Strategies to control the presence of microbial impurities, including genetically modified microorganisms, in food enzymes

Enzymes have been used for decades in various food processes. They are increasingly being produced by fermentation using micro-organisms, including genetically modified micro-organisms (GMM). The (EC) No 1332/2008 regulation requires that food enzymes (FE) sold on the EU market follow a safety evaluation in order to be approved for sale and one of the investigated criteria during the evaluation is the absence of the producer organism, both viable cells and associated DNA. However, no detection methods were available to investigate FE preparations regarding the presence of microbial impurities, including FE producing micro-organisms. Additionally, most of the information needed for the development of appropriate detection methods is submitted confidentially. Lastly, since no investigations had been performed on EU commercialized FE, the competent authorities were not able to determine whether or not such microbial impurities could occur. This PhD thesis aimed to contribute to the development of a control strategy targeting microbial impurities related to producing organisms in FE preparations and to obtain an overview of these potential contaminations. First, public information, dispersed in many documents, was collected, structured and analyzed. The collected data was structured and gathered into an open-access web application. Second, generic methods were developed for the detection of FE producing organisms, including bacteria and fungi. Combined to a recently available GMM detection strategy, these generic methods were applied on a representative collection of FE sold on the EU market. This pilot monitoring allowed to verify the applicability of the detection strategies on FE and to provide a first picture of the current situation related to the contamination of FE with their producing organism. Furthermore, the generated results allowed to identify potential needs to guarantee the safety and traceability of the food chain