CmsArticles / Read Only
Header From over the World

What is HORIZON 2020?

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation program ever with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020) – in addition to the private investment that this money will attract. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

Link to expand information: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en

The main challenges in food security by 2014 in Europe, new business opportunities for laboratories

The challenges are posed by the growing of international trade in food force to have powerful tools that allow you to respond, quickly and effectively to any crisis related to the food safety.

The European's food safety authority (EFSA) provides, for the next two years, an increasingdemand for assessment of risks and scientific advice in areas such as pesticides, GMOs ornew foods. To answer all these and other issues, this body has introduced the first Planmulti-year (MAP) covering the period 2014-2016.

The task in the field of food security for the next few years will be more dynamic that passive, especially in what refers to scientific advice.

  • Well-being and animal health (bovine tuberculosis, African swine fever).
  • Assessment of risks of pests on vegetables, which include Xylella fastidiosa, whose presence was confirmed for the first time in the EU by the end of 2013.
  • Assessment of risks on mycotoxins, metals and contaminants from processing, such asacrylamide
  • Analysis of various Fusarium toxins in food and feed.
  • Biological study on pollutants, which will focus on the risk to public health that represent pathogens in foods: Salmonella, Yersinia, Shigella and norovirus.
  • Works on transmissible encephalopathies (TSES) transmissible spongiform, that includethe infectivity of encephalopathy BSE (BSE) in the intestines of cattle.
  • Continuation of assessments of the methodologies of molecular typing of the mainmicrobiological risks transmitted by food.
  • Monitoring of Listeria in food ready for consumption. To do this, you will investigate thesequencing of the genome of the pathogen.
  • Assessment of dietary exposure to hazardous compounds.
  • Re-evaluation of authorized food additives and new uses.
  • Completing a project over 100 examples of chemical mixtures toxicological data.
  • Identification of emerging risks and strengthening of the REACH project to characterize the potential chemical hazards in the food chain.
  • Ensure the safe use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feed.
  • Continue the work on the health of bees and new assessments about the risks of certainsubstances such as neonicotinoids.
  • Analysis above antimicrobials and resistance, in collaboration with the European Centre forthe prevention and Control of diseases (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency.

EFSA provides for an increase in the demand for evaluations of risks and scientific advice in areas such as novel foods, pesticides, plant pests and enzymes