Onderzoeksproject EF/231/METROFOOD-FED-BE (Onderzoeksactie EF)
METROFOOD is an ESFRI-RI in which Sciensano acts as the Belgian national node and provides services in the direction of metrology in food and nutrition in alignment with the mission of the research infrastructure (RI). The scientific directorate (SD) of Chemical and Physical Health Risks at Sciensano has been a part of this ESFRI-RI since its design phase (PRO-METROFOOD), subsequently successfully contributing to the preparatory phase (METROFOOD-PP), and is currently in the process of kick-starting into the implementation phase (METROFOOD-EPI). Within the RI, Sciensano has introduced, developed, tested and established several relevant services in the domain of food safety. In the recently concluded preparatory phase, Sciensano services served as use cases for external target user groups, where the service provision on nanoparticles in the context of METROFOOD-RI was rigorously tested and streamlined in preparation for the implementation phase. These use cases further served in assessing user engagement, an indicator for the impacts, and elaborating the final services portfolio of the RI. In the upcoming implementation phase, Sciensano, along with its scientific components, will aim to position itself and its services in an integrated manner, where the RI will be developed with a renewed focus on catering to the diverse target groups and stakeholders via different access types, access modes, the service interface and with refined access procedures. The food safety components on nanoparticles and food contact materials, currently present within Sciensano, will be further enhanced with sustainability and efficiency and placed at the heart of the METROFOOD-FED.BE objectives. Efforts will specifically focus on the long-term sustainability of the Sciensano components, with a plan towards sustained service provision that is excellence-driven, integrated, state-of-the-art, competitive and lucrative for the target users. Also, efforts will be undertaken for users to identify and better understand the needs and demands, which will be tested within METROFOOD-FED.BE and METROFOOD-EPI.
