Food Science Research: October/November 2021

Creating Nonallergenic Wheat Products Using Processing Methods: Fact or Fiction?

A wheat allergy is a potentially life-threatening disease that affects millions of people around the world. Food processing has been shown to influence the allergenicity of wheat and other major foods. However, a comprehensive review evaluating whether food processing can be used to develop hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products is unavailable. There were three objectives for this study: to critically evaluate the evidence on the effect of fermentation, thermal processing, and enzyme or acid hydrolysis on wheat allergenicity to identify the potential for and challenges of using these methods to produce hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products; to identify the molecular effects of food processing needed to create such products; and to map the concept questions for future research and development to produce hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products. The authors performed literature research using PubMed and Google Scholar databases with various combinations of keywords to generate the data to accomplish these objectives. They concluded that food processing significantly modulates wheat allergenicity and that, while some methods can reduce or even abolish the allergenicity, others can create mega allergens. They also found that fermentation and enzymatic hydrolysis hold the most potential to create novel hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products, and they identify five specific research concepts to advance the research to enable the creation of hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products for application in the food, medical, and cosmetic industries. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. DOI: 10.1111/1541-4337.12830

Coffee Bean Classification Based on Fatty Acids Analysis

The research studies constituents of fatty acids (FA) in coffee beans to identify their categories. Since FA are the fundamental constituents of coffee aroma and flavor, classifying the beans’ original species in the roasted state is challenging. The examined samples in this study cover 74 coffee beans from different origins and are separated into Arabica and Robusta species based on their FA composition. This research develops a discriminant strategy to identify categories of examined coffee beans and analyzes an experimental dataset using multiple data structure strategies during the identification process, which are different from traditional approaches that aim to improve coffee bean species classification and recognition rate. Furthermore, the developed coffee bean identification strategies implement various normalization and error analyses during the data reasoning process. This research concludes that FA C18:1, C18:2, and C18:3 have essential characteristics for coffee beans. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation. 2021;45:e15703. DOI: 10.1111/jfpp.15703.

Interactions Between Risk Assessors and Risk Managers During Three Major European Food Incidents

Risk analysis consists of risk assessment (RA), risk management (RM), and risk communication (RC). In most countries, the RA and RM of food safety are separated to achieve a high scientific integrity and typically occur in sequential order; however, during a food safety incident, even RA and RM are performed simultaneously due to the pressure of time and the expected severity of the impact. The aim of this study was to analyze and evaluate the observed interactions between RA and RM processes during three major food incidents in Europe and to provide suggestions for possible improvement. The enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) crisis in 2011 in Germany, the horsemeat scandal in 2013 in Ireland, and the fipronil incident in 2017 in the Netherlands were used as case studies. Based on the differences observed among the three cases, the authors identified the strengths and weaknesses of each system. The timelines of these incidents and the crisis management procedures that were in place in each of the three countries provided the basis for further analysis. First, the study results showed that details of the communication processes between RA and RM bodies were frequently lacking in crisis management protocols. Second, RA, RM, and RC processes differed for each incident, due to differences in the estimated risk for public health, but also due to differences in the organization within each country. The authors recommend that crisis management protocols contain a section on communication among RA, RM, and RC, stating the best ways of communication, the recommended frequency of communication, and ways to deal with uncertainties. Journal of Food Science. 2021;86:3611-3627.