Norway

Ambassador’s

Veslemøy Andersen, PhD
Microbiologist
Norway

Ambassador’s Report

Veslemøy Andersen: I want to promote GHI in every way possible for me to help spreading its goals and contribute to its success. This can be done in Norwegian and also in English everywhere in the world at congresses and meetings, through writing articles in papers and chapters in books to make the goals of our organisation known by as many people as possible all over the world.

This is the reason why I have joined the Editorial Board of the book series “Nutrition and health aspects of traditional and ethnic foods” that will cover all countries of the world. For the same reason I have accepted to be the Lead Editor of the first volume, about the Nordic countries. That will be published in 2018; the other volumes will be published thereafter, 2 to 3 volumes every year. There will be 26 volumes in total.

Further I have joined the Organising Committee for the “1st International GHI Congress on Food Safety and Security”, to be held in Leiden, The Netherlands, 24-28 March 2019.

During the World Food Congress organised by IUFoST, in Dublin, Ireland in 2016, Prof. Dr. Chin-Kun Wang M.D., GHI Ambassador in Taiwan, proposed a “Global Incident Alert Network for Unauthorized Food Additives”, which became established soon thereafter (and abbreviated GIANUFA). Meanwhile a GHI Working Group “Global Incident Alert Network” (GIAN) has been established with two projects, GIANUFA – lead by Dr. Chin-Kun Wang and the “Global Incident System Alert Network for Pathogens in Food” (GIANPIF) – lead by me.

As a microbiologist, my personal interest is especially food safety, biofilm formation and the risk of worsening the problem of antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria as a result of incorrect use of biocides in the food industry. Recently, I have given presentations about these topics in Kiev (Ukraine), Yerevan (Armenia) and Kaunas (Lithuania).

Dr. Namrah Azmi

As GHI Ambassador for Norway, my primary goal is to strengthen the connection between the Nordic scientific research community and the global food safety harmonization agenda. Norway occupies a unique position, as an EFTA member closely integrated with EU regulatory frameworks while maintaining independent food safety governance, making harmonization both practically important and scientifically interesting from a Norwegian perspective.

I believe global harmonization of food safety and nutrition laws is essential for three reasons that I have witnessed directly in my own research:

First, scientific knowledge does not stop at borders, but regulations do. During my PhD I worked with Moringa oleifera, a plant whose nutritional and functional properties are well documented scientifically, yet its regulatory status as a food ingredient varies dramatically between the EU, Norway, and markets in Africa and Asia. This creates real barriers to utilizing safe, nutritious, locally available plant-based ingredients in communities that need them most.

Second, small producers and developing country partners are disproportionately harmed by regulatory fragmentation. My direct collaboration with Stayfit Nutrisupplies in Tanzania showed me how divergent food safety standards create market access barriers for producers in low-income countries, not because their products are unsafe, but because harmonized certification pathways simply do not exist.

Third, Norway and the Nordic region have scientific and regulatory expertise that should contribute more actively to global harmonization. NTNU, where I completed my PhD, is a world-leading research institution with significant food science and nanotechnology expertise. As ambassador I want to help channel that expertise into GHI’s working groups and harmonization efforts.

Plans as GHI Ambassador for Norway

Engaging the Norwegian scientific community I will actively promote GHI membership among food scientists, nutritionists, and materials researchers at NTNU and other Norwegian universities (University of Oslo, NMBU, University of Bergen). Norway has a strong food science research community that is underrepresented in international harmonization discussions.

Liaison with Norwegian food authorities I will try to establish contact with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and provide them with relevant GHI press releases, position papers, and harmonization updates.

Writing articles for Norwegian food science audiences I will try to write accessible articles on food safety harmonization topics for Norwegian food industry publications and scientific newsletters, translating GHI’s work into the Nordic context. I am also willing to contribute to GHI’s own publications in English.

Presentations at Norwegian and Nordic scientific events I will represent GHI at relevant Norwegian and Nordic conferences in food science, nutrition, and materials science. I will present on the importance of regulatory harmonization for Norwegian researchers and industry.

University engagement and student outreach Through my network I will engage early-career researchers and PhD students in GHI’s mission, potentially organising a student-facing seminar on food safety regulation and harmonization as a career-relevant topic.

Nanotechnology Working Group contribution As a member of GHI’s Nanotechnology Working Group, I will contribute my expertise in plant protein-based nanoparticles, food-grade colloidal systems, and synchrotron characterization to the group’s work on science-based harmonization of nanotechnology regulations in food.

Publications

Veslemøy Andersen:
Title: The Harmonization of Food Safety Regulations
Author: Huub Lelieveld and Veslemøy Andersen (2015/ 2016)
Publication and Date: Food Safety Magazine, Vol.21, No. 6, 2016

Title: Bacterial Resistance to Biocides
Author: E.V.M. Andersen (2016)
Publication: In: H.Lelieveld, J. Holah and D. Gabrić , Handbook of Hygiene Control in the Food Industry, 2nd ed., Woodhead Publishing/Elsevier

Title: Resistance to Biocides and resistance Mechanisms in Bacteria (in Russian)
Author: E.Veslemøy M. Andersen (2016)
Publication: Dairy Industry,No. 4, 2016

Title: Natural Resistance in Bacteria to Biocides
Author: Veslemøy Andersen (2016)
Publication: New Food Magazine, 6, 2016

Title: Nutritional and Health Aspects of Food in Nordic Countries
Author: Veslemøy Andersen, Eirin Bar and Gun Wirtanen
Publication: Elsevier/Academic Press, 2019

Title: Genetically Modified and Irradiated Food – Controversial Issues: Facts versus Perceptions
Author: Veslemøy Andersen
Publication: Elsevier/Academic Press, 2020

Dr. Namrah Azmi

Comparative analysis and characterization of various extraction techniques of food-grade particles from Moringa Oleifera Lam. seeds Date: 2025 Journal: European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology (Pickfood special issue) Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejlt.70071

Moringa Oleifera as a multifunctional bioresource: Nutritional, medicinal and its Pickering emulsifying potential Date: 2025 Journal: Food Hydrocolloids for Health Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fhfh.2025.100231

Intrinsic Fluorescence in Moringa Oleifera Seed Extract Date: 2025 Journal: Talanta Open, Elsevier Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talo.2025.100500

Potential of Ethyl Cellulose as a Stabilizer of Nonaqueous Food-Grade Emulsions Date: 2025 Journal: European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology (Pickfood special issue) Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejlt.70083

Growth kinetics and structure of a colloidal silica-based network: in situ RheoSAXS investigations Date: 2024 Journal: The European Physical Journal Special Topics Link: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-024-01250-y

Application of Gasotransmitters in Nanomaterials-based food packaging Date: 2024 Journal: Journal of Packaging Technology and Research Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41783-024-00164-3

Nanotechnology being a promising approach in Nerve Regeneration Date: 2022 Journal: Current Nanoscience Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1573413718666220509125522

Quantum dots based fluorescent probes for selective detection of heavy metal ions Date: 2021 Journal: Journal of Fluorescence Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-021-02755-8

Presentations

Moringa protein-based Pickering emulsions: Formulation of Nutritious food spread Date: 2025 Event: Edible Soft Matter Location: Rennes, France

Moringa protein-based Pickering emulsions: Formulation of Nutritious food spread Date: 2025 Event: Complex Matter and AI: Connectivity, Information and Adaptation Location: Geilo, Norway (Poster Prize awarded)

Moringa protein-based Pickering emulsions: Formulation of Nutritious food spread Date: 2024 Event: Aalto Pickfood Microscopy Course Location: Espoo, Finland

Moringa protein-based Pickering emulsions: Formulation of Nutritious food spread Date: 2024 Event: 10th International Workshop on Soft and Complex Matter Location: Oslo, Norway (Oral presentation)

Moringa protein-based Pickering emulsions: Formulation of Nutritious food spread Date: 2024 Event: 38th Conference of European Colloid and Interface Society Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Moringa protein-based Pickering emulsions: Formulation of Nutritious food spread Date: 2024 Event: Northern Lights on Food — LINXS Location: Lund, Sweden (Oral presentation)

Moringa Oleifera proteins as Pickering stabilizers in food emulsion Date: 2024 Event: 19th Food Colloid Conference Location: Thessaloniki, Greece

Moringa Oleifera proteins as Pickering Stabilizers: from nanostructures to rheology Date: 2023 Event: 2023 MRS Fall Meeting and Exhibit Location: Boston, USA (Virtual)

Moringa Oleifera proteins in Pickering emulsions Date: 2023 Event: III International Symposium on Moringa Location: Brazil

Moringa Oleifera proteins as Pickering Stabilizers Date: 2023 Event: 9th Annual International Workshop on Soft and Complex Matter Location: Oslo, Norway (Oral presentation)

Pickering Emulsions for Food Applications Date: 2023 Event: Topical Seminar on Material Science of Natural Materials Location: Arusha, Tanzania (Invited talk)

Optimizing processing of plant derived Pickering food emulsions Date: 2023 Event: International Project Workshop “Microfluidics” Location: Gothenburg, Sweden

Optimizing processing of plant derived Pickering food emulsions Date: 2022 Event: Geilo Winter School, Physics of Evolving Matter Location: Geilo, Norway

Photos from presentations

Topical Seminar on Material Science of Natural Materials: 20 July 2023. Arusha, Tanzania

LINXS: 27-29 May 2024. Lund, Sweden

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters: 27-28 September 2024. Oslo, Norway

PICKFOOD Project closing symposium: 7 July 2025. Renne, France

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters: 25-26 September 2025. Oslo, Norway

Other Relevant Information

I completed my PhD at NTNU in November 2025 as part of the EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN network PICKFOOD, which gave me direct experience working across international regulatory and scientific boundaries in food science. My industry collaboration with Stayfit Nutrisupplies in Tanzania provided first-hand insight into how regulatory fragmentation affects developing country food producers.

I am currently based in Trondheim, Norway, and am actively engaged in the European research community through synchrotron facility networks (ESRF, MAX IV, BESSY) and international food science conferences. I speak English (full professional proficiency) and Norwegian (B1/B2), and I am committed to building GHI’s presence and impact in the Norwegian and Nordic scientific community.

I hold a certification in Introduction to Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs from the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries (2022), which underpins my engagement with food regulatory frameworks.