ILSI Europe is proud to present its Annual Report 2025, showcasing a year of scientific excellence, cross-sector collaboration, and impactful contributions to food safety, nutrition, and sustainability.
In a context where fostering trust in science and strengthening cross-sector dialogue is more important than ever, 2025 marked significant progress in advancing evidence-based solutions. Food choices today are driven not only by price and preference, but also by a growing demand for authenticity, transparency, and science-backed proof. At the same time, food system decisions are shaped by an overwhelming flow of information, where opinions and selective interpretations of evidence can influence narratives and contribute to polarisation. In this environment, maintaining trust in science requires constant effort: robust evidence, open dialogue, and a willingness to engage with diverse viewpoints.
Building science-based consensus across sectors is therefore essential. No single discipline or stakeholder group can address food safety, nutrition, and sustainability alone. As a platform grounded in a tripartite model—bringing together academia, industry, and the public sector—ILSI Europe facilitates structured dialogue and consensus-building processes based on scientific integrity, transparency, and independence.
In 2025, this role was reflected in strong engagement across the community. Through flagship symposia (the 8th International Symposium on Food Packaging and the 5th Symposium on Nutrition for the Ageing Brain) and a wide range of workshops on topics such as probiotics clinical study design, recycling of non-PET plastics, precision nutrition, and healthy ageing, the organisation created spaces for exchange, challenge of perspectives, and shared understanding.
This exchange translated into concrete outputs and impact:
- 9 peer-reviewed publications, including work on mycotoxins in food, plant-based nutrition for infants, and microbiota changes during pregnancy
- 20 events organised, gathering 849 participants across disciplines and sectors
- 7 EU-funded projects, strengthening collaborative research across Europe
- A growing network of 47 member companies, 320 active experts, supported by 22 expert groups steered by 15 Task Forces
Looking back at 2025
2025 was a year of consolidation and impact, where dialogue and collaboration translated into tangible scientific outcomes. Beyond individual activities, the strength of the year lay in the continuity of exchange across experts from different backgrounds, ensuring that scientific work remained both rigorous and relevant.
The organisation’s outputs—peer-reviewed publications, collaborative projects, expert workshops, and symposia—were the result of sustained collective effort. This ecosystem of interaction helped turn diverse perspectives into shared scientific understanding and actionable knowledge for food safety, nutrition, and sustainability.
At the same time, the continued engagement of a large and diverse expert community reinforced the value of the collaborative model. Structured task forces and thematic groups enabled deep scientific work while maintaining coherence across priorities, and Early Career Scientists contributed fresh perspectives to ongoing discussions.
Taken together, 2025 reflects a strengthened role in connecting science, dialogue, and application—supporting more robust, transparent, and usable scientific evidence for the food system.
We extend our sincere thanks to all contributors—from Task Force members to experts across sectors—for their commitment and collaboration, which remain central to this work.
Looking ahead, ILSI Europe remains committed to fostering collaboration, scientific integrity, and consensus-based guidance, as it moves toward celebrating 40 years of cross-sector science in 2026.