Edited by Andreia Bianchini and Jayne Stratton

Dr. Andreia Bianchini is an Associate Professor at the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. She also works closely with the Food Processing Center at UNL. She has a B.S. degree in Food Engineering and a M.S. degree in Environmental and Agricultural Microbiology, both from Brazil. Her Ph.D. degree is in Food Science and Technology from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Her research area of interest includes processing for food quality, safety and security. Recently her research group has focused on improving the safety of grain and grain-based products throughout their production and processing chains. She has 25 peer review publications and has contributed 8 book chapters to several reference and textbooks. At the AACC International she has been a member of several technical committees and for the last 2 years has chaired the Food Safety and Microbiology Technical Committee.

Affiliations and expertise
Associate Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, NE, USA

Dr. Stratton specializes in food safety microbiology and her areas of research and expertise includes pathogen testing, improvement of sanitation, environmental monitoring programs, and process validation studies such as high-pressure processing. She currently serves as a Research Associate Professor in the Food Processing Center at UNL, and oversees the Center’s Laboratory Services, which offers microbiological testing, shelf life studies, and customized research. Her applied research interests are primarily with foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. She is also the Director of UNL’s Better Process Control School and is recognized as a lead instructor for the FDA approved curriculum on Preventive Controls for Human Foods and Preventive Controls for Animal Foods. She has taught courses on HACCP, food facility auditing techniques, food inspection principles, and is well-versed in ISO standards for testing laboratories. She is a member of the International Association for Food Protection, the American Society for Microbiology, and the American Association of Official Analytical Chemists.

Affiliations and expertise
Research Associate Professor, Food Processing Center, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, NE, USA

Food Safety: Grain Based Foods describes food safety as it relates to different hazards that may be associated with grain-based products, such as chemical, physical, radiological and microbiological hazards, and how to reduce those risks. This reference provides a fresh look at the issues faced by the grain industry and proposes solutions potentially useful to those working in industry, including food technologists, food processing or quality management workers, production supervisors, quality assurance managers, product developers, and those working in academia. Students in cereal technology, food safety, and product development courses will benefit from topics discussed in this publication.

Food Safety: Grain Based Foods

Chapter 1. Overview of grain-based foods

1.1 Cereal grains
1.2 Human civilization and grain production
1.3 Diversity in grains and grain-based foods

1.3.1 Corn
1.3.2 Wheat
1.3.3 Rice
1.3.4 Barley
1.3.5 Other grains

1.4 Cereal grains in human nutrition
1.5 Global statistics of grain production
1.6 Industrial use of grains

1.6.1 Grains for nonfood applications
1.6.2 Grains for food applications

1.7 Safety concerns related to grain-based products

1.7.1 Chronicles of grain safety
1.7.2 Global food safety regulations

1.8 Safety of grain-based foods: A reference book

Part I. Biological hazards associated with grain-based foods

Chapter 2. Microbiological safety of unprocessed grains and flours

2.1 Microbiological hazards in unprocessed cereal grains and flour

2.1.1 The microbiological profile of cereal grains
2.1.2 The microbiological profile of cereal grain flour

2.2 Potential sources of enteric pathogen contamination in grain-milled products

2.2.1 Preharvest sources of contamination: farmland environment
2.2.2 Postharvest sources of contamination: Transportation, storage, and milling

2.3 Conclusions

Chapter 3. Microbiological safety of ingredients other than flour

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Major ingredients

3.2.1 Microbiology of eggs and egg products
3.2.2 Microbiology of milk and dairy products
3.2.3 Microbial safety of water

3.3 Microbiology of minor ingredients

3.3.1 Meat and poultry
3.3.2 Fruits and vegetables
3.3.3 Herbs and spices
3.3.4 Food additives and colors

3.4 Closing remarks

Part II. Chemical hazards associated with grain-based foods

Chapter 4. Pesticide residue and cereal grains

4.1 Pesticide residue as contaminants of cereal grains

4.1.1 Herbicides
4.1.2 Fungicides
4.1.3 Insecticides

4.2 Use and maximum residue limits for contaminants
4.3 Methods used for the detection and quantitation of pesticide residues in grains
4.4 Effects of pesticide exposure on human health
4.5 Effects of storage and processing on pesticide residue levels
4.6 Mitigating the negative effects of pesticides
4.7 Environmental effects of pesticide use
4.8 Conclusion and future outlook

Chapter 5. Inorganic contaminants of cereal grains: Heavy metals

5.1 Introduction
5.2 The effects of arsenic and cadmium on human health

5.2.1 Arsenic
5.2.2 Cadmium

5.3 Legislation on heavy metals in cereals

5.3.1 Arsenic
5.3.2 Cadmium

5.4 Factors affecting the availability of heavy metals in soil

5.4.1 Availability of arsenic in paddy rice fields
5.4.2 Availability of cadmium in soil

5.5 Mechanisms of uptake and translocation of heavy metals

5.5.1 The uptake of arsenic by rice plants
5.5.2 Uptake of cadmium by rice plants

5.6 Strategies to decrease the concentration of heavy metals in cereal grains and products

5.6.1 Distribution of arsenic and cadmium within rice and wheat grains
5.6.2 Food processing approaches
5.6.3 Soil amendments
5.6.4 Phytoremediation
5.6.5 Agronomic practices
5.6.6 Plant breeding approaches

Chapter 6. Allergens and gluten associated with cereal grains

6.1 Grain uses for food and feed
6.2 Proteins in cereal grains
6.3 Identification of IgE-mediating food allergens
6.4 Allergic symptoms and severity
6.5 Celiac disease, the causative proteins and diagnosis
6.6 Management of priority allergenic grains in commodities and complex foods
6.7 Conclusions

Chapter 7. Mycotoxins in cereal grains

7.1 Mycotoxins

7.1.1 Important mycotoxin-producing fungal species associated with cereal grains
7.1.2 Important mycotoxins associated with cereal grains
7.1.3 Factors that influence mold growth and mycotoxin production

7.2 Controlling mycotoxins in grains and grain-based products

7.2.1 Preharvest preventive controls
7.2.2 Postharvest preventive controls
7.2.3 Corrective control of mycotoxins

7.3 Mycotoxin analysis

7.3.1 Sampling for mycotoxin analysis
7.3.2 Mycotoxin detection methods

Part III. Physical hazards associated with grain-based foods

Chapter 8. Physical hazards in grain-based foods

8.1 Introduction
8.2 Definition of physical hazards
8.3 Physical hazards associated with grain harvesting through milling
8.4 Physical hazards associated with bakeries and baked goods

8.4.1 Processing considerations
8.4.2 Establishing critical control points for physical hazards

8.5 Reported incidents
8.6 Prevention and control of physical hazards

8.6.1 Metal detectors
8.6.2 Terahertz spectroscopy
8.6.3 Near-infrared spectroscopy
8.6.4 X-ray imaging
8.6.5 Thermal imaging
8.6.6 Hyperspectral imaging

8.7 Final remarks

Part IV. Systematic food safety management

Chapter 9. Challenges in the global cereal supply chain

9.1 Introduction
9.2 Grain production

9.2.1 Current corn, wheat, and rice production
9.2.2 Cereal demand and production for 2050
9.2.3 Yield gaps in corn, rice, and wheat
9.2.4 Impacts of climate change, pandemics, and conflicts on cereal supply
9.2.5 Impacts of plant diseases on corn, wheat, and rice production

9.3 Global grain supplies and movement

9.3.1 Current and future challenges
9.3.2 Logistic and loss of grain along the supply chain
9.3.3 Phytosanitary challenges and transboundary pests and diseases

9.4 Food safety in global trade

9.4.1 Pesticides
9.4.2 Heavy metals
9.4.3 Mycotoxins
9.4.4 Future prospects

9.5 Conclusions

Chapter 10. Food safety systems for grain-based food production and processing

10.1 Introduction to food safety systems
10.2 Food safety management systems in the United States

10.2.1 Good agricultural practices
10.2.2 Good manufacturing practices
10.2.3 Management systems based on hazard analysis

10.3 Global food safety initiative benchmarked systems

10.3.1 Global food safety initiative good agricultural practices systems
10.3.2 Postfarm global food safety initiative systems

10.4 Grain-based food industry applications

10.4.1 Milling
10.4.2 Bakeries

10.5 Final remarks

Chapter 11. Designing safe grain-based food products

11.1 Introduction: The importance of designing safe grain-based products
11.2 Determination of ready-to-eat or not-ready-to-eat
11.3 Validation of cooking instructions

11.3.1 What is a cooking instruction validation?
11.3.2 Data collection points
11.3.3 Calibration of temperature measuring devices and appliances
11.3.4 Number of samples to test
11.3.5 Type of cooking appliances
11.3.6 Evaluating the results

Chapter 12. Designing safe grain-based food processes

12.1 History of grain processing

12.1.1 Grain processing in upper paleolithic
12.1.2 Grain processing in holocene
12.1.3 Grain processing in the modern era

12.2 Primary processes

12.2.1 Cleaning system
12.2.2 Milling operations
12.2.3 Whole seed processing

12.3 Secondary processing

12.3.1 Baking
12.3.2 Beer fermentation
12.3.3 Extrusion
12.3.4 Frying

12.4 Postprocessing operations

12.4.1 Drying
12.4.2 Seasoning
12.4.3 Coating

12.5 Final remarks

Chapter 13. Dry cleaning and sanitation applied to grain-based foods

13.1 Introduction
13.2 Dry foods

13.2.1 Low water activity (aw) foods
13.2.2 Grain-based foods

13.3 Allergens
13.4 Cleaning and sanitation

13.4.1 Cleaning methods in grain-based food facilities
13.4.2 Wet cleaning
13.4.3 Dry cleaning
13.4.4 Monitoring effectiveness

Chapter 14. Risk-based management in the grain supply chain

14.1 Transition to risk-based food safety management

14.1.1 Hazard-based and risk-based approaches

14.2 Introduction to risk analysis

14.2.1 Overview of food safety risk analysis
14.2.2 Risk assessment
14.2.3 Enhancement of grain food safety using a risk assessment approach

14.3 Applications of risk assessment to control grain food safety

14.3.1 Case study of liver cancer risks posed by aflatoxins in foods
14.3.2 Case study of foodborne illness risks posed by Escherichia coli O157:H7 in ready-to-bake cookie dough

14.4 Conclusion

Chapter 15. Impact of grain regulations on food safety: An aflatoxin tale

15.1 Introduction
15.2 Existing regulations on aflatoxin, and economic impacts
15.3 Health effects of aflatoxin
15.4 Interventions: costs and effectiveness
15.5 Concluding remarks

Chapter 16. Epilogue

Index