In our increasingly health-conscious world, consumers are demanding food products that are not only nutritious but also produced in ways that promote environmental sustainability and reduce exposure to harmful/toxic substances. As the food industry innovates to meet these demands, intellectual property (IP) rights play a crucial role in fostering new developments while ensuring food safety standards are upheld.
Food safety, nutrition and food security are closely linked. Unsafe food creates a vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition, particularly affecting infants, young children, elderly and the sick. In addition to contributing to food and nutrition security, a safe food supply also supports national economies, trade and tourism, stimulating sustainable development. The globalisation of food trade, a growing world population, climate change and rapidly changing food systems have an impact on the safety of food. Foodborne diseases impede socioeconomic development by straining health care systems and harming national economies, tourism and trade. The burden of foodborne diseases to public health and to economies has often been underestimated due to underreporting and difficulty to establish causal relationships between food contamination and resulting illness or death. Children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease burden, with 125 000 deaths every year. The consumption and production of safe food have immediate and long-term benefits for people, the planet and the economy. Safe food is essential to human health and well-being, only food that is safe can be traded. Safe food allows for the uptake of nutrients and promotes long-term human development. When food is not safe, humans cannot develop, and the Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved.
World Health Organisation
IP rights, including patents, trade marks, and trade secrets are vital for fostering innovation in the food sector. Companies are motivated to create healthier, safer, and more sustainable food products when they can protect and profit from their innovations. These protections encourage the development of new methods for processing, packaging, and preserving food, which can have a direct impact on consumer health and safety. For example, the food industry has traditionally relied on synthetic preservatives and chemicals to extend the shelf life of products. However, with the awareness of the potential health risks associated with these substances, there is a growing interest in safer, natural alternatives.
Food companies are now increasingly exploring natural preservatives as an alternative to artificial additives and chemicals, including the use of natural antioxidants from fruits, herbs, and other plant sources to inhibit bacterial growth without the need for chemical additives. Techniques that use essential oils or natural extracts to maintain food freshness are also gaining popularity as a healthier alternative to synthetic preservatives. By securing patents or trade secrets for novel preservation techniques, companies can replace harmful synthetic chemicals with plant-based or biodegradable solutions. Such innovations benefit public health by reducing the intake of toxins and other substances linked to health issues and chronic diseases such as allergies, inflammations, hormonal imbalances, metabolic disorders and cancers.
Consumers rely heavily on food labelling and branding to make informed choices about the products they purchase. Manufacturers that produce food with sustainable and toxin-free ingredients often highlight these attributes in their labels, for example, “BPA-free”, “pesticide-free”, or “no added preservatives”. These labels signal to consumers that the product meets specific health and safety standards, reinforcing trust in the brand. These manufacturers can secure trade marks to help distinguish their products in the marketplace. Similarly, certification marks like “fair trade”, “rainforest alliance” or “organic” further signal to consumers that these products have undergone rigorous testing and adhere to established safety guidelines. For example, the European Union’s (EU) “EU Organic” logo guarantees that food products meet strict regulations prohibiting the use of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The European Union organic logo gives a coherent visual identity to organic products produced in the EU. This makes it easier for consumers to identify organic products and helps farmers to market them across the entire EU. The organic logo can only be used on products that have been certified as organic by an authorised control agency or body. This means that they have fulfilled strict conditions on how they must be produced, processed, transported and stored. The logo can only be used on products when they contain at least 95% organic ingredients and additionally, respect further strict conditions for the remaining 5%. The same ingredient cannot be present in organic and non-organic form. Next to the EU organic logo, a code number of the control body must be displayed as well as the place where the agricultural raw materials composing the product have been farmed
European Commission, The Organic Logo
Notably, the food industry is facing growing pressure to reduce its reliance on single-use plastics, which contribute significantly to environmental degradation and pose potential health risks through chemical leaching into food products. Companies and entrepreneurs are responding by developing and patenting biodegradable and compostable packaging materials made from organic materials like corn starch, sugarcane, or seaweed. These new packaging solutions minimise the potential for chemical contamination and reduce the environmental footprint associated with food production and waste. Edible packaging, which is entirely safe for consumption, is another innovative development that could significantly decrease plastic use and the associated risks of toxins entering the food supply. Through IP rights, companies that invest in these cutting-edge packaging solutions can secure a competitive advantage, thereby accelerating the adoption of safer, eco-friendly packaging alternatives across the industry. For instance, Tetra Pak holds numerous patents for its eco-friendly, recyclable packaging, which uses renewable materials. Their carton packages are designed to reduce plastic use and minimise food waste while ensuring the safety and preservation of food products. Tetra Pak’s focus on recycling and renewable resources contributes to reducing the environmental footprint of the packaging industry while ensuring food safety and longevity.
Our ambition is to deliver the world’s most sustainable food package, made solely of responsibly sourced renewable or recycled materials, fully renewable and fully recyclable without ever compromising on food safety requirements.
Tetra Pak
In an era of heightened consumer awareness regarding the health and environmental impacts of food production, IP rights are pivotal to fostering a future that balances innovation, public health, and environmental sustainability. By safeguarding breakthroughs in health-conscious and environmentally sustainable food products, IP rights serve as a catalyst for innovation, encouraging the development of safer and more responsible food practices. As global challenges including climate change and public health crises intensify, the role of IP in promoting innovation becomes even more critical. IP rights provide the necessary incentives for companies to invest in research and development. In this context, IP rights become more than just a legal tool; they transcend into a fundamental pillar for addressing global challenges. The strategic use of IP rights has the potential to shape food systems that are innovative, equitable and sustainable, ensuring that future generations benefit from a secure, health-conscious, and environmentally sustainable food networks.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food Safety
The WHO aims to strengthen national food control systems to facilitate global prevention, detection and response to public health threats associated with unsafe food. To do this, WHO supports Member States by:
- providing independent scientific assessments on microbiological and chemical hazards that form the basis for international food standards, guidelines, and recommendations, known as the Codex Alimentarius;
- assessing the performance of national food control systems throughout the entire food chain, identifying priority areas for further development, and measuring and evaluating progress over time through the FAO/WHO food control system assessment tool;
- assessing the safety of new technologies used in food production, such as genetic modification, cultivated food products and nanotechnology;
- helping implement adequate infrastructure to manage food safety risks and respond to food safety emergencies through the International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN);
- promoting safe food handling through systematic disease prevention and awareness programmes, through the WHO Five keys to safer food message and training materials;
- advocating for food safety as an important component of health security and for integrating food safety into national policies and programmes in line with the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005);
- monitoring regularly the global burden of foodborne and zoonotic diseases at national, regional and international levels, and supporting countries to estimate the national burden of foodborne diseases; and
- updating the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety (2022–2030) to support Member States to strengthen their national food control systems and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases.
- The WHO works closely with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and other international organizations to ensure food safety along the entire food chain from production to consumption.
See more on the WHO’S work on food safety here.
