Implementing Food Safety Standards in Sustainable Food Processing Practices

Dear Colleagues,

The contemporary global food system is undergoing profound transformation, driven by the urgent need to ensure food safety, minimize environmental impact, and meet the evolving demands of public health, climate resilience, and socio-economic equity. Sustainable food processing practices—ranging from energy-efficient technologies and circular economy models to alternative packaging and low-emission logistics—must be developed and implemented without compromising the integrity of food safety controls and regulatory compliance.

The integration of sustainability into food safety management is no longer optional. Sustainable food processing requires innovation in areas such as energy and water usage, waste reduction, responsible sourcing, and the use of environmentally friendly materials. However, these changes must be implemented without compromising established food safety protocols, regulatory compliance, or consumer trust. The challenge lies in balancing these dual imperatives—ensuring food safety while advancing sustainability goals—through integrated frameworks, technologies, and governance mechanisms.

This Special Issue encourages contributions from diverse academic disciplines, including food science, environmental engineering, regulatory science, public policy, industrial technology, and global health. We invite interdisciplinary contributions exploring how sustainability and food safety co-exist and reinforce each other. Original research articles, technical case studies, critical reviews, and policy analyses are welcome. Ultimately, it will contribute to shaping resilient, safe, and sustainable food systems. It encourages interdisciplinary dialogue and aims to advance a holistic understanding of how to safely feed a growing population while protecting the planet.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Scientific advances in food safety risk assessment and mitigation within sustainable processing systems;
• Integration of HACCP, ISO 22000, and other standards with green processing technologies;
• The role of digital technologies (e.g., IoT, blockchain, AI) in enhancing traceability, transparency, and resource efficiency;
• Hygienic design and engineering solutions for sustainable food manufacturing environments;
• Sustainable packaging innovations and their implications for contamination control and shelf life;
• Sustainable, innovative solutions for food commodity production (vertical farms, soil-less production);
• Turning food by-products into valuable feedstock and practical solutions for circular farming;
• Sustainable fisheries and food security;
• Regulatory harmonization and governance challenges in aligning food safety standards with environmental policies;
• Comparative analysis of policy instruments and institutional frameworks supporting safe and sustainable food production;
• Implementation experiences and case studies across diverse geographical, economic, and industrial contexts;
• Resilient agri-food systems.

Prof. Dr. Diána Bánáti
Dr. Gyimes Gyimes
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Sustainability 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 2400 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.

• food system
• food safety
• circular economy
• climate change
• global health
• sustainability