Imagine trying to sell traditional fermented drinks or porridge, but you're worried about invisible molds that make people sick. This work creates a safety toolkit and better rules to stop these toxins from ruining the food. It's like giving local producers a high-tech health check for their products so they can sell them safely and grow their business.
Traditional fermented foods in Africa often suffer from mycotoxin contamination, leading to health risks and food loss. This prevents local producers from accessing formal markets and threatens consumer safety.
A user-friendly risk assessment toolkit for chemical risks and microbiome-based solutions for mycotoxin reduction.
If you are a producer dealing with mold contamination in maize or millet products — this project developed microbiome-based solutions that reduce mycotoxins. This allows you to keep the cultural taste while ensuring the food is safe for consumers.
If you are a tech provider dealing with climate-driven crop spoilage — this project developed early warning systems to prevent mycotoxin contamination. This helps you offer predictive safety tools to farmers in 5 African countries.
If you are an auditor dealing with inconsistent safety standards in informal markets — this project developed a user-friendly risk assessment toolkit. This allows you to perform chemical risk assessments specifically for mycotoxins more efficiently.
Based on available project data, no specific pricing or cost for the toolkit is mentioned; it is developed as a project deliverable.
The project is currently piloting solutions through 10 business cases of SMEs in target AU member states to bridge the gap between research and practice.
Based on available project data, there is no specific information regarding IP or licensing terms for the developed solutions.
The project focuses on strengthening the food safety regulatory framework for both formal and informal sectors, specifically regarding mycotoxins.
The project runs from 2024-01-01 to 2027-12-31.
The consortium is heavily research-oriented with 9 universities and 2 research institutes, but it maintains a practical edge with 2 industry partners and 1 SME. With a 14% industry ratio, the project relies on academic expertise from 9 countries to drive the 10 SME business cases, ensuring that scientific findings are tested in real-world African food markets.
Contact Universiteit Gent for details on the risk assessment toolkit.
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