Background
The use of good quality water at different stages of the agrifood system – from irrigation, animal farming, aquaculture, cleaning, food processing up to drinking water – is crucial for food safety. 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.
Through natural and anthropogenic influences, agrifood water sources can contain a wide range of contaminants. While significant international advances have been made in recent years in assessing the microbiological food safety risks related to agrifood water, the implications of chemical water quality on food safety are less well characterized. There is often limited knowledge related to the ability of emerged or emerging waterborne chemical contaminants to enter the food chain and their implications on food safety.
The background document “Prioritizing food safety issues related to chemical water quality in agrifood systems” prepared by the FAO Agrifood Systems and Food Safety Division (ESF), aims to present the current understanding on the food safety issues related to chemical water quality in environmental and recycled waters that may be used in agrifood systems.
Scope and objective of the meeting1
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 Codex and/or other relevant stakeholders.
1 The meeting will focus on chemical contaminants as microbiological contaminants have already been assessed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA): Safety and quality of water use and reuse in the production and processing of dairy products: meeting report, Safety and quality of water used in the production and processing of fish and fishery products: meeting report, Safety and quality of water used with fresh fruits and vegetables, Safety and quality of water used in food production and processing: meeting report