Food Contaminants and Food Control: Integrating Analytical Techniques and Human Health Risk Assessment

Rationale for the Special Issue:

The presence of chemical contaminants in food, such as pesticide residues, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), veterinary pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and mycotoxins, poses increasing concern to public health of consumers. Modern agricultural practices, environmental pollution, and food processing technologies contribute to complex contamination profiles. Simultaneously, the integration of robust analytical techniques with human health risk assessment methodologies has become crucial in food safety governance. This Special Issue will gather interdisciplinary contributions addressing the detection, monitoring, exposure modeling, and risk assessment of chemical contaminants in food. It aims to bridge food control science and toxicological risk assessment to provide insights for regulators, industry, and consumers. The issue will be specific due to integrating novel analytical and instrumental analyses, bio-accessibility and bioavailability testing, in vitro and in silico toxicology modeling, and probabilistic statistical modeling in food contaminant research. Moreover, alignment with global legislatives for food topic (e.g., Farm to Fork Strategy, EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability; The One Health approach) calls for a reevaluation of food contaminant limits and cumulative exposure risks. By combining case studies, methodological advances, and reviews, the Special Issue will contribute significantly to the progression of the field and help align food quality assurance strategies with focus on public health safety.

Relevance to Quality Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods Aims and Scope:

This proposal aligns directly with the journal's commitment to advancing the safety and quality of food and food sources. It emphasizes:

1. The role of contaminants in food derived from crops, cereals, fruits, root vegetables, and animal products.
2. Analytical quality assurance of food monitoring with focus on novel methods.
3. Integration of health-based thresholds and dietary risk models.
4. Scientific support for regulatory food control.

The proposed special issue will maintain the journal’s high standards by featuring rigorously peer-reviewed empirical and review articles with direct implications for food safety policy and control.

 

Timelines:

Submission of manuscript opens:                                                            October 1, 2025

Deadline for manuscript submission:                                                     September 30, 2026

 

Submission guidelines:

The journal's Guide for Authors on how to prepare a paper is available at:

 https://qascf.com/index.php/qas/guidelines

Papers must be submitted electronically via https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/qascf

To ensure that all manuscripts are correctly identified for inclusion in the special issue, it is important to select Section “Food Contaminants”.

 

Any inquiries regarding the content of papers should be submitted to:

Guest Editor:

Dr. Tijana Milićević, Environmental Physics Laboratory, Institute of Physics Belgrade, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Serbia

Email: tijana.milicevic@ipb.ac.rs