Food safety, Novel food, Microbiology, Systematic Review, Risk assessment
My name is Simone Belluco and I am veterinarian working for a public health veterinary institute. I have a PhD in veterinary science gained with a thesis on the risk assessment of Toxoplasma in meat products. In my every day activity, I deal with food microbiology, both, routine analysis on food products and research. In my research career I spanned over different topics such as Salmonella, Toxoplasma, nanotechnologies and antimicrobial resistance with a focus on epidemiology and risk assessment.
With my team I collaborated with EFSA and OIE for specific public health topic and I have been shortlisted by EFSA among candidates to evaluate Novel food dossier and to help scientific assessments. Currently with my team I collaborate with EFSA and ECDC for the drafting of European Union one health zoonosis report. I strongly believe in the need to face current and future public health challenge with an integrated approach comprising human, animal and environmental health. This combined effort, which importance is widely acknowledged, is already in place but need implementation and strengthening across disciplines.
I am fascinated by the food safety aspects of uncommon food items. In particular, I have experience in the context of edible insect which I think are an interesting case study as they represent one of the human answer to the protein need of the growing food population as also the need for sustainable production systems. Food is an important animal-human interface with a potential role in pathogens spillover especially in context where wild meat and products are eaten. The history of important pathogens such as HIV and Ebola is a terrible example of this and should not be forgotten. I also strongly believe that globalization left no space for neglecting worldwide habits as pathogens spread rapidly and do not recognize borders policy rules.
I have expertise, testified by several publication records, in systematic review methodology. Expertise is essential but methods to collect the experiences of the worldwide research community are as well.
