Ana María López-Santacruz Serraller has been appointed the new Executive Director of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), according to an order published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on October 26, 2024.
López-Santacruz previously served as the Director of the National Center for Food (CNA). The appointment was made by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030, as detailed in Order DCA/1176/2024. She is a Doctor of Pharmacy from the Complutense University of Madrid, specializing in Food Safety.
According to a statement made to Consumidor Global in April 2025, López-Santacruz believes Spain, and the European Union more broadly, possesses “the safest foods in the world,” attributing this to stringent regulations and a robust food safety system developed over nearly 25 years. She emphasized the collaborative nature of this system, involving an independent authority and the European Commission in regulating and managing risk.
The AESAN, under López-Santacruz’s leadership, is designated as the National Reference Laboratory for 19 of the 26 laboratory networks established at the European level under Regulation (EU) 625/2017, which governs official controls.
López-Santacruz expressed to Consumidor Global that only between 10% and 15% of detected food safety incidents ultimately become public.
On LinkedIn, López-Santacruz describes herself as passionate about leadership and communication. She has over 500 professional contacts on the platform.
