Milling & Baking News - October 24, 2017 - 34

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34 / October 24, 2017 XMilling & Baking
News
5

Education and Research X

beams," the company said. "The prototype that is in operation since the second
quarter of 2017 has a capacity of one ton
per hour."
While successful in the spice industry,
the key difference between spices and
flour is scale, with flour requiring much
larger volumes to be processed.
"We are working on scaling up of the
technology," Dr. Morantes said. "The estimated cost of operation is going to be lower than other technologies available today."
There is not yet a set date for the release of ebeam on a commercial basis in
the flour industry.
Cold plasma treatment being tested
Use of cold plasma technology in the
food industry also isn't a new concept,
but its potential use in flour milling
would break new ground. The potential for cold plasma to cost-effectively
reduce contamination and extend shelf
life of products, especially meat and produce, was demonstrated several years
ago even if it isn't widely used yet.
"Cold plasma has proven really difficult to scale up (for commercial use),"
Dr. Morantes said.
But that's what Dr. Labuza and George
Annor, Ph.D., a General Mills' endowed
professor in cereal chemistry and technology, also at the University of Minnesota, hope to successfully achieve in the
near future. Dr. Labuza said a scale-up
test using the cold plasma method may
be "only months away."
Plasma is considered the fourth state
of matter after solid, liquid and gas. It's
created by applying a spark between several electrodes that causes a reaction with
oxygen and nitrogen to form free radicals that in chilled air then alter the DNA
and protein of microbes, Dr. Labuza said.
The process occurs under dry conditions,
which allows flour to be treated, ideally
as late in the milling process as possible.
"We should be up and running in a
couple of months," Dr. Labuza said, adding that it would be six to eight months
"at least" before a commercial product
could be tested.
A considerable amount of testing remains to be done to collect sufficient data
on the cold plasma process, Dr. Labuza
said. Work had been slowed by a lack of
equipment and adequate funding.
"Eventually, we have to verify that
any system is giving a 5-log or 6-log
sample kill of Salmonella and E. coli over
a range of water activity," he said.
There is a major inherent risk associated with scaling up cold plasma to a commercial level, including the potential of a
dust explosion.
"You have to have it in an enclosed

environment with a lot of grounding,"
Dr. Labuza said.
Need for safety continues to grow
AIB's Dr. Rogers also noted there is some
"excitement" around current research about
reducing microbial content in the tempering process prior to the milling of grain.
While there was no specific estimate
of how much flour (wheat and other
grains) is treated for microbial reduction, most in the industry say it is a very
small percentage of total production.
Cost, scalability and impairment of baking functionality have been key factors

'Bakers need to prove their
product has a validated kill
step.'
- Debi Rogers,
AIB International

discouraging treatment on a broad scale.
Further, the fact that flour still is considered a raw ingredient in which a "kill"
step generally occurs before it reaches
the consumer has limited the need.
At the same time, the fact that flour is
a raw ingredient heightens the need for
safety as contamination can occur at any
step from farm to baker or other food
manufacturer to consumer. Flour millers
have little if any control at the beginning
(in the field) or at the end (consumer level) of the flour "cycle," but they still are
responsible for the safety of their products. To that end, the North American
Millers' Association and the Canadian
National Millers Association in early
September released a new educational
video with the intent of eliminating the
safety risk associated with wheat flour.
"From farm to kitchen, the entire wheat
industry is committed to best practices for
food safety, and this simple and easy-touse video is designed to help consumers
understand and apply proper handling
and baking procedures so they can safely
enjoy their favorite baked goods," said
James A. McCarthy, president and chief
executive officer of NAMA.
Dr. Rogers indicated interest in treatment of flour "has been pretty steady"
once concern about the two most recent
contamination occurrences calmed down.
But she noted that microbial reduction remains very important for certain high-risk
products such as infant food, refrigerated
doughs and inclusions (such as cookie
dough in ice cream). She concurred that
the new FSMA rules have raised the bar.
"Bakers need to prove their product
has a validated kill step," she said. MBN
- Ron Sterk
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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Milling & Baking News - October 24, 2017

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