EFSA launches Safe2Eat 2026 with practical food-safety guidance

The European Food Safety Authority has launched Safe2Eat 2026, a Europe-wide campaign designed to make food-safety information easier to use in everyday life. In its announcement published on April 16, 2026, EFSA said the initiative is returning for its sixth year with activities planned across Europe and beyond.

The campaign is aimed at consumers who want to make informed food choices without having to decode technical scientific language. Its focus is practical: how to handle food safely, how food relates to health, and how to understand what is in the food we buy. That makes the announcement relevant to home cooks as well as shoppers reading labels in supermarkets.

What the 2026 campaign adds

Safe2Eat 2026 reaches 23 countries across Europe and neighbouring areas. EFSA says the programme builds on the previous campaign year and uses clear, science-based communication to help people feel more confident about food safety. The 2026 edition is organised around three areas:

Safe food practices: practical advice on reading labels and on the safe handling, storage and preparation of food.
Food and your health: information about balanced diets, nutritional needs and the science behind health claims.
What’s in your food: explanations of additives, flavourings, novel foods and allergen labelling.

For cooks, the first area is the most immediately useful. Food safety is not only about what happens during cooking. It also depends on what happens before the pan or oven is switched on: keeping raw ingredients apart, controlling temperature, and following storage instructions.

A practical kitchen checklist

EFSA’s accompanying food-handling guidance provides a straightforward routine that can be applied to an ordinary home kitchen.

Start with clean hands and surfaces. Wash your hands before preparing food and during preparation when needed. Clean utensils, worktops and cutting boards, and keep food protected from pests and animals.
Separate raw and ready-to-eat food. Keep raw meat, poultry and seafood away from salads, cooked food and ingredients that will not be cooked. Use separate utensils and boards where possible, and store raw and cooked food separately in the refrigerator.
Cook thoroughly. EFSA advises using a food thermometer for foods such as soups and stews, which should reach 70°C. Reheat cooked food thoroughly, and follow the cooking instructions supplied with packaged food.
Control time and temperature. Do not leave cooked food at room temperature for more than two hours. Refrigerate cooked and perishable food promptly below 5°C. If food is being served immediately, keep it hot above 60°C.
Defrost safely. The safest general method is to defrost food in the refrigerator. Some products can be cooked from frozen, but the packaging instructions should determine whether that is appropriate.

These steps are simple, but they address several common points where contamination or bacterial growth can occur. They also show why food safety cannot be reduced to one visual check, such as looking at the colour of meat. A thermometer, clean equipment and sensible storage are more reliable controls.

Why the campaign matters now

EFSA’s announcement also points to findings from an Ipsos survey carried out in November 2025. The authority says Safe2Eat reached 41% of citizens in the countries surveyed during the previous campaign year. People who had seen the campaign reported paying greater attention to food safety, thinking more critically about food choices and showing more interest in the science behind those choices.

That result does not turn campaign messaging into a substitute for official food rules or product instructions. It does, however, underline the value of translating broad food-safety principles into decisions people make every day: where raw chicken sits in the refrigerator, which board is used for vegetables, how long leftovers remain on the counter, and whether a dish has reached a safe internal temperature.

Use labels as part of the safety routine

The 2026 campaign gives label reading a prominent place alongside kitchen hygiene. For shoppers, that means checking use-by or best-before information, following storage directions and paying close attention to allergen information. Labels can also explain whether a product needs cooking, whether it can be cooked from frozen, and how it should be stored after opening.

For people cooking for others, especially anyone with a food allergy, reading the full ingredient and allergen information is an important preparation step rather than a last-minute check. If packaging is unclear or damaged, the safest response is to seek clarification or choose another product instead of guessing.

The takeaway for home cooks

Safe2Eat 2026 is designed to run throughout the year, with EFSA and national partners sharing campaign materials and practical advice. The useful message for a home kitchen is direct: keep hands and surfaces clean, separate raw food, cook thoroughly, keep perishable food cold, and use labels as a safety tool. Those habits require no special appliance and can be incorporated into almost any cooking routine.