EU Introduces AI platform to strengthen food safety monitoring
The European Commission has unveiled a new artificial intelligence platform designed to improve the detection of food fraud, contamination and disease outbreaks across the European Union’s food supply chain.
The system, called TraceMap, is now available to national authorities in all EU member states and is intended to enhance cooperation between regulators while accelerating investigations into potential food safety risks.
According to the Commission, the tool uses artificial intelligence and large datasets from agri-food systems to analyse supply chains and identify irregularities more quickly than traditional monitoring methods.
European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare Olivér Várhelyi described the platform as a major step forward for the bloc’s food safety infrastructure.
“TraceMap will significantly improve our ability to respond to food safety incidents and tackle fraudulent practices within the food market,” Várhelyi said, adding that better coordination between national authorities would strengthen protection for both consumers and agricultural producers.
AI to track food supply chains
The platform operates by analysing existing data on production flows, trade movements and distribution networks across Europe.
By mapping these connections in near real time, TraceMap can help authorities detect potential contamination sources, identify suspicious trading patterns and trace products more efficiently through complex supply chains.
Officials say the system will also help regulators link different operators within the food market, enabling faster product recalls if unsafe goods are detected.
A pilot version of the platform has already been tested. It was used during a recent investigation involving the recall of baby formula products across Europe linked to contaminated ingredients imported from China.
Rising food safety concerns
The launch of the tool comes as European authorities report a steady rise in food safety alerts.
Data from the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) shows that notifications increased by 12% in 2024, reaching a total of 5,250 cases. Around one third of these involved products rejected at EU borders, often due to pesticide residues in imported fruit and vegetables.
Germany, the Netherlands and Italy reported the highest number of alerts during the year.
At the same time, figures from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) indicate that Europe recorded 6,558 food-borne outbreaks in 2024, a rise of more than 14% compared with the previous year.
Among the most common illnesses were campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis, E. coli infections and listeriosis. Listeria remained the most severe, accounting for the largest proportion of hospitalisations and deaths among food-borne infections reported in the EU.
European officials say tools like TraceMap are intended to help authorities respond more quickly to such risks, strengthening oversight of a food system that spans millions of producers, processors and distributors across the bloc.
