The Project FunShield4Med
FunShield4Med
The EU-funded Twinning project FunShield4Med aims at bolstering the scientific excellence and innovation capacity of the Hellenic Agricultural Organisation ELGO-DIMITRA’s Institute of Technology of Agricultural Products (ITAP). The project focus on food safety against mycotoxigenic spoilage fungi and mycotoxins under climate change challenges. To achieve FunShield4Med’s and Twinning call’s specific objectives, the consortium of FunShield4Med will implement a comprehensive set of measures and activities, such as Short-term staff exchanges and expert visits, Training workshops, Seminars, Summer schools, and Dissemination and outreach activities. Strategic collaboration across universities in Greece, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom will help to achieve knowledge and expertise transfer, establish new research alliances, and strengthen the capacities of ITAP staff and young researchers from the four countries.
FunShield4Med has been structured to bridge the gap between Greece and advanced EU member states in securing EU consumers from mycotoxin contaminated imported goods. This assumption is based mainly on the fact that most mycotoxin related notifications for EU imports come from northern Member States while concerning products that originate from Middle and Far East countries and Africa. Despite Greece’s closeness to the countries of origin for this problem, and the large volumes of imported goods from Greece as an EU entry gate, only a small percentage of notifications come from our country. Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites of fungi, which does not necessarily activate immune system, and thus have no obvious effects to consumers. Unfortunately, though, chronic consumption of food contaminated with mycotoxins can cause adverse effects to human and animal health, which range from gastrointestinal disorders to cancer. Also, considering that mycotoxins are colourless, odourless, and tasteless, and that they present extraordinary chemical stability, it is rather difficult to eliminate them through processing or other post-harvest measures. For these reasons it is crucial to identify and eliminate contaminated products from food chain before reaching consumers. FunShield4Med aims at dealing with this problem with the support and guidance of its advanced partners.
