About MYMATCH
Context
Climate change (CC) significantly increases food safety risks by creating conditions, such as higher temperatures or changes in rainfall patterns, that favour the proliferation of pathogens and the occurrence of contaminants in the food supply chain, and by introducing unfamiliar or new hazards.
The MYMATCH project aims to understand and address these challenges, by predicting and mitigating the risks associated with mycotoxins (MY) in our food, ensuring a safer food supply for all.
Objectives
O1: Understand the prevalence of mycotoxigenic fungi in Europe in cereals and tomatoes.
O2: Improve and extend predictive models for the risk of mycotoxins occurrence in the context of climate change.
O3: Develop a unique climate change scenario service to establish climate change scenarios for food systems in Europe.
O4: Support policymakers, food industries, and producers for daily operational decisions and strategic long-term planning with tailored and ready-to-use tools.
O5: Provide farmers, technicians, and industries with guidelines to facilitate the adoption of suitable practices to mitigate mycotoxins occurrence under climate change condition for selected food systems.
O6: Provide local and EU policymakers with data and scenarios to facilitate the adoption of suitable decisions to mitigate mycotoxins impact on health under climate change condition.
Concept
– MYMATCH will address knowledge gaps on the occurrence of mycotoxigenic fungi in European food systems through sampling in 115 maize, 105 wheat and 65 tomato fields in 7 countries (Italy, Hungary, Serbia, England, Portugal, Norway, Spain); identification and characterization of fungi belonging to 3 fungal genera (Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Alternaria) and main related mycotoxins (aflatoxins (AF), fumonisins (FUM), trichothecenes (TCT), zearalenones (ZEN), Alternaria toxins). (O1)
– This dataset, together with data from the existing literature, will enable the improvement and extension of predictive models for the risk of MY occurrence based on accurate climate change scenarios, provided by MYMATCH’s CC Scenario Builder. (O2&O3)
– MYMATCH will deliver the following ready-to-use tools to support policymakers, food industries, and producers making appropriate decisions: a fungus and MY occurrence Risk Prediction Module, a Decision-Support System (DSS), and the MYMATCH AI Mycotoxin Platform. (O4)
– MYMATCH will develop guidelines for MY mitigation and adaptation measures for the food systems adjusted to future CC conditions, to provide appropriate advice to practitioners (farmers, technicians, industry). (O5)
– Policy recommendations will be addressed to local and EU policymakers. (O6)
– MYMATCH tools and methods will be easily extendable to other contaminant issues.
– The whole project will rely on a strong multi-actor partnership with relevant stakeholders and end-users, to ensure that the development of the project is aligned with their inputs and needs.
Spanish 
English 
Italian 
Portuguese 
Greek 
Hungarian 
Norwegian 
Serbian 
French