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.
Toxic risks evaluations in food using a metabolomic approach
Coordinator
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.
New/existing materials will be characterised in terms of migration studies of both intentionally and non-intentionally added substances, small-/micro/nano- plastics, metal nanoparticles, food packaging suitability and growth of mycotoxigenic moulds, even after being subjected to innovative/emerging processing technologies (e.g., cold gas plasma, HPP). Potential antimicrobial properties will also be assessed, particularly for developed functional packaging systems. The safety of new materials used as FCM, from recyclable sources, bioplastics or derived from by-products, will be assessed in collaboration with Spoke 2
Omics protocols to evaluate food safety
RA of food toxicants (M30)
Report on the formation, accumulation, and modification of food toxicants along the food production chain
Report on safety / stability functionality of new/existing food packaging materials/systems (M30)
Risk assessments require three different steps: the first one is the Risk Evaluation that entails the application of a Metabolomic Analysis. This consolidated approach evaluates the secondary metabolites profile or, better, the toxicants profile due to antibiotics, mycotoxins, etc. The quali-quantitative evaluation is the most accurate strategy available for the tracking and detection of the causes regarding risks for human health. Liquid-Chromatography Mass-Spectrometry analyses allow one to detect and measure chemical substances in very small amounts. These data are considered like the angular stones of risk evaluation because toxicants must be evaluated for their chemical nature, quantitative ratio among them and absolute concentration for foods. In addition, their behavior during food processes will allow the evaluation of their residues and the eventual toxic catabolites generated during raw food manipulation.
Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of toxicants in raw and transformed foods requires the use of extraction protocols that are addressed to obtain the broadest profile of different molecules. The selection of some novel foods like functional milk, infant formula, functional ham, pasta, functional bread, legumes, etc. requires an easy and quickly adaptability of extraction protocols. In the second step, the extracts will be analyzed with an analytical protocol that will be adapted to different food matrixes like cereals, milk, ham etc. The goals will overlap conventional and worldwide accepted chromatographic methodologies, based on HPLC/DAD or FLD enough common in the food industries and validated by advanced methodologies relying on HPLC-MS/MS, HRMS and NMR. Protocols defined by this Task will be transferred to food industries, special to pasta, dairy and meat chains to support the food transformers to reach more high safety level and a more confidence of consumers for Italian products and in particular for novel foods. The plan requires to select two or three typical and broad foods of Italian production and to optimize analytical protocols to evaluate safety levels.
