The 13th Fera/JIFSAN Symposium will bring together industrial stakeholders, academic and government scientists to explore the potential impact of 'omics' technologies in the food sector. Genomic and post-genomic technologies, such as metabolomics and proteomics, have been at the forefront of biotechnology in the health, pharmaceutical and crop science sectors. However, the potential for the use of these technologies in the food sector is still largely unrealised.