The meeting, held in Vienna, Austria, and cosponsored by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, also focused on how nuclear science can address these problems. According to the IAEA, the meeting was inspired by Atoms4Food, an IAEA/FAO initiative launched in 2023 to help countries boost their agricultural productivity, enhance food safety monitoring systems, and improve nutrition through the application of nuclear techniques and related technologies.
“Food safety and nutrition interact in ways that are yet to be fully understood. Food safety hazards are implicated in malnutrition by reducing nutrient absorption and increasing nutrient losses; conversely, malnutrition makes humans more vulnerable to toxicity associated with food contaminants,” said Najat Mokhtar, IAEA deputy director general and head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications. “Given this intricate interaction, food safety and nutrition must be considered as two sides of the same coin. They demand a joint response.”
Discussion topics: Numerous case studies regarding food safety and nutrition were presented by representatives from different countries, including Austria, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania, the United States, and Zambia. The studies covered a range of conditions, such as impaired immune systems, stunted growth, and esophageal cancers caused by mycotoxins in staple diets and heavy metals in breast milk.
Among the scientific processes discussed for improving food safety were advances in nuclear and radioisotopic techniques for detecting contaminants in food and assessing their physiological impacts. Representatives stressed how nuclear science can help research and medical teams better understand the foreign substances present in food and how they interact with the body over time.
Rola Bou Khozam, head of the IAEA Food and Control Section, observed that by “integrating nuclear techniques with conventional research, we are unlocking critical insights into how these substances, food contaminants, and residues interact with the human body. This scientific evidence is vital not only for academic and research purposes but for empowering decision-makers with data they need to design informed, effective policies and interventions that protect public health, strengthen food safety systems and enhance nutrition outcomes globally.”
Cornelia Loechl, head of the IAEA Nutritional and Health-related Environmental Studies Section, added that nuclear techniques “alongside conventional methods, are valuable tools for monitoring, assessing, and mitigating these risks, contributing to food safety and public health. They can also be used to measure nutrition outcomes such as body composition and the quantity of breast milk consumed by infants and to assess gut health.”
