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17th December 2009: Nutrimenthe at the first European Food Science Day
Nutrimenthe was represented at the first EU Food Science Day, which took place in Brussels on the 18th November. The event, organised by ten food science projects from CommNET, focussed on the need for better communication of food research to industry, policy makers and consumers. The event brought together a wide ranging audience of over 120 participants from all over Europe.
Speakers included Catherine Geslain-Laneelle the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority, Beate Kettlitz from the Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of the EU, the MEP Lena Ek, Maeve Rute from DG Research and Willemwin Bax from the European Consumers Organisation. The event also enabled nine Framework funded Food projects to present their results in three breakout sessions on “Safer Food”, “Improving Health” and “Reducing Risk” and for others to display posters.
“Knowledge is nothing if not shared” and the event highlighted the need for food scientists to be better at explaining what they are doing. To be able to explain in simple terms the results of food research beyond the confines of their own immediate community. Maeve Rute from DG Research emphasised that although the EC has made dissemination and communication a contractual obligation for projects, there is room for improvement. The EC’s view is that consortia need to reach beyond their own partners and immediate scientific community. Websites are projects’ main means of communication but tend to be targeted just to partners, only a third of projects publish newspaper articles and very few have used TV for example.
Will the EC be doing anything to help? In the future, communication training for Food scientists is being considered through calls for proposals to the current Food workprogramme. The EC is also to establish a communication portal next year as a means for project results to find their way to stakeholders. They also wish to promote the CommNET partnership, which strives to raise the communication skills among scientists and share good practice, and encourage more linkage between projects. All in all a lively and stimulating event that may be repeated annually.
A summary of the event and the presentations can be viewed here:
