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Climate change and food safety have become interdependent priorities on a global scale. The European ITN PROTECT project on the assessment of climate change on food safety started in 2019 under the coordination of University College Dublin and ended in March 2023. This Marie Skłodowska-Curie action program brought together eleven European partners, including SECALIM. Eight PhD students were trained. Rodney Feliciano, led by SECALIM, defended his thesis in April 2023, he was working on modeling the effects of climate change on the microbiological safety of milk produced under climatic conditions of high temperatures. Four articles have been published as part of his thesis, with one more submitted. Two other articles have been co-authored by Secalim through the mobility of two doctoral students involved in the project. A special issue was published by SECALIM in the international journal Trends in Food Science and Technology. A comic book for children was also produced during the project.
All the highlights of the project can be found on the European Cordis platform.
The work undertaken as part of PROTECT is currently being pursued by SECALIM as part of a HORIZON EUROPE project in HORIZON-CL6-2024-FARM2FORK-01-4 Climate change and food safety: effects of climate change on food safety across food systems.

Context and challenges

Climate change and food safety have become interdependent research priorities on a global scale. Climate change will clearly influence food safety in the short and medium term. For example, changes in temperature and precipitation will increase chemical risks from mycotoxins and microbial risks from Escherichia coli STEC or Salmonella. To control or prevent these additional burdens, mitigation strategies must be put in place, and these measures must be defined and evaluated in such a way as to guarantee the sustainability of the food sector, otherwise they will not be valid in the long term. To meet the European Union's challenge of doubling food production by 2050 (to meet population demand) while managing the impact of climate change on food safety, it is necessary to invest in research, and particularly in the training of young researchers.
The European ITN (Innovative Training Networks) project PROTECT (PRedictive mOdelling Tools to evaluate the Effects of Climate change on food safeTy) started in April 2019 and coordinated by University College of Dublin, ended in spring 2023. This Marie Skłodowska-Curie action program brought together eleven European partners.

Results

Eight PhD students have been trained in modeling, acquiring skills as varied as quantitative risk assessment, food processes, life-cycle analysis and decision support. UMR SECALIM was the leader of a work package aimed at reducing the risks of mycotoxin and microorganism contamination in dairy products. Rodney Feliciano, one of the eight PhD students trained and supervised by Jeanne-Marie Membré and Géraldine Boué at SECALIM, defended his thesis in April 2023. His study aimed to develop a modeling strategy to carry out an in-depth analysis of a dataset from a dairy farm located in a region with high temperature climatic conditions, and then suggest options for mitigating health risks.

Perspectives

The work carried out in the ITN PROTECT project is currently being continued, building on the European network already set up, with SECALIM setting up a European RIA-type project in response to Topic HORIZON-CL6-2024-FARM2FORK-01-4 Climate change and food safety: effects of climate change on food safety across food systems.

Valorisation

Four scientific articles were written as part of Rodney Feliciano's thesis:

• Feliciano, R. J., G. Boué, F. Mohssin, M. M. Hussaini and J.-M. Membré 2023. Raw milk quality in large-scale farms under hot weather conditions: Learnings from one-year quality control data. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 117: 105127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2023.105127.
• Feliciano, R. J., P. Guzmán-Luna, G. Boué, M. Mauricio-Iglesias, A. Hospido and J.-M. Membré 2022. Strategies to mitigate food safety risk while minimizing environmental impacts in the era of climate change. Trends in Food Science & Technology 126: 180-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2022.02.027
• Feliciano, R., G. Boué, F. Mohssin, M. M. Hussaini and J.-M. Membré 2021. Probabilistic modelling of Escherichia coli concentration in raw milk under hot weather conditions. Food Research International 149: 110679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2021.110679.
• Feliciano, R. J., G. Boué and J.-M. Membré 2020. Overview of the potential impacts of climate change on the microbial safety of the dairy industry. Foods 9(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9121794.

L'accueil de deux doctorantes du projet au sein de SECALIM a permis la valorisation de deux autres articles:

• Chhaya, R. S., J.-M. Membré, R. Nag and E. Cummins 2023. Farm-to-fork risk assessment of aflatoxin M1 in milk under climate change scenarios – A comparative study of France and Ireland. Food Control: 109713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2023.109713.
• Misiou, O., K. Koutsoumanis and J.-M. Membré 2023. Quantitative microbial spoilage risk assessment of plant-based milk alternatives by Geobacillus stearothermophilus in Europe. Food Research International 166: 112638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2023.112638.

Dans le cadre du projet, Jeanne-Marie Membré a coordonné un numéro spécial comprenant 8 articles dans la revue internationale Trends in Food Science and Technology, sur l'évaluation des effets du changement climatique sur la durabilité, la sécurité et la qualité des aliments.

• Hospido, A. and J.-M. Membre 2022. Evaluation of climate change effects on food sustainability, safety and quality. Trends in Food Science & Technology 126: 205-206. https://10.1016/j.tifs.2022.07.003.

Le projet a également donné lieu à une bande dessinée pour enfants.

Et enfin à un article à destination des entreprises:

• Delaunay, L.; Membré, J.-M.; Feliciano, R. Impact du changement climatique sur la sécurité sanitaire des aliments. Industries Agro-Alimentaires (IAA) 2023, 84: 28-31.