Food
Food Safety & Compliance Laboratory JRC Geel site (Belgium)
The European Commission has implemented measures to combat fraudulent practices in the agri-food supply chain . Food fraud undermines consumer trust, threatens the integrity of the Single Market, and poses potential risks to public health by ignoring safety regulations designed to protect consumers. The JRC offers expert advice to prevent such fraudulent practices, in particular by the development of analytical methods to be used by Member States’ competent authorities to detect food fraud. The main aim of the JRC is to protect producers from reputational damage and develop measures to prevent economic losses for consumers and it has been working tirelessly to restore and safeguard trust in the single market by ensuring that food products are of high quality and that no fraudulent processes are ongoing.
States verify honey authenticity, protecting both consumers and honest producers under the revised EU Honey Directive.The JRC is working to help Member
The European Commission Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Knowledge Gateway (Knowledge Gateway) provides concise, reliable, independent and updated information on the promotion of health. In the area of food and nutrition, the knowledge gateway provides an up-to-date overview of food-based dietary guidelines in European countries as a basis for policy action in this field. In addition, it offers data on exposure/intake of food (e.g., fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes) or nutrients of public health concern (e.g., salt, sugars), the health impact and burden of inadequate intakes as well as policies and measures on how to reduce risks in the population. Aimed at EU and MS policy makers, it offers a one-stop shop to key knowledge on Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and their main risk factors as well as policies and best practices to improve public health.
The JRC plays a pivotal role in ensuring the safety and quality of food and feed within the European Union. It hosts three European Union Reference Laboratories (EURLs), specifically for genetically modified food and feed, food contact materials, and feed additives. Among other tasks, these laboratories provide scientific and technical support to national laboratories.
The JRC also provides guidance and harmonises testing methodologies, organising training and workshops, and fostering collaboration between EURLs and National Reference Laboratories (NRLs).
The JRC Food and Beverages Labels Explorer (FABLE) is an online tool to assess and monitor the nutritional quality of the food offer in EU countries. It provides open access to data for researchers, policymakers and the public on a website where users can interact with, explore and visualise data in an easy way. This is the basis for scientific assessments of nutritional quality of the food offer to identify best practices and follow progress towards improving the food supply across the EU and support public health objectives.
One striking example of the JRC’s work in food safety is its role in tackling honey fraud. Through the Coordinated Control Plan ‘From the Hives’ (2012-22), the JRC used advanced analytical methods to identify suspicious honey samples, leading to further investigations by law enforcement. The programme covered 16 EU Member States, Switzerland, and Norway, testing 320 honey consignments, with 46% found to be potentially non-compliant with the EU Honey Directive. The JRC is now working to harmonise these methods to help Member States verify honey authenticity, protecting both consumers and honest producers under the revised EU Honey Directive.
The JRC employs advanced tools to detect and quantify antibiotic residues in animal feed. The JRC developed and validated cutting-edge analytical methods capable of detecting trace amounts of 24 target antibiotics in compound feed. These procedures empowers National Control Labs across the EU to detect and analyse antibiotics in compound animal feed to guarantee it meets safety requirements and does not endanger human health.
