FOODGUARD is a Horizon EU project that aims to develop and demonstrate co-created solutions that will support innovations & advances based on microbiome, microbial activities & technology hubs to address food, health, economic and environmental challenges. The envisioned approach consists of a framework of toolsets & methodologies to provide sustainable solutions in food processing, packaging & across the food value chain to address food shelf-life increase & waste reduction in a holistic manner. The proposed solutions aim to (a) extend food shelf life with novel packaging/ biopreservation i.e. use of protective cultures/synthetic microbial consortia, recyclable films with natural antimicrobials or protective cultures; (b)monitor food quality/safety/shelf life with microbial indicators/molecular biomarkers used in smart packaging (TTIs, smart printed tags, no-invasive sensors)& (c) accurately predict food shelf life & improve traceability using predictive models, AI/ML, Internet of Things & tools like QR,NFR etc.