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Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2011

Safety and regulation of yeasts used for biocontrol or biopreservation in the food or feed chain

Sundh, Ingvar; Melin, Petter

Abstract

Yeasts have been important components of spontaneous fermentations in food and beverage processing for millennia. More recently, the potential of utilising antagonistic yeasts, e.g. Pichia anomala and Candida spp., for post-harvest biological control of spoilage fungi during storage of plant-derived produce ('biopreservation') has been clearly demonstrated. Although some yeast species are among the safest microorganisms known, several have been reported in opportunistic infections in humans, including P. anomala and bakers' yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. More research is needed about the dominant pathogenicity and virulence factors in opportunistic yeasts, and whether increased utilisation of biopreservative yeasts in general could contribute to an increased prevalence of yeast infections. The regulatory situation for yeasts used in post-harvest biocontrol is complex and the few products that have reached the market are mainly registered as biological pesticides. The qualified presumption of safety (QPS) approach to safety assessments of microorganisms intentionally added to food or feed, recently launched by the European Food Safety Authority, can lead to more efficient evaluations of new products containing microbial species with a sufficient body of knowledge or long-term experience on their safety. P. anomala is one of several yeast species that have been given QPS status, although the status is restricted to use of this yeast for enzyme and metabolite production purposes. With regard to authorisation of new biopreservative yeasts, we recommend that the possibility to regulate microorganisms for food biopreservation as food additives be considered.

Keywords

Biological control; Biopreservation; Yeast; Pichia anomala; Food; Feed; Antagonistic microorganisms; QPS; Safety assessment

Published in

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
2011, Volume: 99, number: 1, pages: 113-119
Publisher: SPRINGER

    SLU Authors

      • Sustainable Development Goals

      SDG2 Zero hunger

      UKÄ Subject classification

      Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
      Agricultural Science
      Animal and Dairy Science
      Food Science
      Veterinary Science

      Publication Identifiers

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-010-9528-z

      Permanent link to this page (URI)

      https://res.slu.se/id/publ/58252