Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FoodSafeR (A JOINED-UP APPROACH TO THE IDENTIFICATION, ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF EMERGING FOOD SAFETY HAZARDS and ASSOCATED RISKS)
Période du rapport: 2022-10-01 au 2024-03-31
Europe is facing a significant threat to public health due to various bacteria, allergens, bacterial, fungal and plant toxins as well as parasites, leading to around 20 mio cases of illness and many deaths each year. Recent chemical risk emergence has further highlighted the need for preventative measures. FoodSafeR develops an innovative, open and easily accessible Digital Hub with the help of a world-class consortium of organisations and specialists in food safety which is growing organically. The hub will provide identification of the most relevant food safety signal trends worldwide, and propose risk assessment and management methods and strategies in workspaces. By implementing these features and improving collaborations, FoodSafeR will safeguard European food against biological, climate or chemical hazards. FoodSafeR aims to build a proactive and holistic food safety management system, by expanding knowledge of existing and emerging food safety hazards and their associated risks. Food safety management systems established over the past decades in our European food businesses, and European food safety governance need to be adapted to make the food system more robust towards multiple stressor coming dynamically up. FoodSafeR aims to design, develop and test the building blocks of an innovative pro-active and holistic food safety preventive and management system with a look on the dynamics of emerging risks at its heart. FoodSafeR embodies integrated approaches to hazard characterisation and risk management in a comprehensive suite of future oriented case studies, tools, methods, strategies, models, guidance and training materials. An open and accessible digital hub designed to form a core of a sustaining information system will be set up as a ‘One-Stop-Shop’ vehicle targeted at risk managers and assessors, food safety authorities and the relevant actors and stakeholders operating in the European food system. To reach the ambitious goal, FoodSafeR has united a world-class consortium of 18 organisations from across 14 European countries integrating science, industry, SMEs and policymakers.
FoodSafeR addresses existing and emerging food safety hazards and risks, by assessing both chemical and microbiological food safety across the food production chain. In WP1, a food system analysis of drives of change from inside and outside our food systems was performed to early identify emerging food safety hazards that might arise related to these changes. Based on in-depth literature meta-analysis and input from project partners and food safety professionals, the drivers for emergence of food safety hazards were identified. These were then categorized based on STEEP principles (Social, Technological, Economical, Environmental and Political), prioritized based on a survey of hazards most associated with each driver, and a report on these drivers was successfully submitted as a project deliverable (D1.1). For each of the prioritized drivers for emergence of food safety hazards, one or more indicators were identified. Available data and datasets on these indicators were search for from open-source databases, which later will be linked to the open digital hub (in WP4). Selected indicators, together with their related data sources have been described in D1.2. Microbiological food safety hazards and risks are being evaluated throughout the food production chain in WP2. In addition to expanding existing FoodChain-Lab software using feedback from food producers, we assess the microbiological risks associated with novel or low-regulated food chains based on six food type case studies. Many microbiological analyses have been completed, including assessment of hygiene parameters and pathogen detection for each of these case studies. A published catalogue of these results will be submitted in September 2024 (Milestone 7). Methods have been refined and established for enrichment and classification of persistent strains of Listeria monocytogenes, detection of foodborne viruses in ready-to-eat pork products, and for the extraction and sequencing of antimicrobial resistance genes from fish raised in aquaculture systems. A literature analysis and a genome-based study are in progress toward the identification of genes underlying the persistence phenomenon in Listeria monocytogenes. Chemical food safety hazards and the emergence of associated risks are being investigated in WP3. Topics include detection and prediction of mycotoxin and plant toxin emergence, fate and concurrent potential reduction of furans (focusing on food sauces processing) and mycotoxins during thermal processing (for instance concerning gluten-free products), and detection of illegal addition of toxic chemicals to food (such as turmeric-lead chromate case, where an extensive research/sampling network has been established across Cameroon, India, Bangladesh, Ghana, Philippines, Nigeria, and Tanzania). Available models for prediction of fungal infection and mycotoxin production in grains and tomatoes were surveyed to get an overview of the state-of-the-art. Relevant mycotoxins and plant toxins have been identified and methods were established for qualitative and quantitative determination of these components.
A key component of FoodSafeR’s impact is the development of the FoodSafeR Digital Hub. Considerable advances have been made toward the successful launch by applying a co-creation approach between developers, the FoodSafeR consortium, and stakeholders in the food safety community. The FoodSafeR Digital Hub will serve as a network for a trusted community of food safety professionals, and serve as a platform for discussion, sharing training materials and tools, and forming workspaces based on food safety topics. Engagement with food safety professionals as part of Living Lab 1 (Barcelona, April 2023) and Living Lab 2 (Dublin, November 2023), facilitated the refinement of target groups and key components that will improve the value of the Digital Hub for users. Additionally, a Business Model Canvas (BMC) is continuously being updatedas the framework for defining the business model for the FoodSafeR DigitalHub.