Alexandre Lamas: «We are in one of the regions of the world where there are more mechanisms to protect the consumer»

The availability of accessible food with nutritional characteristics that meet the dietary needs of the people who consume it is one of the fundamental aspects of the right to food, which is internationally recognized as a human right.

Within this, food safety is configured as an integral and inherent part of its nature, a cross-cutting term in its definition studied from a multitude of different prisms that requires close collaboration to take advantage of synergies beneficial to society as a whole.

Works such as the characterization of bacterial strains that can act as pathogens, the development of innovative control mechanisms or the qualitative evaluation of different production systems are crucial in achieving real and effective food safety. And Alexandre Lamas Freire, PhD, from the University of Santiago de Compostela, knows this perfectly.

D. Professor at our campus and member of the Laboratory of Hygiene, Inspection and Food Control (LHICA-USC), today we interviewed him to shed some light on the current situation of global food safety, the particularities that govern the interactions of the Monera kingdom with human health and the importance of establishing relationships within the scientific community.

-In your PhD thesis, you studied the prevalence of Salmonella strains in the primary source of salmonellosis in humans: the poultry industry. Why does this sector suffer such a high incidence of this bacterium? How can the presence of this pathogen in the food chain be reduced?

-Salmonella is a primary food-borne pathogen, and poultry products are one of its primary sources. What is the problem of Salmonella in production animals such as poultry? In most cases, animals colonized with this bacterium do not show any symptoms. Therefore, only by performing tests can we know if a poultry farm is contaminated with Salmonella.

Considering this, the European Union has developed a whole set of regulations to reduce the incidence of this pathogen in the food industry since the early 2000s. In the case of poultry production, National Salmonella Control Programs were created in the Member States, whose main objective is to reduce the incidence of this pathogen at the first point of the food chain, the farms.

Thanks to the sampling plans carried out within the framework of these Programs, the presence of this bacterium in the food chain is gradually being reduced. I always like to remember that the European Union, through the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), watches over consumer safety and that we are in one of the regions of the world where there are more mechanisms to protect consumers.

-A term that appears frequently in the context of this research is biofilms. What are they? How can their formation affect food safety?

-Biofilms are one of the most problematic resistance mechanisms of bacteria. We must consider that bacteria in the environment and even in the host do not live only as isolated cells but form these communities called biofilms. In these communities, the bacteria protect themselves from the outside by producing a series of substances that give rise, so to speak, to a protective layer that, in the case of Salmonella, consists mainly of cellulose and protein.

In the form of biofilms, the cells can better resist stressful situations such as a lack of food, acidic media or the action of antimicrobials and biocidal substances. That is why the formation of biofilms by pathogenic bacteria is a cause for concern in the food industry. Due to these mechanisms, bacteria can persist in this industry’s environment and be a continuous source of contamination.

Today, many advances are being made to minimize the effects of these resistance mechanisms.

-You are a member of the Laboratory of Food Hygiene, Inspection and Control (LHICA-USC), a broad cross-disciplinary and multidisciplinary research group. What is the focus of your work at LHICA-USC? What are the benefits of the possible synergies established in this research group?

-My work is mainly focused on the application of molecular biology tools in the field of food safety and quality. Being part of a multidisciplinary team gives you a broader view of the science. You can understand how solutions in other research fields can be applied to your studies. Also, the LHICA-USC collaborates with companies in the agri-food sector, which allows you to get a more realistic view of the needs of companies in their day-to-day work and to orient your research towards applications that can be implemented in the industry, among other things, to improve food safety.

-During your postdoctoral stage, you made several international stays in reference centres such as the APC Microbiome Ireland in Cork, Ireland or the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) in Braga. What were your findings in these centres? What do you take away from these experiences?

-Thanks to a postdoctoral fellowship from the Xunta de Galicia, I had the opportunity to stay in these internationally renowned research centres. During these stays, I acquired new skills. For example, I learned to work with bacteriophages and viruses that exclusively infect bacteria. These tools have gained more relevance as a potential alternative to antimicrobials in recent years. I also had the opportunity to train in new isothermal molecular techniques.

Undoubtedly, the most crucial aspect of these stays was the opportunity to learn about new work dynamics and the possibility of establishing relationships and synergies with other researchers, which continues to this day.

-Thanks to a collaborative project of Campus Terra, one of your lines of research focuses on milk, an essential food for human and animal nutrition. What factors can affect the quality of this ‘superfood’? How do these qualities translate into benefits for the consumer?

-I consider milk to be the white gold of our community, and as such, we have to take care of it and give it value. Not only does it play a dynamic role in our economy, but it is also important from a cultural point of view. For example, the consumption of dairy products is a distinctive feature of Atlantic countries and their diet, as in our case, the Atlantic diet. In addition, milk is one of the most complete and complex foods. The fact that it is the exclusive food of mammals during the first moments of life already gives an idea of its nutritional value.

Milk is not only a source of carbohydrates, proteins and fats but also a whole series of bioactive factors that are key to health. Factors such as housing, grazing, feeding, management and stress impact milk quality and composition. Therefore, it is important to determine the production conditions that can give this product an optimal nutritional composition.

-In this same area, you are also developing new ways of controlling prohibited substances in milk. What can you tell us about this line of research?

-In our Research Group, we work mainly on developing new methods of controlling prohibited substances that can be used to fraudulently increase milk production. In this field of research, we collaborate with other centres of reference at the European level, which allows us to transfer knowledge more quickly and to advance in what concerns us all most: consumer protection and the production sector.