Scientists from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) will meet in Italy later this month to discuss water quality in agri-food systems, with a focus on chemical contaminants.

The meeting is set for May 20–23 at FAO headquarters in Rome.

A background document prepared by FAO’s Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division (ESF)—“Prioritizing food safety issues related to chemical water quality in agrifood systems”—aims to present the current understanding on food safety issues related to chemical water quality in environmental and recycled waters that may be used in agri-food systems. 

“The use of good quality water at different stages of the agri-food system—from irrigation, animal farming, aquaculture, cleaning, food processing up to drinking water—is crucial for food safety,” WHO said in a statement providing background for the meeting. “Growing food production for an increasing global population will necessitate higher water availability. As a response to managing water demand in agriculture, there has been innovation and increased adoption of abstracting from alternative water sources. Circular economy polices and processes are promoting the transformation to more sustainable solutions such as closed-loop water reuse and recycling of water as a value chain from waste sources.”  

Scope and objective of the meeting

The meeting will facilitate the finalization of the document, “Prioritizing food safety issues related to chemical water quality in agrifood systems.” 

Specifically, the objectives of the meeting include:  

• Validating of the report through peer review   
• Agreeing on the priority of specific waterborne contaminants for food safety
• Drawing final conclusions and making recommendations to relevant stakeholders.

Experts participating in the meeting will include: Mesfin Mekonnen, from the University of Alabama; Kevin Hiscock, from the University of East Anglia; Mark Sumarah, a scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Tim Harwood, who co-leads the Seafood Safety research platform; and Mari Asami, a chief senior researcher at the Department of Environmental Health, National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), Japan.

A full list of the experts expected to participate in the meeting can be found here.