential control measures, but it is also essential to address gaps in food safety knowledge necessary to support regulation and identify emerging issues and threats to the food system in Ireland.
The FSAI is not a research funding body and therefore, to raise awareness of its needs for research in regulatory science, the FSAI communicates areas of priority research to State bodies that fund research and to scientists in research institutes alike. These areas can be incorporated into research calls by funding bodies or be the subject of researcher-led funding proposals submitted to research funding bodies. These include research under the themes of exposure assessment; emerging risks and threats; food science and technology; biological safety; food allergens; and chemical safety.
The FSAI's 2023 research needs report contains priority research areas that would advance the risk assessment and risk management work of the FSAI and support the protection of public health. They are listed under broad theme headings and include suggestions for major research, as well as smaller desktop studies. The report also lists research projects that the FSAI is aware of that have already been funded in the areas of interest. Research funding bodies and/or researchers may cite this report as supporting documentation for their calls or proposals.
