Safety and Quality of Novel-Processed Food Waste Ingredients: Closing the Evidence Gap for Circular Food Systems

The valorization of food waste and agro-industrial by-products is widely acknowledged as a circular economy priority, yet a critical evidence gap persists: the safety and quality of ingredients derived from novel-processed waste streams remain poorly characterised. Unlike conventional food materials, waste-derived inputs carry distinct and variable risk profiles — fluctuating microbial loads, accumulated pesticide residues, heavy metals, mycotoxins, and potential for process-induced chemical transformations — that demand dedicated evaluation before regulatory and commercial uptake can proceed.Novel processing technologies, including ultrasound, pulsed electric fields (PEF), cold atmospheric plasma, high-pressure processing (HPP), and hybrid combinations, are increasingly applied to food waste and by-product streams to recover bioactive compounds, proteins, fibres, and other functional constituents. These technologies offer selective and energy-efficient routes to disrupting waste matrices and enhancing extractability. However, the existing literature is dominated by studies on conventional food materials. The safety and quality consequences of applying these technologies specifically to waste streams — inputs with heterogeneous composition, elevated contamination risk, and complex structural variability — remain a significant blind spot.This Research Topic aims to build the scientific evidence base needed for safe, scalable valorization of food waste and agro-industrial by-products through novel processing technologies. It brings together food safety scientists, process engineers, and regulatory specialists to address the full pipeline from waste stream to finished ingredient or product — with safety and quality evaluation as the primary lens throughout.We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Systematic Reviews, Mini Reviews, and Perspectives covering the following themes:- Chemical and toxicological safety of novel-processed waste-derived ingredients, including process-induced contaminant formation, residue behaviour, and the fate of pesticides, heavy metals, and mycotoxins under novel processing conditions;- Microbial safety and inactivation kinetics in novel-processed food waste and by-product streams;- Effect of novel processing on the structural, functional, and nutritional quality of waste-derived ingredients, including proteins, fibres, polyphenols, pigments, and lipids;- Risk assessment frameworks specific to food products incorporating novel-processed waste-derived ingredients;- Shelf-life and stability of products formulated with by-product-derived ingredients recovered via novel processing;- Process optimisation and scale-up of ultrasound, PEF, cold plasma, HPP, and hybrid approaches in food waste valorization, with safety or quality outcomes as primary endpoints;- Regulatory considerations and safety substantiation pathways for waste-derived novel food ingredients in the context of circular food systems.Studies must involve food waste or agro-industrial by-products as the starting material and include safety or quality evaluation of the processed outputs. Studies on novel processing of conventional food ingredients, or on biotechnological valorization routes such as fermentation, enzymatic hydrolysis, or metabolic engineering, are outside the scope of this Research Topic. Topic editors: Ashish Rawson, Sunil C K Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82286/safety-and-quality-of-novel-processed-food-waste-ingredients-closing-the-evidence-gap-for-circular-food-systems