A recent literature analysis revealed the representation of food safety in One Health research and its intersection with other facets of the One Health framework. The study, which reviewed more than 6,000 One Health-related publications published between 2010 and 2024, aligns One Health research trends with the United Nations (UN) Quadripartite One Health Joint Plan of Action 2022–2026.

The One Health approach calls for a holistic and systems-based understanding of the interconnection between the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment.

Food safety is formally recognized under Action Track 4 of the OH Joint Action Plan. However, the analysis found that only 12.5 percent of OH-labeled publications were primarily focused on this track, making it the second-least represented of the six tracks. Moreover, food safety research within the One Health framework tends to concentrate narrowly on foodborne diseases, with limited attention to food system risks like mycotoxins and pesticide residues, despite their high impact on food and feed safety. This gap may arise from the historic focus of One Health on zoonoses and infectious diseases.

Additionally, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a prominent topic, receiving its own track (Action Track 5) in the Joint Plan of Action. Its intersection with food safety is beginning to garner attention in One Health research, as there is an increasing recognition that environmental contamination with pathogens, heavy metals, pesticides, and antimicrobial residues contributes to the emergence and spread of foodborne diseases and AMR, making food safety a One Health issue. Novel genetics technologies (e.g., resistome analysis, metagenomic sequencing, and DNA fingerprinting) for mitigating AMR in agriculture and the environment are being developed, with implications for food safety.

Despite the Joint Plan of Action’s emphasis on integrating environmental health, the analysis found that agricultural and plant health disciplines—such as crop production, agriculture, land and farm management, and fisheries sciences—are poorly connected to any action tracks. This disconnect is recognized in the literature, and many papers call for greater emphasis on the agricultural and environmental aspects of One Health research.

Importantly, the analysis found that the One Health conversation is dominated by high-income countries, although this disparity is gradually decreasing over time. Global intergovernmental organizations are putting One Health research into use by integrating One Health evidence and issues in key policy documents followed closely by countries in Europe and North America.

The research was led and published by CABI, an international, intergovernmental, nonprofit organization. The project involved data scientists, social scientists, plant pathologists, ecologists, veterinarians, public health scientists, One Health specialists and policy experts engaged in providing scientific and strategic advice on One Health for global institutions.