Athens, Greece | Muser NewsDesk
Summary:
Europe’s food systems are facing a growing range of challenges, including food fraud, cyberattacks, food safety threats, and other risks that can disrupt supply chains and affect public confidence. As these threats become increasingly interconnected, there is growing interest in approaches that focus on early detection, preparedness, and resilience across the food sector.
These issues will be at the centre of the webinar ‘Advancing Food System Security: From Early Signals to Systemic Resilience‘, taking place online on 3 July 2026. The event brings together four EU-funded projects – SecureFood, EFF-CoP, ACT4FOOD, and DEFENSEFOOD – to present approaches for identifying emerging threats, improving resilience management, strengthening cybersecurity, tackling food fraud, and supporting food defense.
The webinar follows a joint event held in March that explored challenges affecting food security across Europe. Organisers say the continued collaboration reflects the value of bringing together expertise from multiple disciplines and sectors to address evolving risks facing food systems. Participants will also discuss preparedness gaps, future priorities for research and policy, and the role of early warning systems in safeguarding the integrity and resilience of Europe’s food supply chains.
— Press Release —
Advancing Food System Security: From Early Signals to Systemic Resilience
Four European research and innovation projects will come together on 3 July 2026 for the second webinar in a joint series dedicated to strengthening food system security through enhanced resilience, preparedness, and threat anticipation.
The online webinar, hosted via Microsoft Teams from 14:00 to 15:30 CEST, will bring together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders to discuss how early signals, emerging risks, and innovative security approaches can support the development of more resilient and prepared food systems. The event will showcase complementary perspectives on resilience management, food fraud prevention, cybersecurity, and food defense, highlighting how these approaches can contribute to the security and integrity of Europe’s food sector.
This webinar builds on the success of the first joint event held in March 2026, which brought together experts from across Europe to examine the impact of food fraud, cybersecurity, food system resilience, and chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) threats on food security. The strong engagement and valuable exchanges generated during the inaugural webinar demonstrated the value of continued collaboration across disciplines and sectors to address the evolving challenges facing Europe’s food systems.
Building resilience through early detection and preparedness
Food systems are increasingly exposed to a wide range of interconnected threats that can affect food availability, safety, integrity, and public trust. As these risks become more complex and dynamic, there is a growing need for approaches that move beyond reactive responses and towards proactive monitoring, prevention, and resilience-building.
This second joint webinar, titled ‘Advancing Food System Security: From Early Signals to Systemic Resilience‘, will highlight innovative methodologies, frameworks, and tools developed through four EU-funded projects that collectively contribute to safeguarding Europe’s food systems.
Through expert presentations, interactive discussions, and audience engagement, participants will gain insights into how food system actors can better anticipate emerging threats and strengthen preparedness across the entire supply chain.
Participating projects
The webinar will feature presentations from four EU-funded projects, each providing a unique perspective on food system security:
- SecureFood: Food Systems Resilience Management Framework Anna Vetsou (EMPRACTIS L.P.)
- EFF-CoP: When All You Have Is a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail: Why Analytical Methods Only Solve Part of the Food Fraud Problem, and What Other Approaches Are Needed Peter Olsen (NOFIMA)
- ACT4FOOD: Methodologies and Approaches for the Development of Cybersecurity Solutions in the Food Chain Alberto Garre (Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena)
- DEFENSEFOOD: From Early Signals to Early Warning: Anticipating Emerging Food Safety and Food Defense Threats Ákos Józwiak (Syreon Research Institute)
Following the project presentations, participants will be invited to contribute to an interactive discussion focused on key challenges facing food system security. Live polls will be used to gather perspectives on the most significant threats to food security and the areas requiring the most urgent action.
The discussion will provide an opportunity to examine complementarities between different approaches, identify remaining gaps, and exchange views on future priorities for research, policy, and practice.
The webinar will conclude with an open question-and-answer session, allowing participants to engage directly with project representatives and experts.
Key discussion topics
- Food system resilience and preparedness
- Early signals, early warning, and threat anticipation
- Food fraud prevention and system integrity
- Cybersecurity and cyber-physical risks in food systems
- Emerging food safety and food defense challenges
- Systemic vulnerabilities and blind spots in preparedness
- Cross-sector collaboration and policy relevance
Event Details
Title: Advancing Food System Security: From Early Signals to Systemic Resilience
Date: 3 July 2026
Time: 14:00–15:30 CET
Format: Online
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The SecureFood project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant agreement No. 101136583. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
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Article Source:
Press Release/Material by Ben Moore | SecureFood
Featured image credit: jcomp | Freepik
