Securing the Food Future: Emerging Analytical Strategies for Safety and Sustainability
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Security and Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 30
Special Issue Editors
2. Department of Chemistry, Institute for Advanced Environmental Research, West University of Timişoara (ICAM–WUT), 4 Oituz Street, 300086 Timişoara, Romania
Interests: food safety; nanomaterials; gel; natural compounds; analytical methodology; spectroscopy; active substance and secondary metabolites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: food nanocarriers; delivery; antioxidant; antimicrobial activity; sustainable; preservation; natural extract; functional food ingredients; bioactives; analysis
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Global food security increasingly depends on our ability to ensure the safety, authenticity, and nutritional quality of foods while minimizing waste and maximizing resource efficiency. In an era challenged by climate change, environmental degradation, and disrupted supply chains, the food sector must adopt a holistic and science-driven approach integrating advanced analytical chemistry, sustainable valorization, and circular bioeconomy principles. This Special Issue explores cutting-edge analytical strategies that underpin the safety, quality, and sustainability of modern food systems. The topics of interest include high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC–HRMS and GC–MS/MS), molecular and vibrational spectroscopy (FT-IR, Raman, and NMR), omics-based profiling, isotopic tracing, chemometric modeling, and machine learning for food authentication and traceability. Contributions addressing real-time and portable sensing, nanotechnology-enabled analysis, and green analytical methodologies are strongly encouraged.
Beyond classical safety and quality control, this Special Issue also welcomes studies on the valorization of underutilized, imperfect, or “non-standard” fruits and vegetables, as well as the rediscovery and analytical characterization of neglected or forgotten herbs, seeds, and plant matrices as functional additives, nutraceuticals, or bioactive-rich food ingredients. By bridging analytical innovation with sustainable resource recovery and functional food development, this Special Issue seeks to showcase transformative advances that strengthen food system resilience, reduce losses, and promote a safe, equitable, and sustainable global food future.
Dr. Adina-Elena Segneanu
Dr. Dumitru-Daniel Herea
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- food safety
- food authenticity
- sustainable food systems
- advanced analytical techniques
- food valorization
- circular bioeconomy
- chemometrics
- functional foods
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