Assessment and management of the risk of unintended contamination of wheat by soy allergens in silos

Abstract

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesIn the European Union, soybean production has increased by almost 130% over the last 10 years which also increases the risk of commingling of grains, especially during storage. Soy is a major allergen and stakeholders are then confronted with an increased risk of unintended presence of allergen in cereal products. The aim of our work is to provide elements of evaluation and management of the allergen risk to silo managers faced with the storage of wheat and soya on the same facility.FindingsWe reproduced the cross‐contamination between batches of wheat and soybeans using the same handling circuit and measured the effectiveness of elevator cleaning and grain cleaning to reduce the contamination. Soy content (%) and soy protein content (mg/kg) in wheat were monitored.ConclusionsThe observed cross‐contamination rate was between 0.15% and 0.18% but was largely dependent on the tonnage of wheat, with the cross‐contamination rate decreasing rapidly as the grain was conveyed. Vacuum cleaning of pit elevators and grain cleaning significantly reduced the cross‐contamination rate but not enough to eliminate the allergenic risk in food products with a high wheat content.Significance and NoveltyThe rapid decay of the commingling rate allows the consideration of flushing procedures to manage cross‐contamination between batches. The model established on our results allows us to calculate the tonnage required to obtain a sufficiently effective flush to manage the risk of cross‐contamination.