Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Ensuring safety and quality of ready to eat foods
Standard protocols (ISO), whole genome sequencing (WGS), computational methodologies, and MetaOmic approaches (metagenomics, metatrascriptomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, culturomics and phenomics) will be applied for the identification and characterization of the new and (re)-emerging chemical and biological hazards in traditional products, related to climate changes, microbial evolution, and modifications in the manufacturing processes. Omics techniques will also be applied to study factors affecting the survival and the stress resistance mechanisms of pathogens and antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria during food processing and shelf life. In addition, a CAD-based automatic feature recognition procedure will be developed for hygienic design of food machinery, as a prerequisite for GMP in food production.
MetaOmics and MultiOmics approaches will be used for the identification and quantification of toxic compounds in novel sources or ingredients, also to anticipate risks related to novel foods and new sustainable food processes. The culture collection from task 3.1.1 will be used for challenge experiments in pilot plants mimicking industrial manufacturing. Food toxicants in new ingredients and food processing technologies will be evaluated (in connection with Spoke 2). Allergenicity (also with computational approaches) and toxicity will be considered by in vitro and in vivo tests. Exposure assessment and risk- benefit assessment (RBA) of novel foods will be performed.
Innovative mitigation measures to reduce the risks through the application of bacterial pathogens challenges in food models. Tailored fermentation processes, based on QPS microorganisms (i.e., biocontrol agents, lactic acid bacteria, non-conventional yeasts, symbiotic culture of microorganisms) and hydrolysed food matrices, will be set-up and integrated in traditional food production protocols to increase food safety. Selected natural antimicrobials (e.g., essential oils) and hydrolysed raw matrices will be used to inactivate pathogens at food processing, storage, and retail levels.
Omics protocols to evaluate food safety
Data on moulds, their mycotoxigenic potential and relevant mycotoxins occurrence in developed materials (M30)
Protective bacterial and phage cultures
The supermarkets shelves contain a growing number of “ready to eat”, unprocessed foods, e.g., salads, and fruits. Despite a shelf-life of only few days, these products are often spoiled by yeasts or moulds, which cause swelling in salad’s bags or rotting on fruits surface. Beside these visible events, recent investigations have shown that ready to eat foods harbour multiple antibiotic resistant spoilage bacteria, able to grow to high levels during the shelf life of the products (Chelaghma et al., Microrganisms 2021). Consumption of these products results in a constant high load of antibiotic resistant genes into the human gut, thus representing an additional risk for the health of the consumers. Antibiotic resistance is one of the 2019 WHO's top ten threats to public health worldwide.
The use of food cultures with protective effects targeting yeast, moulds and antibiotic-resistant spoilage microorganisms would represent a natural solution to increase the safety and shelf life of ready to eat foods, thus strongly contributing to the reduce food wastes generated both at retails and consumers levels.
The experimental plan would include the following steps:
Identification of at least two food cultures preventing the growth of spoilage microorganisms in ready to eat foods.
