Nicolai Z. Ballin is a senior scientist at the Danish Veterinary, Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Agency specialising in food authentication and regulatory control. He joined the Administration in 2002, co-authored the first Danish strategy for combating food fraud, and has led the development and validation of a wide range of chemical and molecular biology methods for authenticity testing. He received his PhD in meat and dairy authentication from the University of Copenhagen in 2009. Nicolai has led laboratory work in national authentication projects and in EU initiatives such as the horsemeat coordinated control plan. He has also been involved in international authentication projects including several OPSON projects. From 2016 to 2018 he worked at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), where he combined official control experience with research on emerging authenticity issues. He has published several review articles and analytical studies in food authentication. Building on this work, his current research focuses on closing key conceptual and regulatory gaps in the harmonisation of nomenclature, method validation and limits in food authentication. Recently, he led a collaboration on the establishment of limits and the novel concept of maximum tolerable levels (MTL) for non-authentic components was published.
Franz Berthiller is Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural Sciences of BOKU University, Austria, and Honorary Professor at the Queen´s University Belfast. He is an expert on liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. His scientific output includes 200 international peer-reviewed publications and he holds an h-index of 60. He previously headed the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Mycotoxin Metabolism and currently is the coordinator of the European Doctoral Network BIOTOXDoc. He received numerous scientific awards, including the Dr. Brigitte Gedek Science Award 2006, the Fritz-Feigl-Award 2014 from the Austrian Society of Analytical Chemistry or the Appreciation Award of Lower Austria for Science 2018. Franz served as the Chair of the Austrian Society of Toxicology from 2020-2022. Since 2018 he is the Editor-in-Chief of the World Mycotoxin Journal.
Prof. Dr. Corinna Dawid is the scientific director of the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (Leibniz-LSB@TUM) and full professor for Chemosensory Food Systems, deputy head of the Chair of Food Chemistry and Molecular Sensory Science and deputy director of the Bavarian Centre for Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry at the Technical University of Munich in Germany. Prof. Dawid is a food chemist by training and an expert for metabolomics and sensomics. She develops stable isotope dilution assays for accurate (flavor active) metabolite quantitation, and performs activity-guided fractionations, synthesis as well as structure identification. Prof. Dawid’s research has been published in > 120 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals articles and numerous national and international conferences.
Thierry Delatour obtained his Ph.D. at the ‘Centre d’Etudes Nucléaires de Grenoble’ (France) in 1998 for his work on the elucidation and mechanistic study of UV-induced oxidized DNA nucleosides. Then, he took a position in pharmaceutical industry in The Netherlands prior to moving to Switzerland at Nestlé Research (Lausanne) in 2000. There, he developed a substantial expertise in the analysis of chemical contaminants and adulterants in food, particularly by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Activities in his team are focused on projects for product innovation as well as support to routing laboratories in quality control and markets for scientific advice. His research is on multi-residue analysis, root cause investigations and mechanistic studies. Thierry interacts with AOAC Int., CEN and ISO/IDF for several years to promote reliable controls of contaminants and adulterants in food products. Currently, his team devotes to wide screening of various chemical compounds by high resolution mass spectrometry and mechanistic studies of process contaminants for deployment of effective mitigation strategies.
Darina Dvorakova is an Associate Professor at the Department of Food Analysis and Nutrition at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague. Since her doctoral studies, she has focused on the development and validation of analytical methods for the determination of various organic contaminants and their metabolites in a wide range of samples. Her primary area of expertise is targeted analysis of PFAS in the environment, including the food chain and human biological samples. She has applied her expertise in European projects, such as HBM4EU and the current PARC project, as well as in national research projects. She is actively involved in teaching at the department, including the creation and development of new courses for both bachelor’s and master’s programs, focusing on the analysis of biologically active substances of both natural and anthropogenic origin. She is the author or co-author of nearly 40 articles published in peer-reviewed journals, and her Hirsch index (h-index) is 20, reflecting the significant impact of her scientific work.
Dr Dorte Herzke has a long-standing experience in development of analytical methods for determination of persistent organic pollutants as POPs, PFAS, microplastic and additives. She has substantial expertise in biomonitoring and human exposure to environmental contaminants, and in particular poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). She is scientific responsible for POPs, PFAS and microplastic in the department. How contaminants in food, consumer products, and the environment contribute to human exposure is one of her major research interests. She has been coordinating national and international research projects as well as acting as an adviser to national authorities for many years. As an analytical chemist by training, she aims at applying advanced analytical methodologies to measure known and identify unknown pollutants potentially harmful for human and environmental health. Applying the One Health approach is close to her heart, connecting the state of the environment with human health impacts.
Ákos Józwiak is the head of Food and Nutrition Science at Syreon Research Institute in Budapest, Hungary, and holds a faculty position at Institute of Food Chain Science at the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest. Besides, he is the leader of the Foodome Hungary Research Group at HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network, and he is the scientific coordinator of the DEFENSEFOOD Horizon Europe project. Ákos Józwiak is an active member of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Advisory Forum and the EFSA Emerging Risk Exchange Network. He chairs the EFSA Advisory Group on Data (AGoD), which addresses challenges in the food safety data system by acting as a think tank, providing recommendations, launching projects, and facilitating access to expertise and resources across EU Member States. He is also the vice-president of the Board of the Evidence Based Toxicology Collaboration (EBTC). Ákos Józwiak, a veterinarian by training, has spent over two decades addressing European food safety regulatory challenges. He specializes in developing and implementing data science approaches to better understand the impact of food contaminants and compounds on human health and to translate these insights into regulatory science. His primary research interests include applying computational methods to identify emerging risks in food systems, leveraging advanced data analytics and AI for evidence synthesis and insight generation, conducting risk, benefit, and economic assessments of food systems, and creating courses to enhance data literacy.
Anneli Kruve graduated in 2011 from the University of Tartu and continued her studies as a post-doc in Technion, Israel. Anneli Kruve was a Humboldt fellow at Freie Universität Berlin (2017–2018). In 2019 Kruve joined Stockholm University where she is leading an experimental and computational mass spectrometry group. Anneli Kruve was selected in 2018 to be among the Top 40 under 40 power list by the Analytical Scientist. Her field of study is the fundamentals and applications of mass spectrometry. Specifically, her group uses modelling and machine learning to understand ionization processes in electrospray, unravel the quantification, structural assignment and toxicity assessment challenges in environmental non-targeted screening. Her group has developed machine learning models to predict the ionization efficiency of compounds in electrospray, which can be further used to quantify the contaminants detected with non-targeted LC/HRMS even if analytical standards are not available. Recently, her group has started exploring the possibility to use empirical analytical information to quantify and assess the toxicity of chemicals detected with mass spectrometry. The research group of Kruve is also investigating the structural characterization of small molecules with high-resolution ion mobility.
Univ. Prof. Dipl. Ing. Dr. techn. Erich Leitner is the head of the Institute of
Analytical Chemistry and Food Chemistry at Graz University of Technology. He studied
technical chemistry at the Graz University of Technology, Austria where he obtained
a PhD in organic trace analysis in environmental matrices. He also earned a
habilitation in “Food Chemistry” dealing with flavor and off flavor compounds in
food and other matrices. Currently he holds a professorship for “Analytics of food
and food contact material”, which deals mainly with the interaction of food contact
material and the packed good.
His research activities are focused on the identification and quantification of
volatile, odor active substances and more recently of toxicological concern in food
and food contact materials. He has over 35 years of experience in organic trace and
ultra trace analysis mainly based on gas chromatographic methods using several
sample preparation techniques and analytical solutions including multidimensional
separation. Besides he is a trained sensory expert and member of the expert panel of
the TU Graz sensory lab.
Oscar Núñez studied chemistry at the University of Barcelona (UB), Spain, where he also received his PhD in 2004. He has been Full Professor at the Section of Analytical Chemistry (UB) since 2020, and the Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Chemistry (UB) since May 2025. He has more than 190 scientific papers and book chapters to his credit. He has also edited ten books on liquid chromatography, liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), sample preparation techniques in food analysis, capillary electrophoresis, food integrity and authenticity, and mass spectrometry in food analysis. He has extensive experience in the development of liquid chromatography methods with ultraviolet and fluorescence detection, liquid chromatography coupled with low- and high-resolution mass spectrometry, as well as in sample treatment procedures, for environmental and food analysis. His major research areas include: (i) the characterization, classification, and authentication of food and natural products for the prevention of food frauds, and (ii) the recovery of bioactive compounds from agri-food waste within the framework of the circular bioeconomy. He is also Associate Editor of Foods (MDPI) and Journal of Agriculture and Food Research (Elsevier).
Professor Jane K. Parker is a chemist who became fascinated with flavour – why and how do things smell? Originally a physical-organic chemist who has worked in both the chemical and the flavour industries, she moved to the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Reading where she is now Professor in Flavour Chemistry. She is recipient of the BSF Bill Littlejohn Medal for contribution to the science of flavour and is chair of the RSC Food group. She founded the Flavour Centre (the University’s interface between flavour research and the food industry) and is currently lead for the department’s Food Research Group. One of her main interests is in the chemistry and kinetics of flavour and acrylamide formation via the Maillard reaction. Her research group is working on flavour development throughout the food chain, ensuring optimal pre- and post-harvest conditions for the production of healthy, sustainable and appealing food. Current projects involve tackling the rancidity problem in millet, providing advanced flour formulations for Africa to improve health and prosperity in local communities, identification of off-notes in alternative sources of protein and the introduction of meaty flavour into plant-based meat analogues. As manager of the Flavour Centre she has worked on flavour projects with more than 100 food companies.
Dr. Remington is an expert in food allergen thresholds and food allergen risk assessment, for both the clinical and food business operator settings. He is the managing director of the Remington Consulting Group B.V. (the Netherlands), where his research and consulting work focuses on development and application of knowledge surrounding food allergen risk assessment and food allergen thresholds for government agencies, intergovernmental organizations and multinational stakeholder groups. He has a passion for collaborative projects regarding novel methodologies, data generation, data analysis, and broad, easy-to-understand communications of results for educational purposes. Dr. Remington completed his Ph.D. with the Food Allergy Research & Resource Program at the University of Nebraska (United States), where he has also been an Adjunct Assistant Professor. He has experience leading international expert groups focused on food allergy and allergen risk assessment, most recently as the chair of the Ad hoc Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Consultation tasked with providing guidance on for risk assessment of food allergens. He has also participated as an invited expert in numerous international stakeholder groups focused on food allergy.
Dr. Laura Righetti is Assistant Professor in Analytical Chemistry at Wageningen University and Wageningen Food Safety Research. She holds MSc degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology from Modena and Reggio Emilia University (IT), PhD degree in Food Chemistry from University of Parma (IT) obtained in 2017, and postdoctoral experience in Analytical Chemistry at the Justus Liebig University Giessen (DE). Her research interest is focus on small molecules (both natural toxins and bioactive metabolites) and on the development of mass spectrometry based methodologies to comprehensive detect them. From an analytical chemistry point of view, the comprehensive analysis of secondary metabolites by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry remains a challenge because of their chemical diversity, the large number of isomeric forms, and the lack of analytical standards. Therefore she has a specific interest in adding innovative analytical techniques such as ion mobility mass spectrometry and mass spectrometry imaging to the metabolomics workflow to overcome the challenge of comprehensively and spatially characterize the “metabolome” in food.
Michael Rychlik develops new analysis methods for physiologically active foodstuff ingredients such as mycotoxins, vitamins and flavonoids. In order to assess their biological activity, these substances and their metabolic products are examined in human, animal and plant testing. This provides information on bioavailability (e.g. of vitamins belonging to the folate group), toxicity (e.g. consumer exposure to mycotoxins deoxynivalenol and tenuazonic acid) or the positive effects of hops flavonoids (e.g. 8-prenylnaringenin). After studying food chemistry at TU Kaiserslautern, Prof. Rychlik completed his second state examination (Staatsexamen) in 1989. In 1996, he did his doctorate at TUM on the topic of odorants in toasted bread. After that, he worked as an assistant professor at TUM's Chair of Food Chemistry. He completed his lecturer qualification in 2003 on the topic of stable isotope dilution assays. He has declined offers from the Universities of Bonn and Giessen. Prof. Rychlik is Director of the Chair of Analytical Food Chemistry. Besides these he holds an Honorary Professorship at the University of Queensland, has been a Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore and still is also teaching at the University of Chemical Technology Prague.
Dr. Gert Salentijn is associate professor of Analytical Chemistry at Wageningen University & Research (both in the Lab of Organic Chemistry and at Wageningen Food Safety Research), with a background in microfluidics, ambient ionization mass spectrometry, and on-site chemical analysis. In 2019 he worked as a visiting scientist in the world’s leading mass spectrometry group of Prof. Graham Cooks at Purdue in the USA. He is involved in several European and national projects aimed at developing point-of-need analysis for natural toxins. The final aim of his research is to get chemical analysis out of the lab, and into the hands of the people that need the (interpretation of) chemical information. These could be consumers that want to know that their food can be safely eaten (e.g. free from allergens or toxins), or inspectors that need to monitor food safety for the government. Different research fields and analytical strategies are combined to achieve such goals, including ambient ionization (portable) mass spectrometry, lateral flow immunochemistry, chemical surface modification for (paper) microfluidics and 3D-printing.
Hans Steinkellner holds a PhD in cancer research from the University of Vienna and is a European Registered Toxicologist (ERT). From 2002 to 2007, he worked as a toxicologist at the European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra, Italy, focusing on classification and labelling and the risk assessment of dangerous substances. From 2007 to 2008, he contributed to pesticide risk assessment peer review, and from 2008 to 2015 he worked in EFSA’s Plant Protection Products and their Residues (PPR) Unit. Since 2015, he has been a Scientific Officer in EFSA’s CONTAM team, supporting the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain. He has contributed to scientific opinions on contaminants in food and feed, including mycotoxins, marine biotoxins and heavy metals, and was also involved in EFSA’s rapid risk assessment of cereulide in infants.
Milena Stranska is a full professor for food chemistry and analysis at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague. Her research is focused on biologically active substances of natural origin, including mycotoxins and their modified forms. She has led several interdisciplinary research projects investigating the fate of mycotoxins during food processing, their (bio)transformations, toxicity and bioavailability assessment, and the evaluation of the push-and-pull effect in cocktails with positively acting bioactive substances. Her most recent research demonstrates the application of progressive food processing technologies to minimise the development of micromycetes during malting, and characterises their impact on the quality of malt at the metabolomic and multiomic level. In addition, she has been involved in the bioprospecting of natural resources and the characterisation of their chemical composition through the utilisation of advanced high-resolution MS techniques, followed by the assessment of the end-point effects at different levels of biological models. At the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, she is responsible for the Food Chemistry and Technology Bachelor's programme and the Biotechnology and Food Science Master's degree study programme. Prof. Stranska is (co)author of more than 70 SCI publications (WoS H index: 32; >3.500 citations), and has been the principal investigator of 11 (inter)national research projects.
Michele Suman has over twenty years of experience in leading research and innovation within the agri-food sector. He is currently Food Safety & Authenticity Senior Scientist Research Manager at Barilla G.R. F.lli SpA, a role he has held since 2003, where he works in an international context on projects spanning food chemistry, food safety, quality and authenticity, food contact materials, sensing technologies, and mass spectrometry applications. Since 2025, he also performs the role of Academia–Industry Scientific Coordinator for the University of Parma–Barilla–FoodER Consortium. Alongside, Michele is Adjunct Professor of Agri-Food Authenticity at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan/Piacenza) and Visiting Professor of Food Chemistry and Technology at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague. He obtained his PhD in Science and Technology of Innovative Materials from the University of Parma, following a degree in Analytical Chemistry and a Master in Science, Technology and Management. He chairs the Food Authenticity Working Group of the Italian National Standards Organization (UNI), is a member of the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), member of Working Groups Toxins, Contaminants, Food Authenticity in the EU Committee for Standardization (CEN), member of ILSI Europe Scientific Advisory Committee & Vice Chair of its Food Contaminants Task Force, member of Steering Committee of the European Food Safety Platform. He has coordinated work packages in major EU-funded projects such as FoodIntegrity, MyToolBox, and FoodSafeR. He is Co-Chair of the Recent Advances in Food Analysis (RAFA) conference series and has played leading roles in numerous international scientific events. Scientific production documented by 6 book chapters, 3 special issues journals & 3 books edited, 202 contributions at national and international conferences and 145 papers in international ISI journals.
Frans Verstraete graduated in 1985 as agricultural engineer at the University of Ghent (Belgium). After his studies he held positions at the University of Ghent and thereafter at the Belgian Ministry of Agriculture and he was for a period technical adviser of the Belgian Minister of Agriculture. He is working for the European Commission since 1997. In the European Commission he has had various functions and since 2000 he is working at the Directorate General Health and Food Safety. He is responsible for the elaboration, development and management of the EU-legislation on contaminants in feed and food.