Aflatoxins

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KEY WORDS

• Aflatoxins
• mycotoxins
• aflatoxicosis
• Carcinogenic
• Turkey X disease
• Occurence of aflatoxins influenced by
  environmental factors
• Absolute safety
• regulatory limits
• four major aflatoxins B1 , B2 , G1 , G2
• Difuranocoumarins
• Occurrence
• Control and Management of Aflatoxins
• Unavoidable contaminants
• Action level
• Detoxification
• Stability
• Economic Impact

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Food Additives

• A food additive is any substance added to food
• "any substance the intended use of which results
  or may reasonably be expected to result --
  directly or indirectly -- in its becoming a
  component or otherwise affecting the
  characteristics of any food."
• Includes any substance used in the production,
  processing, treatment, packaging, transportation
  or storage of food
• This definition excludes ingredients whose use is
  generally recognized as safe (government approval
  is not needed)
• Direct food additives are those that are added to
  a food for a specific purpose in that food. E.g.
  xanthan gum -- used in salad dressings, chocolate
  milk, bakery fillings, puddings and other foods
  to add texture -- is a direct additive.
• Indirect food additives are those that become
  part of the food in trace amounts due to its
  packaging, storage or other handling.

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Food Additives

• Food including additives have been used for many
  years to preserve, flavor, blend, thicken and
  color foods, and have played an important role in
  reducing serious nutritional deficiencies among
  consumers.

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Why are food additives and colors used in foods?

• To Maintain or Improve Safety and Freshness
• Preservatives slow product spoilage caused by
  mold, air, bacteria, fungi or yeast.
• To Improve or Maintain Nutritional Value
• Vitamins and minerals (and fiber) are added to
  many foods to make up for those lacking in a
  person's diet or lost in processing
• Improve Taste, Texture and Appearance
• Spices, natural and artificial flavors,
  sweeteners food colors, emulsifiers, stabilizers,
  thickeners, leavening agents, pH control, fat
  replacers

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Food Additives (Improvers)

• COLORANTS
• ANTIOXIDANTS
• retard oxidation of unsaturated fats and oils,
  colorings, and flavorings
• CHELATING AGENTS
• trap trace amounts of metal atoms that would
  otherwise cause food to discolor or go rancid.
• EMULSIFIERS
• keep oil and water mixed together.
• FLAVOR ENHANCERS
• have little or no flavor of their own, but
  accentuate the natural flavor of foods
• THICKENING AGENTS
• are natural or chemically modified carbohydrates
  that absorb some of the water that is present in
  food, thereby making the food thicker

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• A color additive is any dye, pigment or substance
  which when added or applied to a food is capable
  (alone or through reactions with other
  substances) of imparting color.
• Color additives are used in foods for many
  reasons
• 1) to offset color loss due to exposure to light,
  air, temperature extremes, moisture and storage
  conditions
• 2) to correct natural variations in color
• 3) to enhance colors that occur naturally
• 4) to provide color to colorless and "fun" foods.
  (e.g. brown colas yellow margarin, green mint ice
  cream)

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Types of Food Ingredientsand What They Do -
Summary Examples

• Flavors and Spices
• Add specific flavors (natural and synthetic)
• E.g. Pudding and pie fillings, gelatin dessert
  mixes, cake mixes, salad dressings, candies
• Preservatives
• Prevent food spoilage from bacteria, molds,
  fungi, or yeast (antimicrobials)
• slow or prevent changes in color, flavor, or
  texture and delay rancidity (antioxidants)
• maintain freshnessFruit sauces and jellies,
  beverages, baked goods, cured meats, oils and
  margarines, cereals, dressings, snack foods,
  fruits and vegetables
• Ascorbic acid, citric acid, sodium benzoate,
  calcium propionate, sodium erythorbate, sodium
  nitrite, calcium sorbate, potassium sorbate, BHA,
  BHT, EDTA, tocopherols (Vitamin E)

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• Emulsifiers
• keep ingredients dispersed, and to help products
  dissolve more easily
• Salad dressings, peanut butter, chocolate,
  margarine, frozen dessertsSoy lecithin, mono- and
  diglycerides, egg yolks, polysorbates, sorbitan
  monostearate
• Sweeteners
• Add sweetness with or without the extra
  caloriesBeverages, baked goods, confections,
  table-top sugar, substitutes, many processed
  foodsSucrose (sugar), glucose, fructose,
  sorbitol, mannitol, corn syrup, high fructose
  corn syrup, saccharin, aspartame, sucralose,
  acesulfame potassium (acesulfame-K), neotame

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• Stabilizers and Thickeners
• Binders, Texturizers
• Produce uniform texture, improve "mouth-feel
• Frozen desserts, dairy products, cakes, pudding
  and gelatin mixes, dressings, jams and jellies,
  sauces
• Gelatin, pectin, guar gum, carrageenan, xanthan
  gum, whey
• pH Control Agents and acidulants
• Control acidity and alkalinity,
• prevent spoilageBeverages, frozen desserts,
  chocolate, low acid canned foods, baking powder
• Lactic acid, citric acid, ammonium hydroxide,
  sodium carbonate

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• Color Additives
• Offset color loss due to exposure to light, air,
  temperature extremes, moisture and storage
  conditions correct natural variations in color
  enhance colors that occur naturally
• provide color to colorless and "fun" foods -
  Many processed foods, (candies, snack foods
  margarine, cheese, soft drinks, jams/jellies,
  gelatins, pudding and pie fillings) use FDC Blue
  Nos. 1 and 2, FDC Green No. 3, FDC Red Nos. 3
  and 40, FDC Yellow Nos. 5 and 6, Orange B,
  Citrus Red No. 2, annatto extract, beta-carotene,
  grape skin extract, cochineal extract or carmine,
  paprika oleoresin, caramel color, fruit and
  vegetable juices, saffron
• Anti-caking agents
• Keep powdered foods free-flowing, prevent
  moisture absorption
• Salt, baking powder, confectioner's sugar
• Calcium silicate, iron ammonium citrate, silicon
  dioxide

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• Humectants
• Retain moisture
• Shredded coconut, marshmallows, soft candies,
  confections
• Glycerin, sorbitol
• Yeast Nutrients
• Promote growth of yeast
• Breads and other baked goods
• Calcium sulfate, ammonium phosphate
• Dough Strengtheners and Conditioners
• Produce more stable dough
• Breads and other baked goods
• Ammonium sulfate, azodicarbonamide, L-cysteine

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• Leavening Agents
• Promote rising of baked goods
• Baking soda, monocalcium phosphate, calcium
  carbonate
• SAPP

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• Firming Agents
• Maintain crispness and firmness
• Processed fruits and vegetables
• Calcium chloride, calcium lactate
• Enzyme Preparations
• Modify proteins, polysaccharides and fats
• Cheese, dairy products, meat
• Enzymes, lactase, papain, rennet, chymosin

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• Gases
• Serve as propellant, aerate, or create
  carbonation
• Oil cooking spray, whipped cream, carbonated
  beverages
• Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide

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Food Systems
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A System

• Any organized assembly of resources and
  procedures united and regulated by interaction or
  interdependence to accomplish a set of specific
  functions.
• A collection of personnel, equipment, and methods
  organized to accomplish a set of specific
  functions.

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Food Systems

• Organized set of production, transportation,
  manufacturing systems used to produce and deliver
  food products to consumers

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Food Systems

• May include multiple components (steps)
• May be different types of food systems
• e.g. sustainable food system
• Organic food system
• Domestic / International
• Different systems ruled by assumptions,
  objectives,
• regulation

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Food Systems

• Each system includes multiple steps or stages
• Each stage offers vulnerabilities
• (e.g. toxins, allergies, contaminants)
• Potential susceptibility to terrorism?
• How do we protect the food supply?

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Food Systems

• Lets create an example.