34
3.7 Concern of GRAS Ingredients
Despite the fact that food additives are regularly checked by regulatory agencies
before their launch in the market, still some of the food industries add hundreds of
food ingredients wilfully to human and animal foods without or very little knowledge by the government. That’s where it makes a loophole for the food companies
to escape from the diligent FDA legal inspection process (Manchanda et al. 2018).
There are so many food items in which food companies use ingredients such as
aroma, chemical preservatives and/or colouring agents without consumer concern
which can cause prompt danger to consumer health. It has been found that longterm usage of some of these food ingredients caused allergic reactions to consumers
(Shaw et al. 1997).
There are some food ingredients which are classified as GRAS but are carcinogenic in nature and had been used in many food items for a very long time. Quorn,
a readymade product and certified as GRAS, is a replacement of meat and is sold in
more than 18 countries. It has been found to contain a mycoprotein as a main food
ingredient which is a metabolic product of fungi Fusarium venenatum (Finnigan
2011). Quorn had faced many criticisms because of its bad health effects on the
consumers. Still, there are many food additives present in the market which have
been added in breakfast food, in frosted food, for stamina refreshment, etc.
(Frank 2007).
Various food associations and organizations had shown their concerns towards
the GRAS confirmation mechanism (Hallagan and Hall 2009). Many private organizations are also working on the improvisation of the GRAS confirmation process.
Some strict regulations have to be set up to regulate the processing and regulation of
additives, especially microorganisms such as fungi, in food industries to deal with
any hazardous effects caused by them.
References
Ali M, Bibi A (2010) Production of pyrazine flavours by mycelial fungi (Doctoral dissertation,
University of Pretoria)
Alshannaq A, Yu JH (2017) Occurrence, toxicity, and analysis of major mycotoxins in food. Int J
Environ Res Public Health 14(6):632
Ayed L, Abid SB, Hamdi M (2017) Development of a beverage from red grape juice fermented
with the Kombucha consortium. Ann Microbiol 67(1):111–121
Baker S (2006) Aspergillus niger genomics: past, present and into the future. Med Mycol 44:17–21
Borodina I, Nielsen J (2014) Advances in metabolic engineering of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for production of chemicals. Biotechnol J 9(5):609–620
Brakhage A (2013) Regulation of fungal secondary metabolism. Nat Rev Microbiol 11:21–32
Burdock GA, Carabin IG (2004) Generally recognized as safe (GRAS): history and description.
Toxicol Lett 150(1):3–18
Carsanba E, Papanikolaou S, Fickers P, Agriman B, Erten H (2019) Citric acid production by
Yarrowia lipolytica. In: Sibirny A (ed) Non-conventional yeasts: from basic research to application, vol 38. Springer Nature, Cham, pp 91–117
N. Singh and S. Gaur
3.7 Concern of GRAS Ingredients
Despite the fact that food additives are regularly checked by regulatory agencies
before their launch in the market, still some of the food industries add hundreds of
food ingredients wilfully to human and animal foods without or very little knowledge by the government. That’s where it makes a loophole for the food companies
to escape from the diligent FDA legal inspection process (Manchanda et al. 2018).
There are so many food items in which food companies use ingredients such as
aroma, chemical preservatives and/or colouring agents without consumer concern
which can cause prompt danger to consumer health. It has been found that longterm usage of some of these food ingredients caused allergic reactions to consumers
(Shaw et al. 1997).
There are some food ingredients which are classified as GRAS but are carcinogenic in nature and had been used in many food items for a very long time. Quorn,
a readymade product and certified as GRAS, is a replacement of meat and is sold in
more than 18 countries. It has been found to contain a mycoprotein as a main food
ingredient which is a metabolic product of fungi Fusarium venenatum (Finnigan
2011). Quorn had faced many criticisms because of its bad health effects on the
consumers. Still, there are many food additives present in the market which have
been added in breakfast food, in frosted food, for stamina refreshment, etc.
(Frank 2007).
Various food associations and organizations had shown their concerns towards
the GRAS confirmation mechanism (Hallagan and Hall 2009). Many private organizations are also working on the improvisation of the GRAS confirmation process.
Some strict regulations have to be set up to regulate the processing and regulation of
additives, especially microorganisms such as fungi, in food industries to deal with
any hazardous effects caused by them.
References
Ali M, Bibi A (2010) Production of pyrazine flavours by mycelial fungi (Doctoral dissertation,
University of Pretoria)
Alshannaq A, Yu JH (2017) Occurrence, toxicity, and analysis of major mycotoxins in food. Int J
Environ Res Public Health 14(6):632
Ayed L, Abid SB, Hamdi M (2017) Development of a beverage from red grape juice fermented
with the Kombucha consortium. Ann Microbiol 67(1):111–121
Baker S (2006) Aspergillus niger genomics: past, present and into the future. Med Mycol 44:17–21
Borodina I, Nielsen J (2014) Advances in metabolic engineering of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for production of chemicals. Biotechnol J 9(5):609–620
Brakhage A (2013) Regulation of fungal secondary metabolism. Nat Rev Microbiol 11:21–32
Burdock GA, Carabin IG (2004) Generally recognized as safe (GRAS): history and description.
Toxicol Lett 150(1):3–18
Carsanba E, Papanikolaou S, Fickers P, Agriman B, Erten H (2019) Citric acid production by
Yarrowia lipolytica. In: Sibirny A (ed) Non-conventional yeasts: from basic research to application, vol 38. Springer Nature, Cham, pp 91–117
N. Singh and S. Gaur