Innovative cereal processing methods to produce mycotoxin-safe bread

Cereal-based products constitute a major part of the Norwegian diet, and average consumption of grain-based food in toddlers is approximately 5 times as much as for adults in relation to their body weight. Cereals are, however, often compromised by contamination with the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON), located mainly in outer parts of the grain (bran). Consequently, the governmental health recommendation to increase the consumption of dietary fibers is increasing the risk of mycotoxin contamination in the food. The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment concluded that young children are at particular risk of exceeding the tolerable daily intake of DON. The health consequences of this are not known, but research from the Norwegian Veterinary Institute indicates that mice exposed to low doses of DON change behavior and become more anxious. Others have shown altered gut microbiota and inflammatory responses in gut and brain of mice after DON-intake. Thus, there is a continuous need to safeguard cereal-based food products. Primary objective in MycoSafeBread is to optimize bread products tailored for young children, so that the resulting bread contains an absolute minimum of the mycotoxin DON, while meeting the recommendations for wholegrain consumption and nutrient composition. Various processing technologies will be used to separate grain components, treat DON-contaminated fractions to reduce mycotoxin content, and recombine cereal fractions to produce breads with even lower levels of mycotoxin. All steps will be monitored with a multimethod for chemical analysis of DON and other mycotoxins. During the first year of the project, in the middle of the covid-19 pandemic, the fate of DON during traditional milling and fractionation techniques have been investigated thoroughly to document the distribution of DON throughout the grain, and understand the dynamics of DON during milling. While many studies have investigated how to get rid of contaminated parts of the grain (such as bran), the focus in MycoSafeBread is to keep the bran fraction, with the goal to decontaminate and reintroduce it to make bread. Optimizations of this workflow are under establishment. MycoSafeBread will develop and strengthen competence within cereal processing technologies, product design and innovation, and explore combinations of traditional and new processing technologies. The results of the project will contribute to maintain food safety and nutritional recommendations, as well as consumer confidence and increased value in the cereal production chain.

Cereal based products constitute a major part of the Norwegian diet, however, cereals are often compromised by contamination with the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON). The average consumption of grain-based food in toddlers is approximately 5 times as much as for adults. Governmental health recommendation to increase the consumption of wholegrain due to the high content of dietary fibers, is aggravating the challenge with mycotoxin contamination because mycotoxins are usually located in outer parts of the grain (bran). The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food estimated that the high end dietary intake of DON in children is exceeding the tolerable daily intake by 3-4 fold. The health consequences of this are not known, but recent research from NVI showed behavioural changes in mice exposed to low doses of DON, and others have shown inflammatory responses in gut and brain of mice. There is a continuous need to safeguard cereal based food, in particular products highly consumed by children. Primary objective in MycoSafeBread is to develop Norwegian bread products tailored for young children, with an absolute minimum of DON, while meeting governmental health recommendations with regard to wholegrain and dietary fibers. In pilot scale we will investigate combinations of traditional milling and new dry fractionation technology. Contaminated fractions will be processed further to reduce DON content. By re-combining ingredients we will produce bread products and evaluate their safety by chemically quantify and evaluate bioaccessibility of DON and derivatives using in vitro digestion models. MycoSafeBread will develop and strengthen competence within cereal processing technologies, product design and innovation, and explore combinations of traditional and new processing technologies. The results of the project will contribute to maintain food safety and nutritional recommendations, as well as consumer confidence and increased value in the cereal production chain.