The virtual food system: Innovative models and experiential feedback in technologies for winemaking, the cereals chain, food packaging and eco-designed starter production

Abstract This article presents an overview of five use-cases that illustrate food-system modeling approaches, most of them combining quantitative and qualitative methods. The cases deal with issues as diverse as: the modeling of winemaking fermentation; the choice of a food packaging material; the design of solid foam cereal products; argumentation modeling to support multistakeholder decision-making, and the control of freeze-drying for eco-design purposes. They tackle several challenges to modeling and knowledge engineering in food systems: capitalizing data and knowledge; structuring a shared vocabulary and domain knowledge in an ontology; formalizing viewpoints and contradictions from food-related debates; supporting multi-criteria decision-making.