Pay attention to what we eat. Fernando Pérez (Córdoba, 1975), graduated in Biological Sciences and Food Technology from the University of Córdoba (UCO), is advisor to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and coordinator of a national network of bioresistances of the food chain which this week held a congress in Córdoba Related news CORDOBA BETWEEN STANDARD LINES No Antonio Escribano: “Stay. “With hunger we prolong our lives” Rafael Aguilar He is the architect of the weight loss of the actors of “The Snow Society” and has advised Sevilla FC, Atlético de Madrid and Tottenham on nutrition – His research group at UCO applies mathematical models to food. -Yeah. We think they should be enforced, of course. – In what way? -They should be applied in the same way as they are currently to predict a DANA, for example. And they need to be developed to predict food poisoning. There are specific algorithms that are applied to foods and their intensity. If we talk about models in general, in the food field, they are models that allow us to anticipate what can happen in different dimensions. In other words, what we do is the microbiological part and, for example, we predict if our tortilla will contain salmonella and how much salmonella it will contain, and if I consume it, will I fall sick with salmonellosis or not. There are even models that predict whether a certain toxic chemical may be dangerous to consumers. Today, as we are subject to very rapid developments, we have new additives and new transformers, because we need tools that tell us something quickly. The consumer wants to consume safe food. – Is this concern exaggerated or is there a real risk? -No, it’s not an exaggeration, it’s a level of consumer demand, based on the fact that, well, the State, administrations, agencies, health authorities have reached a point of development where they can really demand that food be safer than maybe five years ago. But it is true that today we are subject to what I mentioned, to a brutal development, but not only in the food sector, but in general. And this represents a requirement for the administration, that is, even if we can produce food automatically in the factory, this automation does not imply additional risk. Or that we have a product that we can buy and keep in the refrigerator for four days longer than we did five years ago, and which, in turn, poses no risk. Because the additive that was added, to keep it for four more days, has side effects. We are therefore moving a little towards the demands of the consumer and the demands of the development in which we find ourselves, which is brutal. Fama-And when you arrive at the meetings of the European Food Safety Authority and say that you are from here, do your colleagues know Córdoba? -Well, it seems like when you come to a place like that, basically you come for something, because they know you and the selection process lasts a year, well, there are other panelists , other experts who entered other different panels. . , and in the end that’s it, you enter a little because you have a background and if they choose you it’s because they have certain assurances that you will fulfill the functions entrusted to them. In Córdoba we have powerful groups and they are recognized and we work for the EFSA, yes, the University of Córdoba in particular, yes, yes. Keep in mind that at the Andalusian level there are indeed many universities larger than Córdoba, because ours is small, medium, more medium than small, and then we have the University of Seville, the University of Malaga with its technological sector, and the University of Seville. the University of Granada, more focused on biomedicine, and much larger than ours; But when it comes to food and food safety, the one with the most experience is Córdoba because we have veterinary medicine and it has much more tradition: we are talking about one of the oldest veterinary faculties in Spain. Well, it has to be noted somewhere. “We can choose good food: we can buy fish at the Center, and it’s complicated in Europe” – Do you think that administrations could make more efforts to make the food sector more united? , and am I talking about businesses and universities in addition to public institutions? -I think you are talking about an important subject, which is that of strengthening links, and for that you need to have a third party who serves as cement between the elements. I think the university is very focused on research and training, training and research in that order, but we often find that we are a little bit far from the sector, from the business. For us, on a daily basis, we are absorbed by other tasks, and then in the end, it is difficult for us to see in many cases the application of what we do, or I would even say something worse: the fact that very often we don’t know why we do it. I’m saying something that may not be politically correct. Sometimes we take actions without knowing their real-world application, because we don’t know what’s out there. So, it’s interesting that there are agreements with the sector, that there are more relationships with companies, that we are more integrated. Or that, for example, the masters that we do at university are more focused on professionals in the sector. It would be nice if research projects involved more companies, who are not just there because they have to be, but they are there because they want to contribute and want to receive, and this can only be achieved ‘by promoting them. Knowing the Andalusian particularity, it is important to overcome the barriers. Pérez, during his conversation with ABC ÁNGEL RODRÍGUEZ – What barriers and particularities are you referring to? -Well, complicated question. Well, what we’re really looking for here is short-term profit. But we really need a more medium-term benefit, an investment, a risk, more ambitious technological objectives, and not just picking the olive, weighing it, seeing the fat yield. and to receive the money so that later … I think the ideal is that once we receive the money we decide to improve, I don’t know, how we can increase the same yield in fat of the olive, or to consider how we can have a more sustainable harvest. , or how we can automate certain processes. I’m taking the example of the olive sector, but there can of course be some in other sectors. Until a few years ago, a supermarket opened and neighbors in the area found out about it. Now, it seems he’s opening a luxury boutique because of his social impact. What happened? -I believe that culturally, food has great value for us, not only to nourish us, to not go hungry, but to enjoy it. So I believe that there are economic resources to be able to put into practice these traditions of enjoying eating. And then there are other connotations, right? Diets, problems that come from what is consumed.-At EFSA, the European organization to which it belongs, we work, among other things, according to the concept of “From farm to fork”. Are there too many farm-to-table middlemen? -Well, I think it depends a lot on the sector. I am not an expert on intermediation issues or marketing issues. But ultimately we assume that if we want to have something that works optimally, we need people who specialize in the different links. Before, the farmer would come in with his crop, put it on the road and sell it, and that was an optimal way to do it, but now if you have tons of a product instead of ten or twenty kilos and you want to market it to make a profit, well, you need people, businesses or ancillary industries that help you do that. So, in the end, we end up multiplying the links because, ultimately, we are looking for process optimization. If I have a food today, that is to say a food made in the north of Spain, and I have it the next day or five hours later, it is because we knew develop strategies and tools to achieve this. . There are people who made this possible, there are connections that make it possible. What does it do? Well, that makes the product more expensive. This potato is now reaching other regions of Europe. Or this strawberry from Huelva, for example, arrives directly in Germany. Do we eat well in Córdoba? -That’s a good question. It is true that the Mediterranean diet is potentially a healthy diet. That is to say, if we adhere to it, if we respect it, and if we don’t let ourselves be guided by other types of habits, like the Anglo-Saxons, then I think we would eat well . The good news is that we have the ability to choose a good diet. There are regions in the world that, although very wealthy, do not have these options. Here, for example, you can buy fish in the city center, whereas in other parts of Europe it is complicated.
