Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius.
J Food Prot. 2021 Nov 1;84(11):1884-1897. doi: 10.4315/JFP-21-141.
Throughout the past decades, climate change has been one of the most complex global issues. Characterized by worldwide alterations in weather patterns, along with a concomitant increase in the temperature of the Earth, climate change will undoubtedly have significant effects on food security and food safety. Climate change engenders climate variability: significant variations in weather variables and their frequency. Both climate variability and climate change are thought to threaten the safety of the food supply chain through different pathways. One such pathway is the ability to exacerbate foodborne diseases by influencing the occurrence, persistence, virulence and, in some cases, toxicity of certain groups of disease-causing microorganisms. Food safety can also be compromised by various chemical hazards, such as pesticides, mycotoxins, and heavy metals. With changes in weather patterns, such as lower rainfall, higher air temperature, and higher frequency of extreme weather events among others, this translates to emerging food safety concerns. These include the shortage of safe water for irrigation of agricultural produce, greater use of pesticides due to pest resistance, increased difficulty in achieving a well-controlled cold chain resulting in temperature abuse, or the occurrence of flash floods, which cause runoff of chemical contaminants in natural water courses. Together, these can result in foodborne infection, intoxication, antimicrobial resistance, and long-term bioaccumulation of chemicals and heavy metals in the human body. Furthermore, severe climate variability can result in extreme weather events and natural calamities, which directly or indirectly impair food safety. This review discusses the causes and impacts of climate change and variability on existing and emerging food safety risks and also considers mitigation and adaptation strategies to address the global warming and climate change problem.
在过去几十年中，气候变化一直是全球最复杂的问题之一。其特征是全球范围内的天气模式变化，以及地球温度的相应升高，气候变化无疑将对食品安全和粮食安全产生重大影响。气候变化引发气候变异性：天气变量及其频率的显著变化。气候变化变异性都被认为通过不同途径威胁食品安全。一种途径是通过影响某些致病微生物的发生、持续、毒力，在某些情况下还会影响其毒性，从而加剧食源性疾病。食品安全还会受到各种化学危害的影响，如农药、霉菌毒素和重金属。随着天气模式的变化，例如降雨量减少、空气温度升高以及极端天气事件的发生频率增加等，这会引发新的食品安全问题。这些问题包括用于灌溉农产品的安全用水短缺、由于抗药性导致更多地使用农药、难以实现良好控制的冷链导致温度滥用、或洪水暴发导致天然水道中化学污染物的径流。所有这些问题都会导致食源性感染、中毒、抗生素耐药性以及化学物质和重金属在人体中的长期生物累积。此外，严重的气候变异性会导致极端天气事件和自然灾害，这些事件会直接或间接地损害食品安全。本文讨论了气候变化和变异性对现有和新出现的食品安全风险的原因和影响，并考虑了减轻和适应策略，以解决全球变暖和气候变化问题。
