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AAP 2023 :
Supporting Innovation, Models or Strategies to reduce contaminants and their effects in the food web.
From ecosystems to humans
Food safety is of major public health concern. In particular, contaminants in food, e.g. pesticides, antibiotics, are an important topic to deal with. Indeed, food can be contaminated through multiple sources. It starts from the very beginning with soil and water contamination, and ends with feeding. Obviously, all along the growth cycle, food contamination can move through the food chain. Furthermore, other processes of food production that poses a risk of contamination, for example packaging and its contact with food and plastic transfer through packaging and temperature variations, have to be taken into account.
In this context, the aim of the RT2E 2023 call is to help support innovation, models or strategies, proof of concept, so as to reduce contaminants in consumed food and their effect in the food web: from ecosystems to humans.
This Call for Proposals issued by Rovaltain will finance projects of 2-year duration with a total maximum budget of 40K euros.
As mentioned above, toxic substances found in food originate from various sources, and the effects of these substances on human health are poorly understood. Topics to consider include agricultural practices, water quality and food packaging. Clearly, reducing food contamination is a major challenge. This call targets projects that address one or more of the following items:
- • Study of the effects of contaminants in food, alone or in mixtures, on ecosystem or human health: pesticides, pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, plastics, additives, microbial contamination, etc.
- • Study of the transfer of toxic substances in the food web: from the ecosystem to the dinner plate.
- • Study of the effects of diet-borne toxic substances within the food web.
- • Study of the biodynamics of contaminant transfers: from ecosystems to humans.
- • Study of the production chain; for example, where does accumulation or reduction/dilution of contamination occur through the production chain? Which processing steps are best suited to reduce contamination in food?
Examples of projects that would be particularly appreciated include:
- • Proposals targeting the development of innovative approaches to reduce contaminants “all along the process”, i.e. all the steps leading to food contamination, from ecosystem contamination or packaging, to final product (food consumed by humans).
- • Proposals addressing potential effects of climate change on food contamination.
- • Proposals addressing the effect of mixed contaminations in food, i.e. which mixtures occur, at which concentrations, what are the effects from the ecosystem to the dinner plate (human health).
- • Partnerships between natural and social science research teams to include considerations of regulatory and/or public engagement issues.
- • Projects dealing with eco-anxiety and food contamination.
N.B. The call is open to ecotoxicological, toxicological, epidemiological, ecological or social sciences research teams. Projects including risk assessment and prediction, modelling, tools development like applications to reduce pesticide use / contaminants that may affect food would be particularly welcome.
