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EU Menu Methodology Workshops were held in Tbilisi, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and by the initiative of the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture and Capacity4Nutrition (C4N)

The meeting aimed to support the national level population "actual nutrition" survey, which is one of the key components for risk assessment in the field of food safety.

The meetings were attended by representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, relevant state agencies, academic circles, international organizations and other stakeholders in the field.

The event discussed the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders in the implementation of the EU Menu survey, the objectives of the survey, methodological approaches, required resources and implementation stages. Participants heard information about best practices and lessons learned from EU Menu surveys conducted in the European Union and the Western Balkans.

One of the important parts of the workshop was refining the project's "roadmap" and agreeing on its implementation mechanisms, including the distribution of responsibilities and determining forms of cooperation between agencies.

The meeting featured presentations from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Capacity Development Network in Nutrition for West Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe (CAPNUTRA). Interactive group working sessions were also held on research design, resource planning and stakeholder engagement.

According to Levan Ujmajuridze, Director of the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture, the introduction of the EU Menu methodology in Georgia is an important step towards reliable data-based assessment of the nutritional status of the population and evidence-based policy planning. He added that the center will actively work in collaboration with international partners to ensure that the research is carried out in accordance with high scientific standards.

EFSA's harmonized methodology for studying the "actual nutrition" of the population results in a comparable, reliable and high-quality database, which is essential both for assessing food safety risks and for effective planning of public health, food and nutrition policies.