Within the frame of sustainable food production, UMT ACTIA ALTER'iX focuses on food spoilage due to the presence of sporeforming bacteria or mould to propose knowledge and actions to mitigate spoilage risk and thus ensure food quality and reduce food losses. The specificity of these contaminants is associated with their complex life cycle, i) spore enabling resistance and persistance in raw materials and environment ii) vegetative cells that could affect food organoleptic properties. The presence of these contaminants limit innovation and requires the combination of hurdles, both in the formulation of food and the processes used. Our objectives are to acquire knowledge and better understand the behaviour of these contaminants in food matrices in order to adjust processes, shelf life and ensure that food production meets current specifications.

the Actia Alter'ix Joint Technological Unit (2019-2023) is located in Quimper and includes the food fongal experts of Plouzané. This UMT is in line with our previous UMT Spore-risk (2014-2018) with a challenge on more transversality and interdisciplinarity.

The structure of the UMT is organised around 3 sub-tasks:
- From predictive microbiology to predictive metabolism and food spoilage prediction ;
- Spoilage mitigation, using technological hurdles ;
- Valorization and dissemination, in particular towards agri-food manufacturers.

The collaborative projects that will constitute the UMT will focus on applications and issues around dairy products, bakery products, pastries, egg products and fruit juices.