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Sustainability in the Food System: trends, key themes, and emerging topics

Alejandro Valencia-Arías,Manuel Humberto Vásquez Coronado,D. C. Velasco Cardona,Jackeline Valencia,M. Benjumea-Arias,Edgar Roland Tuesta Torres,Sebastián Cardona-Acevedo

Published 2025 in F1000Research

ABSTRACT

Background With growing focus on the environmental and social impacts of the food industry, sustainability has become a central topic in scientific research. Understanding the dynamics of this scientific production motivated a bibliometric analysis to identify trends, key themes, and emerging topics in this field. Methods A bibliometric analysis was conducted using Scopus and Web of Science to examine the evolution of scientific output related to sustainability in the food industry. Techniques such as keyword co-occurrence analysis, evaluation of country and author productivity, and thematic evolution analysis were applied. Additionally, a Cartesian system was used to classify the relevance and recency of identified key terms. Results An exponential growth pattern in scientific output was identified, particularly in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023, with a statistical significance of 99.65%. Three main country clusters were observed, with the United Kingdom, United States, and Italy standing out for their productivity and impact. At the author level, Mangla and Luthra were notable for productivity, while Land, Beske, and Van Der Vorst stood out for their impact on the discipline. Thematic evolution analysis revealed a shift from early research on “soil erosion” to current themes like “circular economy,” “supply chain management,” “food safety,” and “wastewater treatment.” The keyword co-occurrence network showed seven thematic clusters, with the purple cluster—comprising “sustainability,” “waste management,” and “short supply chain”—being most prominent. Emerging topics such as “Covid-19,” “blockchain,” and the “agri-food sector” were found in the emerging topics quadrant. Conclusions This study highlights the evolution and diversification of sustainability research in the food industry, emphasizing the relevance of emerging topics and international collaboration. A multidisciplinary agenda is proposed to address critical areas such as food security, sustainable agriculture, and supply chain management, stressing the need to incorporate innovative technologies to meet current environmental, economic, and social challenges.

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