Mould growth and mycotoxin production in novel plant-based foods

When food goes mouldy, consumers are faced with a dilemma: avoid mycotoxins by discarding the entire product, or reduce food waste by salvaging the non-mouldy part.

The few guidelines for safely salvaging certain products are not harmonised internationally, and are often based on scant data from the 70s/80s. No data exist on potential mycotoxin production in new plant-based products, eg. vegan cheeses, yogurt and patés. Such products are becoming popular, even among non-vegans, for climate change and health reasons.

Our project uses a multi-mycotoxin method to map the potential for moulds to produce toxins in vegan cheeses, yogurt and patés, compared with traditional products.

Vegan cheeses may be based on soy, coconut, oats, etc. so this is a useful system to compare how food formulation affects mould growth and toxin production. Coconut oil, a common ingredient in vegan cheeses, is known to support excellent mycotoxin production.

We develop a quantitative model describing the impact of fat and other relevant parameters on growth and toxin production in a simulated cheese/yogurt matrix, and validate the model in real products. This tool may support food companies during product development.

We also mimic airborne mould contamination at home, to study how far mycotoxins migrate into representative vegan products, and if they can be degraded during cooking of vegan and dairy crème fraiche – this, to generate a scientific basis for advice to consumers.