13 - Food safety aspects of grain and cereal product quality

Abstract

Cereal-based foods can be considered to present a lower risk to food safety than many other foods. In part, this refects both the processes used to produce the finished product and the currently accepted standards for the technical quality of raw materials. Nevertheless there are a number of potential hazards, which, if incorrectly managed, pose a significant threat to consumer health. These hazards can be either chemical or microbiological in origin and arise at specific points in the production and supply of grain as well as in the eventual manufacture of the food eaten by the consumer. Once identified, these hazards can be managed and the threat to the consumer minimised. This is achieved through application of quality assurance principles using Good Manufacturing/Agricultural Practice and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) techniques based on a sound knowledge on the origins and occurrence of the hazards concerned.