Horizon Europe Project MICROORC will develop emerging technologies such as dynamic shelf-life labeling and microbiome-based protection technologies to increase food quality, increase shelf life and reduce food waste.

In MICROORC we will develop sustainable solutions that reduce and prevent food spoilage and food waste, with focus on technologies, services, tools, policies, and practices that are based on monitoring, utilizing, and targeting microbiomes in food and the food processing chain, says senior scientist Solveig Langsrud at Nofima. She leads the project.

Selected R&D areas

Five areas are selected for the potential for predicting and extending shelf-life, reduction in food waste and fostering a sustainable food system:

• Predictive analytics models incorporating microbiome information to predict shelf-life.

• Time-temperature indicators (TTIs), sensoring and smart label solutions for dynamic shelf-life labelling.

• Rapid detection assays for microbial indicators of food spoilage.

• Microbiome based protection technologies to replace synthetic chemicals and increase shelf life and safety • Novel packaging solutions targeting spoilage for sustainable development and increased shelf-life.

Chicken, salmon and plant-based meat analogue

MICROORC will support the transition to more sustainable and healthy food systems by considering raw chicken and salmon as well as plant-based meat analogues. To guide and demonstrate the industrial, social, and economic relevance of the MICROORC innovations, the project will evaluate consumer acceptance and the environmental sustainability aspects of all stages of the product life cycle, identify and help resolve legislative and regulatory challenges to implementation of new technologies, and propose a novel policy framework for microbiome control in the food system.

MICROORC aligns with the impacts described in the Destination – Fair, healthy and environment-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption, which states that the proposals should set out a credible pathway for contribution to “fair, healthy, safe, climate- and environmentally friendly, sustainable and resilient food systems from primary production to consumption, ensuring food and nutrition security for all within planetary boundaries in Europe and across the world” and in agreement with UN sustainability goals 2 (zero hunger), 3 (good health and well-being), 12 (responsible consumption and production) and 13 (climate action). MICROORC technologies and scientific discoveries, combined with increasing public awareness and demand for sustainable food, will contribute to a fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly food system, supporting the European Green Deal.