Early Detection of Food Risks with AI and Big Data

Jun 09, 2023

Emerging risks in the food chain are increasingly impacting our daily lives. How can food industry and authorities leverage technologies like AI and Big data in the future to improve both the safety, healthiness and sustainability of our food? The new EU project HOLiFOOD answers this question by using AI and Big Data to develop early warning systems that will protect consumers from food safety risks. It will transform, the risk analysis framework from reactive to proactive, to support the transition to a sustainable and secure food system.

"The HOLiFOOD project aims to enhance the framework for food safety risk analysis, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and big data. By doing so, it will uphold Europe's high standards of food safety, while promoting secure and sustainable food production," said Prof. Dr. Ine van der Fels, coordinator of HOLiFOOD from Wageningen University & Research.

Food systems urgently need a holistic approach

As food systems are threatened globally by unprecedented challenges, there is an urgent need to transform the food system to deliver sufficient, affordable and healthy food for all. New tools such as the risk–benefit assessment (RBA) have been developed in recent years to provide guidance on dietary habits and establish new policies (EFSA, 2010) while ensuring food safety and protecting consumers against emerging hazards.

The HOLiFOOD project will integrate risk-benefit assessment and cost-benefit considerations into one 'holistic' framework for risk analysis. Combined with AI and big data tools this framework will support early identification of emerging food safety hazards in the food system. This will allow food safety authorities to make better decisions by considering the whole environment (societal, environmental, economic) within which food is being produced.

Cereals, legumes and poultry– how can we guarantee food safety across these food chains?

Three selected supply chains—cereals (maize), legumes (lentils) and poultry (broiler meat)—will be used to study emerging risks using AI and Big Data technologies. These three food chains have been chosen using two criteria: maize and poultry, for their importance related to production and consumption throughout Europe, whereas the lentils supply chain was selected as a small food crop that is expected to grow due to its potential as a plant-based protein alternative.

Using state-of-the-art technologies, HOliFOOD partners will develop new and improved methods for detecting known and unknown chemical and biological hazards (e.g., bacteria, viruses) across the three selected supply chains. The project will also strive to create generic methods and tools applicable to the entire food system.

Co-designing new methods to meet real needs of end-users

Adoption of the methods and results would not be possible without understanding individual needs of end-users of these technologies, ensuring that information about emerging food safety risks is effectively exchanged with the public, and that what is being done to prevent and mitigate the risks is understood.

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Video: Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Turning Plant Defense Into a Management Strategy

Understanding how a plant responds to stress is one thing.

Using that knowledge to make better management decisions is another.

Systemic acquired resistance, or SAR, is the plant's more direct defense response. When stress or infection occurs, the plant begins signaling throughout its system and preparing defensive compounds.

But if we know that response exists, can we help prepare the plant before the stress arrives?

The answer starts with understanding what triggers the response and what the plant needs to carry it out.

The Trigger and the Fuel

Salicylic acid plays an important role in triggering the SAR pathway.

Think of it as turning the truck on.

The engine may be running, but it still needs fuel to do the work.

In this case, manganese plays an important role in supporting the enzyme systems involved in the plant's defensive response.

This makes manganese status an important part of the conversation. Whether a producer is using tissue testing, sap analysis, or simply scouting for visible deficiency symptoms, the goal is to make sure the plant has adequate manganese available.

Manganese is required in relatively small amounts, but that does not make its role small.

If the plant receives a signal to defend itself but lacks the nutrition needed to support that response, it may struggle to carry out the process efficiently.

The trigger matters.

The fuel matters too.

Prepare Before the Stress Arrives

The best time to think about stress management is before the plant is overwhelmed.

Once a crop is already struggling, management can quickly turn into a game of catch-up.

This is similar to nitrogen management. Once a plant becomes severely deficient, correcting the problem does not necessarily erase the time and yield potential already lost.

Plant defense can work the same way.

Low-rate, targeted approaches designed to support the SAR pathway may fit best ahead of an expected stress event rather than after significant damage has already occurred.

That requires producers to think about predictable stress.

We may not know exactly what the weather will do tomorrow, but we generally know summer heat is coming. We know certain field conditions increase disease pressure. We know a herbicide application can temporarily stress a crop as the plant processes the chemistry.

Even a properly timed and labeled herbicide application can create a temporary response in the plant.

That does not mean the herbicide is bad.

Weeds can create significantly more yield loss than the temporary stress caused by controlling them.

The question is not whether we should eliminate every stressor.

The question is whether we can better prepare the plant to manage necessary and predictable stress.

Not All Stress Is Bad

Stress is a normal part of plant growth.

A perfectly stress-free environment does not exist in the field.

In fact, some stress is necessary for normal plant development. A plant responds to wind, temperature, moisture, sunlight, and countless other environmental signals throughout the season.

The environment is stress.

The plant's job is to manage it.

Problems begin when the stress load becomes greater than the plant's ability to respond.

Extreme heat, drought, high salt concentrations, disease pressure, and even certain management practices can add to that load.

This is where understanding SAR becomes useful.

Instead of waiting until the plant is visibly struggling, producers can begin identifying periods when stress is likely and make management decisions around those windows.

ISR Starts With the Soil

While SAR is a more direct defense response, induced systemic resistance, or ISR, brings the conversation back to soil health.

The longevity of a farm is closely connected to the health of its soil.

Carbon plays a major role because it supports biological life within the soil. Bacteria, fungi, and other organisms interact with plant roots and influence how the plant grows, accesses nutrients, and prepares for stress.

This is why soil health cannot be reduced to one product or one application.

It is a system.

Keeping living plants in the field longer can support biological activity. Cover crops may fit some operations. Better water management can improve soil conditions.