Launching PURE-FOOD project: an international project to better understand, monitor and reduce pollution across food and drink industry
- The Horizon Europe initiative, supported by nearly €6 million in EU funding, tackles emerging contaminants, including microplastics, PFAS and antimicrobial resistance genes.
- The four-year initiative brings together 16 partners to address pollution across the poultry, dairy, brewing, olive, potato and aquaculture sectors.
Bruges, Belgium, October 27th, 2026 - PURE-FOOD, a new Horizon Europe project, has launched to develop and demonstrate practical, more advanced, effective management strategies to monitor, assess, and reduce pollution across diverse food and drink industry sectors. Partners gathered in Bruges on 20–21 October 2026 for the project’s kick-off meeting, marking the start of their collaboration. With a maximum EU grant of just under €6 million, PURE-FOOD - Pollution Understanding and Reduction for Environmental Sustainability in the Food and Drink Industries - runs from September 2026 to August 2030.
Coordinated by VITO, the four-year Horizon Europe Innovation Action includes as partners: AGENSO, ASTRUCEL, BIOAZUL, CERTH, DE NORA, EIT Food, FARM FRITES, FCH, FLANDERS’ FOOD, METFilter, Nanoe, NIVA, Norsk Kylling, Olymp, and ULEI. Our consortium gathers experts in advanced technological solutions for water treatment, water quality monitoring and pollution control, as well as specialists in ecotoxicity assessment, BAT and stakeholder engagement to ensure that the project contributes to increased knowledge of pollution, mapping, methods developed to measure and reduce it, and healthier diets and biodiversity. EIT Food as a project partner and leader of the project's communication and dissemination work. EIT Food is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.
Addressing gaps in pollution monitoring and treatment
The food and drink industry is essential to Europe’s economy and food security, but its activities also create environmental pressures affecting water, air and soil. Alongside established pollutants such as organic matter and nutrients, PURE-FOOD will investigate emerging and less-understood pollutants, including microplastics, PFAS, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and antimicrobial resistance genes. Gaps remain in understanding their sources, pathways, and combined impacts on ecosystems and human health, making it harder to identify where action is most needed.
PURE-FOOD combines scientific assessment, monitoring methods and real-world testing, including innovative techniques, to address these challenges. Partners will map pollution pathways and hotspots, assess environmental effects, and identify measures to reduce pollution at source and through appropriate treatment technologies.
Six real-world case studies
At the heart of PURE-FOOD are six case studies covering different parts of the food and drink industry:
- Poultry production in Norway
- Dairy production in Greece
- Brewery operations in Spain
- Table olive processing in Greece
- Potato processing in Belgium
- Aquaculture in Colombia.
Across these settings, the consortium will work to identify pollution sources and hotspots, develop and/or adapt methods and sensors for monitoring pollutants, and demonstrate strategies for reducing pollution under real-world demonstrations conditions. The project will also explore the environmental and human health implications of emerging pollutants and pollutant mixtures.
PURE-FOOD's wider ambition is to generate approaches that can be used beyond the individual case studies. Planned outputs include an inventory of pollutants, methods for pollution mapping, new monitoring approaches, validated treatment solutions, as well as evidence to inform improvements in industrial environmental performance and in future policy development, including recommendations and policy briefs.
Connecting research, industry, policy and society
A central feature of PURE-FOOD is its multi-actor approach. Researchers, technology developers, food and drink businesses, and other stakeholders will contribute to identifying priorities, assessing solutions and translating scientific findings into practical recommendations. Consumer engagement and awareness-raising activities will also help communicate the links between pollution, environmental quality, food safety and sustainable food systems.
By connecting pollution monitoring with mitigation measures and environmental sustainability assessment, PURE-FOOD supports the objectives of the European Green Deal, the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the wider transition towards a climate-neutral, resource-efficient and biodiversity-friendly economy. The project will also generate knowledge and practical evidence relevant to the implementation of European environmental legislation, including the associated Best Available Techniques framework for relevant industrial activities.
From research to practical pollution reduction and lasting impact
Through its research and demonstrations, PURE-FOOD aims to improve understanding of pollution from the food and drink industry, strengthen the capacity of businesses to monitor and reduce emissions, and support more informed decisions by industry and policymakers. The project will also share its methods, findings and lessons learned to encourage wider uptake and replication beyond the demonstration sites. EIT Food will lead communication and dissemination, sharing results through targeted outreach, training, webinars and policy engagement.
The kick-off meeting marks the beginning of a collaborative effort to connect scientific knowledge with industrial practice and public policy and the project will support wider action towards a healthier, more resilient food system.
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Notes to editor:
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About EIT Food
EIT Food is the world’s largest and most dynamic food innovation community. We accelerate innovation to build a future-fit food system that produces healthy and sustainable food for all.
Supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, we invest in projects, organisations and individuals that share our goals for a healthy and sustainable food system. We unlock innovation potential in businesses and universities and create and scale agrifood startups to bring new technologies and products to market. We equip entrepreneurs and professionals with the skills needed to transform the food system and put consumers at the heart of our work, helping build trust by reconnecting them to the origins of their food.
We are one of nine Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) that form part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Community.
Find out more at www.eitfood.eu or follow us via social media:
About PURE-FOOD
PURE-FOOD stands for Pollution Understanding and Reduction for Environmental Sustainability in the Food and Drink Industries. It is a four-year Horizon Europe Innovation Action coordinated by VITO, bringing together 16 partners from Belgium, Colombia, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain.
The project receives an EU contribution of €5,999,000.50 under Grant Agreement No. 101290562.
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