Résumé
In the farm to fork approach, the consumer is a key element at the end of the food chain. Food safety needs to be ensured and recommendations have to be provided to consumers. Many recommendations exist but they are mainly directed to preserve foods from pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites. Some chemical hazards, in particular mycotoxins, are produced by biological agents as. molds, mainly Penicillium, Aspergillus and Fusarium species. European regulations set maximum levels for certain mycotoxins, but this cannot be done at the consumer level. In the case of mold-contaminated foods, they generally have a negative impact on product quality as consumers can easily detect visible fungal mycelium that develops on food surfaces. In most cases, foods are either discarded or trimmed. In fact, consumers often lack knowledge to handle moldy foods safely and they are unaware as to whether the contaminating mold is mycotoxigenic. If a mycotoxigenic mold is present, mycotoxins can potentially be produced and migrate into the product. Therefore, it is necessary to study mycotoxin migration in foods by quantifying their concentration and by correlating these concentrations to simple observations that can be made by consumers (i.e. visual aspect of fungal growth). Safe recommendations about moldy foods could be provided only after this step using scientific studies.
In the farm to fork approach, the consumer is a key element at the end of the food chain. Food safety needs to be ensured and recommendations have to be provided to consumers. Some chemical hazards, in particular mycotoxins, are produced by biological agents as molds, mainly Penicillium, Aspergillus and Fusarium species. Obviously, food should not be contaminated by pathogenic bacteria during manufacture, transportation or retail, and spoilage should only occur at consumer’s homes if conditions are favorable. In contrast to fruits, more care should be taken when providing recommendations to consumers regarding moldy vegetables as they can also be contaminated by bacteria. Low moisture foods, such as, bread, bakery products, jams, hard and semi-hard cheeses have not been reported to be contaminated by pathogenic bacteria. They are characterized by a “best before date” written on the packaging and are usually stored at ambient temperatures, except for cheeses and according to countries.