Project Updates | September 2025

ALLIANCE

With ALLIANCE entering its final months, partners are focused on finalising deliverables, presenting to the ALLIANCE Valorisation Board (online, 10.09.2025), and preparing for the project’s final event and policy workshop in Brussels (BE, 7–8th October 2025). EuroFIR has led assessment of use case scenarios and business development pathways for PGI and PDO high-value products. This work also identifies risks, lessons learned, and recommendations for each case, which have been shared with the partners. Combined with the business model canvases, these insights will help shape the final report on IPR and innovation management, commercial roadmap for each solution, and project impact assessment. This report highlights current technological maturity, legal frameworks, innovation strategies, stakeholder engagement, and readiness for commercialisation and market uptake.

WATSON

As WATSON moves toward its conclusion, EuroFIR has supported evaluation of the pilot studies via two separate but complementary pathways. Early responses from end-user acceptance questionnaires, particularly from food authorities, have been analysed to gauge the relevance and usability of the solutions. Further feedback will be gathered in the coming months to assess their likely impact from the perspective of regulators and implementers. In parallel, EuroFIR assessed three solutions developed in ALLIANCE – PGI Faba Beans, PGI Lika Potatoes, and Organic Pasta – highlighting how these can improve traceability and transparency in EU food supply chains. These efforts are being supported by a wider programme of stakeholder engagement, including a webinar exploring technologies that can help food chain actors prevent fraud in the dairy, wine, and white fish sectors. Preparations are also underway for the WATSON General Assembly and Final Event, which will take place in Brussels (BE, 26–27th November 2025). 

FishEUTrust

EuroFIR has continued to support FishEUTrust by integrating FoodEXplorer aquafood composition data into the FISHEUTRUST digital platform, helping to streamline data sharing across the seafood value chain. This work has involved a major update of the SEAFOODTOMORROW dataset, first created in 2018, with new data drawn from 39 food composition databases. The update includes additional countries and expanded fatty acid data, whilst also harmonising units, identifying and resolving duplicates, and calculating weighted averages for nutrient values to ensure accuracy. New datasets for both fish and seaweed have also been created, allowing seamless compatibility with digital tools and technologies emerging from the project. The results of this work were showcased at ICN 2025 in Paris (FR) and the 14th IFDC 2025 conference at FAO headquarters in Rome (IT), where EuroFIR presented the poster “Challenges in providing comprehensive fish and seafood composition data.” The comprehensive dataset also underpins work at DTU (DK) exploring the lifetime benefits of eating seafood, and EuroFIR is now contributing to a paper comparing nutrient and elemental profiles of wild and farmed seabream.

EUOpenFood

EUOpenFood – Towards a Unified EU Food Composition Database
Significant progress has been made toward the creation of a harmonised EU-wide food composition database. Three national datasets using different compiler platforms – FoodCASE, FoodEXplorer, and DAP – have been successfully submitted in a pilot phase to test interoperability and robustness of the data transfer system to EFSA. Following detailed feedback from EFSA, partners are addressing transmission errors and making refinements to ensure that further data submissions proceed smoothly. EuroFIR is also preparing the final report, including tables detailing edible, yield, and retention factors and documentation assessing the representativeness and quality of the data. This work will provide a critical foundation for a unified and scalable EU food composition resource.

Zero Hidden Hunger EU

In September, project partners successfully submitted the first Periodic Report and are now awaiting the review meeting in October. EuroFIR has continued to develop the project’s data management plan, first submitted in June 2024,  working closely with partners to gather additional information and document digital objects used in the project. This will ensure that datasets, code, and other assets are properly catalogued for future reuse, and then the focus can turn to data and digital objects generated by the project. Dissemination and communication activities is led by EUFIC, who are also working on the development of educational materials about micronutrients tailored for target audiences, e.g., healthcare and allied professionals. Significant progress has also been made on the policy front, with the completion of a comprehensive review of EU and national policies relevant to micronutrient deficiencies. This work has been submitted to a special issue of Frontiers in Nutrition, where it will contribute to the wider scientific and policy debate. Alongside these activities, the HELIX community has been actively engaged to share knowledge and identify synergies, ensuring that the project outputs are well connected to other initiatives globally focusing on healthy diets and the prevention of micronutrient deficiencies.

VeriFish

EuroFIR has been developing nutrient quality scores for 27 selected fish and seafood species, using the comprehensive dataset created during FishEUTrust. The approach calculates nutrient density per 100 grams of uncooked seafood, considering both beneficial nutrients such as protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, and disqualifying nutrients such as sodium and saturated fat. The result is a transparent, standardised ranking that enables consumers to compare different seafood products as well as other sources of animal protein, guiding healthier and more sustainable choices. The VeriFish Sustainability Framework will build on this by integrating environmental and socioeconomic indicators into a single, coherent structure, capturing information about stock status, bycatch, climate impacts, labour rights, traceability, and fair wages, with over 80 indicators mapped to more than 35 data sources. Together, these indicators provide a comprehensive basis for assessing the sustainability of seafood products and communicating this information to consumers. This framework is being implemented through digital tools such as the VeriFish mobile app and the educational game “Overfished,” which aim to present complex sustainability information in a clear, engaging, and actionable way.

WASTELESS

EuroFIR has been leading a comprehensive review of FoodWasteEXplorer, comparing historic datasets and the MySQL database to ensure the resource is as complete and reliable as possible. The work has uncovered missing references, inconsistencies, and data gaps, all of which are now being addressed to deliver a cleaner, harmonised, and more transparent database. These improvements will make FoodWasteEXplorer a more robust resource for researchers, industry, and policymakers working on circular economy solutions and food loss reduction. With the summer break coming to an end, focus is shifting to engagement. Partners have been invited to contribute to the WASTELESS Community of Practice blog, join the last Monthly Café Talks, share plans for the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (29.09.2025), and promote upcoming workshops on WASTELESS tools this autumn. The project will finish in May 2026, and EuroFIR will host the final meeting in April at the Food Forum. 

Data4Food2030

Data4Food2030 has reached the end of the second 18 month period. In April, the Data4Food2030 Monitor was launched, giving policymakers, researchers, and industry representatives a new way to track maturity and direction of Europe’s food data economy. Its debut was marked by a multilingual press campaign, social media, and a dedicated newsletter that reached more than 200 individuals – firmly establishing the project as a thought leader in Europe’s digital food transition – as well as a presentation at EuroFIR’s Food Forum 2025. In parallel, by expanding target audiences from six to ten, the project has been able to engage more with farmers, SMEs, technology providers, and consumers, fuelling new creative outputs – from a popular nine-episode podcast series and nearly 30 blog posts. Meanwhile, the project’s business models playbook is taking shape, translating research into actionable strategies for real-world adoption of its tools. The Zenodo community has grown into a go-to hub for open access resources, making Data4Food2030’s results easy to find, use, and build upon. As the project heads into its final stretch, the focus is on maximising uptake, validating results, and ensuring innovations – from the monitor to the policy recommendations – become lasting contributions to a fair, inclusive, and innovative food data economy across Europe.

FlavourFerm – Progress on Regulation & Communication

EuroFIR is continuing its work reviewing regulatory frameworks for both traditional and novel fermented foods. This involves systematically mapping policies and legislation through searches of regulatory authority websites and academic databases, helping to build a clear picture of the current landscape and where harmonisation might be needed. Work on communication, dissemination, and exploitation has also advanced. The first versions of the Dissemination, Exploitation, and Communication Plan, the Toolkit for Novel Fermented Foods, and the project website have been delivered. Over the summer, we have developed and implemented a social media content calendar, and worked with partners to identify communication leads. Next steps will focus on increasing the reach and regularity of collaboration opportunities with the partners leading these activities.