Climate is commonly defined as the weather averaged over a long time with a standard averaging period of thirty years while climate change refers to any change in climate over time, due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. Climate change has been described as ‘the single most important issue that we face as a global community,' with compromised food safety being an important concomitant. It is reported that, between 1900 and 2005, there has been a 0.45°C rise in the average world temperature and models forecast that the ambient temperature will continue to increase gradually over time, resulting in a 2 to 5°C increase in the extreme daily maximum temperature by the late 21^st century. It is thus anticipated that there will be a steady rise in the incidence of gastrointestinal illnesses in the coming years. Indeed, the incidence of salmonellosis and vibriosis has been shown to follow a seasonal pattern, which is statistically correlated with the mean monthly temperature. Moreover, climate change may also have an impact on the routes of transmission of important zoonotic and geonotic pathogens to food crops, such as leafy green vegetables, during the pre-harvest phase. It is worth mentioning that the survivability of these pathogens in the environment is intrinsic to the microorganism in question and may be affected by several climatic factors including temperature, precipitation and sunlight exposure. Thus, controlling microbial contamination of crops in the face of climatic changes relies on a sound consideration of putative contamination routes and meteorological factors affecting pathogen viability. This symposium seeks to highlight the current state of knowledge on the impact of climate change on the microbial safety of food and offer future perspectives with the view to mitigating the risks of food contamination and foodborne illnesses.

Presentations