STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

• The main goal of the agrifood research is to improve food quality and nutrition, and to ensure food security and competitiveness and profitability of producers on the entire food chain.
  
• Research has to grow and maintain the leadership in quality and food safety assurance and supplier of food products with nutritional qualities acording with consumer demands. Research should identify the policies to ensure food security and safety.
  
• Traceability and product quality are requirements for national and European market, which requires in turn an adequate infrastructure, equipment and network services, which can be provided by the existing research.
  
• Knowledge about foods change the consumer food behavior. Price pressure, and the need to adapt better the foods to the body's needs lead to an efficient use of existing natural resources, by exploiting the full potential of their products and waste recovery products with high added value.
  
• Regarding the food security, the purpose is to achieve objectives such as:
  • "clean" technologies, without waste;
  • obtaining new ingredients, natural food additives and bioactive compounds;
  • promoting new agricultural bioresources for food industry;
  • ensure food availability in relation to market requirements for different groups of consumers.
• Food requirements put on the map to maintain health and prevent the apearance of human diseases.
  In this sense, there are the following strategic research directions:
  • nutrients bioavailability;
  • risk assessment of production of toxic compounds during the food processing;
  • development of therapeutic options, through food, if case of food allergies and metabolic diseases;
  • influence of food containing genetically modified organisms and the conventional foods on human health;
  • effect of food irradiation on food compounds and human health;
  • obtaining organic food products.
• Regarding the food, it is expected to be increasingly complex and connected to all the aspects that influence the human body during the life.
• Whatever the market is, when consumer demands are satisfied, competition and spontaneous evolution of needs lead to market segmentation. The quality will dominate quantity.
• It is necessary to have the following directions for food research, regarding food products, food and nutrition:
  • development of rapid and effective control methods in order to identify pathogens and other toxic agents in food;
  • development of an integrated food chain research system, based on "from producer to consumer" concept in order to identify food traceability (genetic markers);
  • implementation of HACCP food safety;
  • decreasing and removal of food residues and contaminants in food;
  • control of water migration and microorganisms barriers in packaged food;
  • developing effective control systems in order to verify statements of producers and food fraud prevention (methods using microorganisms).
• Taking into account the Romanian adherence to EU and Romanian food promotion on the international market it is necessary also that research activity and scientific community to integrate in the European Research Area. This requires aggressive promotion of Romanian research and Romanian researchers in European community by:
  • participation of researchers at European events;
  • researchers participation in associations, committees and other international bodies;
  • participation in meetings of international projects preparation;
  • scholarships for young researchers in the EU;
  • organizing scientific events with international participation;
  • promoting and stimulating researchers with special results at European level;
  • equipping research laboratories at the EU level.