To mark the release of the 2025 Annual Report: Alert and Cooperation Network, today we interview Koen Van Dyck, Head of Unit of DG SANTE’s Food Hygiene, Feed and Fraud, to find out more about the main trends in this year’s report. We hear about how Koen and his unit continue to protect our citizens’ health by ensuring our food is safe, and to lead the fight against food fraud in Europe.
The ACN Annual Report has just been released. What are the main trends?
On 26 June, the European Commission presented its annual report on how Member States work together and exchange information on official controls in the agri-food sector. At the heart of the report is the Alert and Cooperation Network, (ACN). This is the EU framework that allows the Commission and national authorities to share alerts, flag cases of non-compliance and coordinate investigations quickly when food or feed safety issues arise.
One important development this year is that the report now also covers two new networks: one on animal welfare and another on pet animals. This is significant as it shows that cooperation is expanding beyond traditional food and feed safety issues. The Animal Welfare Network has now completed its first full year of activity, and it has already proved very active, especially on cross-border transport cases. The Pet Animals Network focuses on the welfare and the public health related risks associated with dogs and cats. With the introduction of new EU rules on dog and cat welfare, the network is expected to become an important instrument for tackling illegal trade and combatting document fraud.
This year’s report points to a marked rise in activity. In 2025, the network recorded 10,490 notifications, which is 11% more than in the previous year. The higher number of notifications being exchanged through the network should be seen as a sign of alertness and its effectiveness: national control authorities are identifying more issues, and EU-level coordination is helping to ensure that information is shared and acted on efficiently, to enhance risk detection and to support a coordinated response across Member States. Ultimately, the objective remains the same: to protect citizens, maintain confidence in the food supply chain across Europe and preserve the integrity of the food chain, ensuring that Europeans continue to benefit from one of the safest food systems in the world.
What are the most prominent food safety issues reported in 2025 in the ACN?
As I mentioned above, overall notifications rose this year. This was also the trend for notifications on food safety risks, which via the Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, rose by 2% last year, reaching 5,344. As in previous years, fruits and vegetables accounted for the largest number of notifications (18%). 67% of these involve potential health risks, featuring hazards such as pesticide residues, mycotoxins, pathogenic microorganisms, metals, foreign bodies, and allergens.
2025 also saw one of the more serious reports concerned cereulide contamination in infant formula, which became one of the most complex food safety incidents seen in recent years. Over 60 countries were affected, with multiple manufacturers involved. By bringing together notifications and cooperation from different Member States through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, competent authorities and private operators were able to trace the source of the contamination back to a common supplier. This was a decisive step. It not only enabled targeted risk management measures but also highlighted the fundamental importance of traceability and data aggregation across the network. The report has a more detailed breakdown of this case for those interested.
The last time we spoke to you, the TRACES Map tool had just been launched. Is it working well?
As a reminder, TraceMap is an AI-powered tool that we launched on 9 March this year to help combat food fraud and support the management of foodborne incidents. It is designed to accelerate the detection of food fraud, contaminated food and foodborne disease outbreaks across the EU. In line with the EU’s high safety standards for food, the tool strengthens the capacity of national authorities by supporting faster analysis of complex data and helping to identify potential food safety risks and fraudulent activity more efficiently.
Although TraceMap is still at an early stage, it has already shown its potential as a valuable addition to the Alert and Cooperation Network by supporting the analysis of large volumes of data and identifying possible links between cases, it can help Member States detect irregularities more quickly, target investigations more effectively and respond in a more coordinated manner. TraceMap will also help boost stakeholders’ confidence in the robustness of the EU’s food safety systems.
I would like to conclude by highlighting that anyone wishing to follow our work in tackling food fraud can consult the Commission’s monthly reports on cross-border suspicions cases recorded through the ACN that may indicate fraudulent practices. These reports cover the entire agri-food chain and support Member States in implementing risk-based controls, while also helping food businesses better assess their exposure to fraud.
