The challenges

✔️ Food occupies a central place in national and international public policies more than ever and remains a major concern for consumers. Indeed, ‘malnutrition’ affects a growing number of inhabitants in many countries; by ‘malnutrition’, we mean deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s energy and/or nutritional intake. A healthy, balanced diet, a source of pleasure, a vector of cultural values and increasingly ethical, promotes the maintenance of populations in good health. The act of feeding and eating has hedonic, social and health components. Guaranteeing access for all to quality food in sufficient quantity is still a challenge for the coming years. It is therefore a major public health issue, including in Europe, France (and INRAE in particular) enjoying a reputation in food recognized worldwide.

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✔️ Obesity and overweight affect a significant part of the national population (17% and 49% of adults respectively) and the world (13% and 39% respectively) and are frequently associated with serious health consequences, exacerbating the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Very recently, a very large study demonstrated the disastrous consequences of obesity on the severity of symptoms of an infectious disease like Covid-19. Obesity also has a strong economic impact in France as it is established that it reduces GDP by 2.7%, or about 65 billion euros.

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✔️ The issue of so-called ‘ultra-processed’ foods also remains major because it seems that a direct link can be established between obesity and metabolic diseases and their high consumption. These foods are characterized by an unbalanced nutritional profile (too much sugar, fat or salt) and the presence of many additives; they are produced via transformation processes that have a major impact on nutrients (high temperature heating, extrusion, hydrogenation), are made from poor quality ingredients and have structures that are not very satiating and do not require a significant masticatory process. However, they remain very consumed because of their practicality, their low cost and industrial and commercial pressure.

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✔️ Moreover, despite a general context of plentiful food supply and consumption, nearly 9.3 million French people live below the poverty line, or 14.7% of the national population and more than 5.5 million people have to call on food aid. After 70 years, the major risk is no longer obesity or so-called overload diseases, but protein-energy malnutrition or undernutrition. Nearly 700,000 elderly people suffer from undernutrition, whether they are in EPHAD or at home. Preventive nutrition, linked to predictive biology, delays the onset of chronic diseases, particularly those related to aging. All these figures show that it is essential to offer a quality food offer that is accessible, including to the most destitute and that is tailor-made to meet the specific nutritional needs of various populations.

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✔️ One of the major short-term challenges is to promote a transition towards a sustainable diet for human health that allows, by 2050, to feed 10 billion inhabitants, which is healthy and economically viable, while preserving the planet. Food is the first item responsible for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, of the same order of magnitude as transport or housing. It will therefore be necessary to propose significant innovations in terms of technology development (equipment, digital solutions) or products (proposing an alternative to animal products by developing new sources of alternative proteins) contributing to the diversification of diets and eating habits in a context of sustainability. A particular effort will have to be made to limit waste throughout the chain, from production to consumption through transformation.

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✔️ In France, the agri-food industry is the first industrial sector with a turnover of 213 billion euros. It is the third contributor to the national trade balance, with an annual surplus of 7 billion euros. Our agri-food industry shows real dynamism in innovation, research and development. However, it must be able to rely on academic research, supported by efficient and innovative devices, which still occupies a notable place in the world in terms of publications in food, nutrition and food sciences. However, France has moved from 6th place in 2000-2004 to 13th place worldwide in 2015-2019 (3.4% of global publications). During the same period, INRA (INRAE) remained in 3rd place worldwide in publications in the field. Thus, no European research infrastructure can be conceived without INRAE and without France.