This research theme focuses on supporting the production of safe, nutritious, and healthy food. The entire food system is a unified infrastructure comprising ecological, economic, and social dimensions. The use of integrative computational approaches for large dataset analysis can result in dramatic effects on food production via in silico modelling of various scenarios and contexts. Food system innovations require an understanding of the functionality and characteristics of foods during their processing.
“Every day, decisions are made about food—what to buy, to prepare and to consume—decisions that are personal, social and emotional! Food brings challenging multidisciplinary sciences together—the future of the food industry is a result of what we do today.”
—Professor Salwa Karboune
Research highlights
- Professor Salwa Karboune leads the Consortium de Recherche et d’Innovation sur la Transformation Alimentaire (Consortium for Research, Innovation and Transformation of Agrifood). The group aims to reinforce the competitive capacity of businesses in Quebec’s food transformation industry by increasing their ability to conduct research and development and to launch new technological innovations and products that meet market demand.
- James McGill Professor Valérie Orsat is an internationally recognized expert in functional foods and nutraceuticals. Her current research explores the development of processing methods for enhanced production, extraction and encapsulation of bioactive compounds for functional foods.
- Distinguished James McGill Professor Vijaya Raghavan studies and develops post-harvest and post-production processes and technologies for the drying and storage of produce and crops. His research has been successfully applied to address the issues of food security and safety in India, where an estimated 30% of crops and produce are lost post-harvest due to damage and spoilage.
- Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Nanotechnology for Food and Agriculture, Professor Saji George’s research is aimed at understanding the relationship between nanomaterial properties and their hazardous and beneficial biological outcomes with the ultimate goal of developing sustainable nanotechnology applications for current and future challenges in food safety and security. His overall goal is to develop guidelines for safe use, tools for regulatory oversight, and safety-assured nanotechnology for food safety and security.
- Professor Ashraf Ismail takes packaging beyond its traditional role as a barrier to protect food. He develops active-packaging films that, over time, release natural substances with antimicrobial activity to enhance the safety of fresh meats and frozen vegetables.
- There is growing concern about the relationship between long-term exposure to chemical residues and chronic diseases such as cancer, endocrine disorders and Alzheimer’s—food is suspected to be a major source of exposure. Professor Stéphane Bayen explores the occurrence, physiochemistry and bioavailability of food contaminants from the field to the consumer.
To feed a growing population, the food system must sustainably deliver nutrients more effectively, requiring a deep understanding of how food characteristics, transformation and processing affect nutrition and food safety.
By using advanced computational methods to analyze and model large sets of data, we can make significant improvements in food production, while driving agri-food industry innovation with new biochemical approaches.