Mercadona's Scientific Committee Addresses the Risk of Misinformation in Food Safety

The Mercadona Scientific Committee, composed of independent scientists of recognized prestige who provide technical support to the company to ensure the highest quality with food safety, has met in Valencia to address the evaluation, management, and communication of risk in food safety. During the meeting, Ana Canals, a new addition, was welcomed as a Doctor in Biological Sciences and an expert in risk management and evaluation in Public Administrations. With her inclusion, the Committee in Spain now has a total of eleven professionals who provide their technical support to always ensure quality with the food safety of all its products.

The meeting took place in a working environment where the effects of misinformation on food safety on the consumer were discussed, how to inform about risks, the myths and realities surrounding them, and the importance of rigor, truthfulness, and transparency in information, among other topics of interest.

Ana Canals, specifically, as an expert in risk evaluation and management in the public sector, highlighted the need for the private sector and Public Administrations to collaborate, «as involved parties,» in the fight against misinformation, in a session where scientists José Juan Rodríguez, a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine and expert microbiologist from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and José Miguel Mulet, a Doctor in Biochemistry and expert in Molecular Biology from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, also participated.

José Juan Rodríguez, for his part, emphasized that «it is easy to misinform, mixing real information, in a manipulated environment. Currently, there is a lot of public information, which reflects the main points where food production management needs to improve.» For José Miguel Mulet, «fake news sells fear and a frightened consumer is an easy consumer to deceive.»

Other experts present also shared the same vision and showed great concern about this issue. «We live surrounded by what is now called fake news. They are present in all facets of our lives and food is no exception. It is time for all of us who truly research day by day in this area of knowledge to stand up, dismantle these hoaxes with scientific arguments, and, above all, explain to society what we are doing,» according to Daniel Ramón, Doctor in Biological Sciences from the University of Valencia and currently Vice President of R&D in Nutrition and Health at the American company ADM (Archer Daniels Midland Co).

Hence Mercadona's commitment to scientific advice in situations where assistance is required in the specialties of each Committee member. «With this meeting, the company advances in how to effectively address risk communication, which is of special relevance in educating consumers so that they have truthful, scientifically-based, transparent information that does not promote alarmism or excessive confidence in food safety,» according to Angels Millán, director of Mercadona's Scientific Committee in Spain.