Sustainability of traditional foods: recent achievements in Europe through EuroFIR and BaSeFood projects

Consumers’ interest and demand for traditional foods has increased as they are often perceived as higher quality products with specific sensory characteristics and potential health benefits. Unfortunately, some traditional foods are at risk of slowly disappearing due to altered lifestyles. Therefore, the documentation of traditional foods is essential for sustaining and preserving traditional foods, which are an important part of cultural heritage. One of the aims within the EuroFIR (European Food Information Resource) project was to generate new data on the nutritional composition of 55 traditional foods from 13 European countries. To achieve this, a EuroFIR consensus-based method with standardised procedures was applied for the systematic study of traditional foods and recipes. Traditional foods were selected based on the EuroFIR definition of the term “traditional food” and prioritised according to specific criteria: documentation of traditional character; composition data; consumption data; health implications and marketing potential. These approaches developed in EuroFIR have been further extended in the BaSeFood (Sustainable exploitation of bioactive components from the Black Sea Area traditional foods) project, which aims to deliver information on bioactive substances and related health claims in order to give opportunities to stakeholders to develop sustainable diets. A subset of 33 prioritised traditional foods from Black Sea Area countries (Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine) has been identified and the nutritional composition and key bioactive compounds have been determined. The data were fully documented and evaluated according to EuroFIR guidelines and standardised procedures for inclusion in the available national food composition databases. To assure the quality of analytical results accredited laboratories or laboratories with successful participation in proficiency testing schemes were chosen. The systematic investigation, documentation and registration of traditional foods are essential to preserve traditional foods, promote local biodiversity and sustainable diets.