Food risk assessment in the farm-to-table continuum: report from the conference on good hygiene practices to ensure food safety

Abstract

Abstract Foodborne diseases (FBDs) are a major worldwide public health concern. In the current context of globalization, it has become crucial to establish effective collaboration between countries to reduce the incidence of FBDs, by creating knowledge-sharing activities to address this challenge. However, despite the importance of this subject, there are limited opportunities for researchers from French-speaking countries to meet and exchange expertise in this field. Researchers from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Université de Montréal (Canada) and from the Faculty of Science, University of Abdelmalek Essaadi (Morocco) took the initiative to organize the first French-speaking edition of the conference on Good Hygiene Practices to Ensure Food Safety, that was held virtually on May 25 and 26, 2022. Attendees (n = 122) came from academic, food processing and government sectors. The conference was a great opportunity to showcase the practical application of the risk analysis paradigm, with concrete examples of food hazards, as well as the use of the latest high-throughput sequencing technologies as a tool for source attribution and molecular typing of some of the most important foodborne pathogens. In addition, the conference created a valuable forum for the exchange of knowledge between international food safety experts, particularly with respect to Canadian regulations compared with those of other countries. Interestingly, following the success of this first edition, the conference’s scientific committee has decided to continue organizing this event on a biannual basis, to provide a unique forum for French-speaking researchers to learn about the latest advances in food safety.

Keywords

• Risk analysis
• Chemical hazards
• Salmonella
• High-throughput sequencing technologies
• Antimicrobials
• Food safety