One Health
The health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment are interdependent. This is the principle of the One Health approach. Globalization and human pressure on ecosystems, exacerbated by climate change, are endangering One Health, as seen in the recrudescence and emergence of infectious diseases. Our research is aimed at the sustainable transformation of food systems—from production to processing—and is part of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and coherent approach to living organisms.
- Prevent and predict infectious diseases
- Assess exposure to contaminants to reduce their impact
- Promote a healthy diet
FOCUS on Research & Innovation challenges
- Using the microbiome for health-promoting food innovations
Advancing our understanding of microbial ecosystems in food, humans, and animals is key to developing new solutions and innovations in food and human health.
Objective: accelerate the transfer of promising results from our laboratories to industrial partners.
Target: develop solutions for food and health (functional foods, dietary supplements, therapeutic solutions) while demonstrating their health benefits.
- Promoting One Health at the regional level
France 2030 programmes coordinated by INRAE
- PEPR SAMS: Food systems, microbiomes and health (INRAE, Inserm)
- PEPR PREZODE: Preventing zoonotic disease emergence (IRD, CIRAD, INRAE)
- Ferments du futur grand challenge (INRAE, Ania)
Our research infrastructures
- MetaboHub: National infrastructure in metabolomics and fluxomics
- France Exposome: deciphering the human chemical exposome
- Calis: Consumer/Food/Health
- EMERG’IN: for the control of animal and zoonotic emerging infectious diseases through in vivo investigation.
How to promote a One Health approach
Infectious diseases, chemical contaminants
New risks are emerging that threaten plant and animal health as well as the environment. The epidemic potential of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases poses a constant threat at both the national and international levels. The expanding range of pathogen vectors and global warming are creating conditions conducive to the spread of new diseases.
Gaining a better understanding of pathogens—their biology, reservoirs, modes of transmission, and evolution—as well as the factors that contribute to the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, and developing strategies to better anticipate, prevent, and control them are major research priorities.
Exposure to chemicals or pharmaceuticals—particularly those used for agricultural purposes and released into the environment (water, air, soil) or present in food—also has adverse effects on health. The chemical characterization of contaminants, the quantification of exposure to combinations of contaminants, the assessment of hazards, and the anticipation and management of associated risks are key issues for the health of humans, animals, and the environment.
Healthy and sustainable diets
Ensuring a healthy and sustainable food supply involves striking the right balance between nutritional quality, food safety, and environmental impact. This requires optimizing production and processing methods, reducing undesirable compounds, and gaining a better understanding of the links between food, nutrition, and health—not to mention the microbiome. Changing dietary patterns—particularly the shift toward a more balanced intake of animal and plant-based proteins—requires innovation throughout the food chain. Analyzing the nutritional needs of different populations, consumer preferences, and levers for action—information, the food environment, and economic incentives—helps steer eating habits toward choices that promote health and sustainability and informs public policy.
From farm to fork, integrated approaches are more necessary than ever to move beyond the isolated optimization of each link in the chain; the relationships between food, the environment, and health are therefore key challenges in the transition of food systems and environmental protection, both at the regional and global levels.
for more information
Our research theme: Food, Global Health