Ambassadors and Councillors, like all GHI members, do not represent their employers.
Membership is individual and contributions to GHI are based on the scientific conscience of the members.
Ambassadors
Prof. Dr. Vlasta Pilizota
The Institute for Scientific and Art Research work of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Croatia
Prof. Dr. Helga Medic
Head of Department of Food Engineering
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology
Croatia
Full professor: Biotechnology, Nutrition and Biomedicine Public Health
Croatia
Ambassadors’ Report
Medic: As a GHI Ambassador to Croatia, my primary task is to introduce GHI as an organization and its mission to Croatia. As a member of several committees in the Croatian Food Agency and Department of Agriculture, I also promote the goals of GHI to regulatory bodies in Croatia. In October, I will have a chance to describe GHI activities at an international congress held in Croatia. As a professor at the University of Zagreb, I will participate at national conferences and represent GHI, as well as write about GHI and publish articles in relevant national magazines and journals.
Banjari: Global harmonization is globally relevant and important, not just for Croatia. From Croatia’s perspective, being part of a global network like GHI would provide me access to other countries’ policies, best practices and methods on how they approached particular aspects of food safety and nutrition, especially those concerning vulnerable population groups (e.g. children, pregnant women, elderly, people with chronic health conditions). Even though Croatia is part of the European Union, and the food system is well controlled on various levels, there are always way to improve some practices, something I see in daily practice. This is exactly where I think I would benefit the most from being part of GHI.
I am an expert for the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, and I am directly involved in writing of scientific reports on various aspects of food safety and nutrition. These scientific reports are used as guidelines for our Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Health and do have potential to influence decision-making and laws for particular aspects of food safety, nutrition and health. Being involved with GHI would enable me to connect our national policies with global ones, and possibly, our experience could be used in other countries with similar food systems and problems.
Also, I intend to use the knowledge gained in GHI in my work with industry. After taking over the position of vice-dean for marketing and business cooperation, I spend significant time in direct communication with the industry; from improving the educational process (professional part), working on product development to improving practices related to consumer perception and education from the industry part. As GHI ambassador, I feel that I could gain a lot of useful, real-life knowledge that could be applied to industry needs and improve practices directly aiming consumers.
In times of infodemic, fighting misinformation on food and nutrition has never been more important. My knowledge and experience of the matter is extensive and intend to use it and share it between GHI members; from media coverage (TV, radio, newspapers, Internet portals) to being the chief editor of portal FoodFacts (https://foodfacts.news/), which is the first ever in Croatia focused on fighting misinformation on food and nutrition. Informed decision making is every consumer’s right, but nowadays, when marketing through digital channels is poorly controlled and media channels are flooded with recommendations from self-proclaimed experts and influencers with no formal education, experts in food science and nutrition, including GHI ambassadors have a moral obligation to share scientific evidence and enable informed decision making for every consumer. This is what I, as GHI ambassador intend to do.
Activities and Presentations
Meeting: GHI Meeting preparation and coordination for the 9th International Congress Flour-Bread ’17, 25-27 October 2017, Opatija, Croatia
Presentation: Containing Food Safety Incidents by the Development of a Global Alert System. 9th International Congress Flour-Bread ’17, 25-27 October 2017, Opatija, Croatia