The complexity of managing and communicating emerging health risks in food systems

The UHS 2023 workshop focused on risk analysis and communication strategies between risk assessors, risk managers and the public, as well as the identification of key themes such as stakeholder involvement, risk perception, ethical dilemmas, and implications for trade. In this context, the follow-up workshop held at SEI in December 2024 discussions were general with scenarios based in Sweden and in relation to other EU member states.

The aim of this follow-up workshop was to further explore the policy implications and practical applications of the insights from the 2023 workshop, not only in the food chain, but in particular in the sewage sludge management sector, an area of growing concern in Sweden and the EU. Participants in this workshop included more than a dozen experts representing different food value chain stakeholder groups within academia, the private sector, civil society and the public sector. The objectives of the workshop were to discuss:

• challenges and opportunities of managing risks in the food system, including the use of treated sewage sludge as fertilizer in agriculture;
• factors to consider in making trade-offs and balancing conflicting goals in situations of crisis and uncertainty.

Recommendations include using structured and transparent approaches for balancing conflicting goals and using understanding of facts, feelings and politics to effectively manage and communicate risks, while acknowledging trade-offs in risks and benefits. For the findings in this report, the primary target audiences are risk managers, risk assessors, risk communicators and policymakers within the food and sewage sludge management sectors, for Sweden in particular and the EU in general.