Sylvain Charlebois

A significant portion of Charlebois' research is devoted to the comparison of global food safety and traceability systems.[11] In 2011, he chaired the first international workshop on food safety performance metrics and risk intelligence in Helsinki, Finland, in which representatives of 21 countries participated.[12] He has also served as project lead for the World Ranking Food Safety Performance Report in 2008, 2010, and 2014.[13][14]

In 2020, Charlebois and his team created a new index, the Global Food Innovation Index which compared factors contributing to innovation in the food, beverage and agri-food industries across many countries.[15]

Charlebois began publishing Canada's Food Price Report in 2010.[16] The report uses predictive modelling through machine learning and econometrics to arrive at its annual forecast. The report reaches a potential audience of more than 280 million people in 50 countries. In 2015, the project was recognized as one of the University of Guelph's most significant research accomplishments in the past 50 years.[17][18][19][20] In July 2020 the University of Saskatchewan and the University of British Columbia also joined the project, contributing to the 2021 edition.[21]

Charlebois is the author of five books on global food systems, food security, and safety. His most recent academic book was published in 2017, entitled Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking.[22] Charlebois is currently writing a sixth book on poutine, due to be released in 2021.[23] Charlebois has authored nearly 500 publications in peer-reviewed journals, professional publications, and conference proceedings in food science and management. According to Google Scholar, he is one of the world's most-cited authors of food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability information.[24] Charlebois became an Editor of Trends in Food Science and Technology in 2020.[25] Dr. Charlebois is also an associate with many research organizations, including the C. D. Howe Institute[26] and the Conference Board of Canada.[27]

In 2008, Charlebois co-authored a study to evaluate the performance of the Canadian Wheat Board’s Daily Price Contract (DPC) program. The study suggested that the program provided poor financial returns for farmers.[28][29] The DPC program was eventually cancelled.

In 2011, Charlebois chaired the first international workshop on food safety performance metrics. The idea of comparing countries' food safety policies, risk management, and risk communication practices was controversial at the time.[30][31][32] Since that seminal workshop, sharing and comparing practices in food safety amongst nations has become more widely accepted. Charlebois argues that the structure of food safety governance favours the advancement of international partnerships and collaboration.

Charlebois speaking in Toronto in 2018

In 2017, Charlebois' team examined legislation involving cannabis in Canada with particular interest in edible cannabis products. Initially, edibles were not included in Canada's Cannabis Act (also known as Bill C-45). Their study, released in September 2017, argued that consumers would be confused over what to do with cannabis-infused food products, and argued that the legalization of edible cannabis products should occur concurrently with smokable products.[33] Weeks after the study was released, Bill C-45 was amended to include edibles.[34] In 2019, a second study released by Charlebois' team explored how the black market for cannabis-infused food products in the country could expand if Canada's regulatory framework does not adapt to meet its growth and evolution.[35][36]

In 2019, Charlebois' team released a cost analysis of Canada's Food Guide, a nutrition guide produced by Health Canada.[37] While the report lauded the Guide's increased recommendations for the consumption of plant-based proteins, fresh fruits, and vegetables, it suggested the rising cost of these food items could push more Canadian families into food insecurity should they try to follow the recommendations.[38]

Charlebois is a critic of Supply management (Canada), the country's quota system for poultry, eggs and dairy, and has advocated for major reforms to the system for more than two decades.[39][40][41][42][43] In April 2020, during the COVID-19 crisis, he suggested that dumping raw milk in Canada should be illegal and that milk should be considered a public good, as opposed to being treated simply as a commodity.[44][45][46] He spearheaded a report released by both Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph in 2020, which presented a 20-year roadmap, called Supply Management 2.0, to help the dairy industry become more competitive.[47][48][49][50][51]

He is also a supporter of genetically modified food ingredients, advocating for more transparency by way of strict labeling rules for consumers, but with a strong belief in the inherent safety of food products which include GMOs.[52]

Over the years, Charlebois has coined a few expressions to explain food trends, including "protein wars," which refers to tensions between existing animal protein sources and plant-based alternatives for consumers,[53][54] and the term "food category appropriation," which involves companies using well-known food descriptors such as cheese and meat but applying them to alternative products using different ingredients.[55]

Charlebois is a frequent user of live case studies,[56] attempting to incorporate realism and the concept of co-opetition in the classroom.[57] Past live case studies involved companies like Sobeys, Unilever, Kraft Heinz, Monsanto, PepsiCo, Loblaw Companies, Gencor and Campbell Soup Company. He is a co-author of Marketing: Real People, Real Decisions, a textbook devoted to the real-world exploration of marketing research and execution published by Pearson Education Canada.

Charlebois is a former member of the National Expert Board of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. He is also a member of the Global Food Traceability Center's Advisory Council and the Scientific Council of the Luxembourg-based Business Scientific Institute.[58] He has testified as an expert witness on several occasions before parliamentary committees on food policy-related issues. He has also been a visiting scholar at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, the University of Helsinki in Finland, NorthWestern A&F University in China, the University of Innsbruck in Austria, and the University of Sydney in Australia.

Charlebois is a two-time winner of the Emerald Publishing Literati Award in research (2008, 2012).[59] He was also a three-time "Teacher of the Year" award winner in Saskatchewan (2006, 2007 and 2009). In 2015, Charlebois won the Bill Braithwaite Distinguished Professorial Award as a graduate faculty at the University of Guelph. In 2019, he won the Faculty of Management's Researcher of the Year Award at Dalhousie University.

In July 2018, Dalhousie University opened an investigation into complaints of bullying and harassment allegedly perpetrated by Charlebois during his tenure as Dean of the Faculty of Management.[60][61] The University hired an external investigator to assess the complaints and to provide a written report. The investigation was flawed and was leaked to media. Charlebois eventually stepped down from the Dean's position to launch a new successful research center.[62][63][64] While Charlebois still works at Dalhousie, many individuals involved in the investigation have since resigned.[65]