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VeriFish at the 14th International Food Data Conference in Rome: Making Sustainable, Healthy Seafood Choices Easier

Rome, August 2025 | FAO Headquarters

This week, VeriFish was proudly represented at the 14th International Food Data Conference (IFDC) in Rome, hosted at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Organised under the theme “Food composition databases: application for healthy diets and sustainable agrifood systems transformation,” the IFDC brought together over 180 global experts working on food composition data — a cornerstone of modern nutrition policy, dietary guidelines, and sustainability research.

Bringing VeriFish to the Global Food Data Community

VeriFish was presented by EuroFIR, a key partner in the project and leader of our nutrition and data harmonisation work. Our session focused on how VeriFish is helping people make seafood choices that are good for them and good for the planet — using trusted data and scientific tools.

🔹 What we shared at IFDC:

  • Today, there is no simple way for consumers to understand how seafood compares to other proteins in terms of nutrition, sustainability, and climate impact.
  • VeriFish is developing a unified framework that includes a nutrient quality score, allowing seafood to be ranked by its contribution to human health — in clear, science-based terms.
  • These indicators will be made available through the VeriFish mobile app, currently in development. This app will empower users — from retailers to home cooks — to make informed, responsible seafood decisions using just their smartphone.

By presenting at IFDC, we were able to bring this innovative approach to the attention of the international experts who create and maintain the data behind national dietary guidelines, public health policies, and food safety regulations. This ensures that our work is not only scientifically robust, but also aligned with global standards and ready for real-world application.

Turning Complex Science into Practical Tools

The VeriFish Sustainability Indicator Framework, developed collaboratively by our consortium, is grounded in evidence from environmental, nutritional, and socio-economic data. It includes:

  • A nutrient pillar using harmonised food composition databases (including EuroFIR’s FoodExplorer and FAO/INFOODS)
  • An environmental pillar assessing overfishing, bycatch, emissions, and habitat impact
  • A socio-economic pillar covering labour rights, transparency, and ethical sourcing

Our goal is to transform this science into intuitive, usable tools for people who make decisions every day — from seafood suppliers and restaurants to teachers, parents, and shoppers.

Celebrating Leadership in Food Composition

We also extend our heartfelt congratulations to Paul Finglas, Director of EuroFIR, who was awarded the Nevin Scrimshaw Award during the conference. This prestigious honour recognises career-long excellence in the field of food composition — especially for contributions in low- and middle-income countries.

Paul’s keynote on building an open-access European Food Composition Database for EFSA further underlined the value of harmonised, high-quality data in ensuring nutrition security, supporting research, and empowering policy.

From Data to Trustworthy Choices

VeriFish’s presence at IFDC 2025 marked a milestone in our mission to make seafood sustainability visible, verifiable, and meaningful to consumers across Europe and beyond.

Thanks to the commitment of the VeriFish consortium and the expert leadership of EuroFIR, we are translating complex nutritional science into tools that promote responsible consumption, build consumer trust, and support healthier diets.

Stay tuned for the release of the VeriFish app and explore how we’re integrating these tools into communication campaigns, seafood labelling, and sustainability education.

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David Bassett

Employed by EATiP since 2017, David is responsible for the day-to-day management and direction of this European wide multi-actor ETP. 

Working in the aquaculture industry since 2005, including a decade as the executive of a UK producer association, he has been active in numerous projects from the sixth Framework Programme. Among other roles, David has served as a director of the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum and served on the Technical Advisory Group of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC TAG) alongside being invited as a guest lecturer at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling (UK).  

In addition to working on multiple Horizon Europe projects David is one of the Technical Experts assisting with the implementation of the EU Aquaculture Assistance Mechanism in addition to chairing the research focus group of the Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC) and sitting on the Standing Committee on Agricultural Research – Fish Committee (SCAR-Fish). 

For further information on EATiP please see www.eatip.eu 

Paul Bulcock

Paul Bulcock is responsible for developing and maintaining aquaculture information in SFP’s systems (e.g., FishSource, AIP Directory, Metrics). He also supports development and implementation of aquaculture strategy through research and analysis.

Paul has extensive program support and aquaculture research experience (particularly in Southeast Asia), having worked for the Network of Aquaculture Centers in Asia-Pacific (NACA) and DFID’s Aquaculture and Fish Genetics Research Programme (AFGRP) at the Institute of Aquaculture, in Stirling, UK. He has an MSc in aquaculture from the University of Stirling and a BSc in marine and fisheries zoology from the University of Aberdeen.

Paul is based in the UK, in Glasgow, Scotland.

Fabio Grati

A fishery biologist presently employed at the National Research Council, Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (Ancona, Italy), he brings to the table more than thirty years of expertise in marine environmental conservation and sustainable resource management. Over the course of his career, he has overseen and participated in numerous international projects focused on understanding and mitigating anthropic impacts on marine ecosystems. Since 2019, he holds a membership in the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) under the European Commission. Within this role, he has chaired two STECF Expert Working Groups (EWG 22-12 and EWG 23-18), where he led efforts to establish scientifically robust yet accessible criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of fisheries products.

Andrea Fabris

Andrea Fabris born 11.08.1968, Italian, has a Veterinary Medicine full graduation achieved at the University of Parma. He has also a Specialization in “Farming, Hygiene, Pathology of Aquatic Species and Control of Derivative Products ” achieved at Udine University and a Specialization in “Animal Feeding” obtained at Bologna University.

Actually (from May 2016) he is Director of Associazione Piscicoltori Italiani (API – Italian Fish Farmers Association). At National level behalf of API he is member of some working groups at the General Direction for Fisheries and Aquaculture of Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Italian Ministry of Health regarding aquaculture EU rules and their implementation at national and regional level, and member of Exotic Species Aquaculture Committee – Italian Ministry of Agriculture. Lecturer on in training /courses organized by Ministry of Health, Universities and Local Veterinary Authorities; member of Board of Directors of SIPI (Italian Society of Fish Pathology).

He is also involved at international level with the Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP) as Chairman of FEAP Fish Health and Welfare Commission. Andrea is part of the FVE (Federation of Veterinarians Europe) Aquaculture Working Group, and of FishMedPlus Coalition, and from the beginning member of Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC) where is actually Chair of WG1 – Finfish.

He published as an author or co-author about 30 articles on international and national scientific journals concerning Fish pathology and Aquaculture and more than 60 issues on divulgative (fishermen and aquaculture producers associations) publications

Anne Marie Cooper

Anne shapes global sustainable fisheries and aquaculture policies through her work at the science-policy interface. Driven by a commitment to improving human lives and aquatic ecosystems, she serves as the Professional Officer for Fisheries and Aquaculture Advice at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Anne leads ICES’ efforts in developing and applying methods to provide scientific advice on data-limited fish and shellfish stocks in the Northeast Atlantic, covering over 60% of ICES stocks. She also heads the development of ICES’
advisory framework for sustainable aquaculture. Before joining ICES, Anne advised on national fisheries, aquaculture, climate, and marine science policy in the US Senate, House of Representatives, and NOAA. She holds a Ph.D. in Conservation Biology and Development Studies and Social Change Theory and an M.Sc. in Fisheries Science from the University of Minnesota.

Pedro Reis Santos

Pedro Reis Santos is Secretary General of the Market Advisory Council (MAC), a stakeholder-led advisory body to the European Commission and to the Member States on matters relevant for the EU market of fishery and aquaculture products, as foreseen by the Common Fisheries Policy Regulation.

Before his appointment, in July 2019, as Secretary General, Mr Reis Santos worked as a consultant for a Brussels-based business intelligence service monitoring EU developments on fisheries, agriculture, food, animal welfare, alcohol and tobacco policy. Prior to that, he was a trainee at the Fisheries Unit of the Council of the European Union and a trainee at the Control Unit of the Portuguese Fisheries Authority.

Mr Reis Santos holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law and a Master’s degree in International Law and International Relations from the University of Lisbon with a thesis titled “Marine Protected Areas beyond National Jurisdiction”. Besides his first language, Portuguese, he speaks English and Spanish

Irene Kranendonk

Irene Kranendonk is the Impact Manager at Fish Tales and a board member of the Fish Tales Foundation. Her work focuses on developing and guiding Fish Tales’ sourcing criteria including management of the environmental and social certification schemes. With the Fish Tales Foundation and local partner organizations, she drives social and environmental improvements in small scale fisheries. Irene holds a master’s degree from Wageningen University in Aquaculture and Marine Resource Management and is specialized in the field of fisheries ecology. In a previous role, Irene was sustainable seafood assessor for the Dutch seafood rating scheme the VISwijzer.