In Europe wheat, barley and maize are significant components/ingredients in food and feed processing. These materials are known to be commonly colonised by Fusarium mould species, which are able to produce a range of mycotoxins which can be dangerous and create a risk to humans and animals. Cereals are economically very important in the EU food production system, and in imported raw materials, particularly maize. Key entry points into processed foods includes via bread and bakery products, breakfast cereals, snacks, and beer, and via compounded animal feeds. The major Fusarium mycotoxins which can enter the food chain in temperate cereals: wheat,  barley and oats are the trichothecenes (especially T-2 toxin, nivalenol, deoxynivalenol (DON)), and zearalenone, and in maize: fumonisins, DON and zearalenone produced by Fusarium section Liseola species and F.graminearum. There is growing concern in Europe for ways in which these fungi and their mycotoxins can be prevented from entering the human and animal food chain.

The aim of this multidisciplinary project is the use of a HACCP framework to examine and identify key points in the food production chain where prevention strategies can be effectively implemented. The project is thus examining systems of pre-harvest crop treatment, post-harvest control systems including novel natural preservatives, and biological and physico-chemical means of detoxifying mycotoxins. This should help identify the feasibility and the critical points where corrective measures can have a controlling effect for prevention of the entry of these important mycotoxins into the food chain. The best combinations of treatments in the chain will be utilised in the framework of  HACCP.

The work plan is divided into 5 major tasks:

Task 1: Development of critical control systems: Use of ecological and control data for developing a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system for identification, reduction and prevention of the risk of Fusarium mycotoxins entering the food chain.

	Task 2: Pre-harvest Biocontrol: Development of biocompetitive strains for preharvest control and competitive exclusion of toxigenic fusaria, in cereal (wheat/barley/oats/maize) production.
	Task 3: Post-harvest control: Novel natural control food-grade systems will be used for control of mycotoxigenic species and mycotoxins into food.
	Task 4: Decontamination using microbial inoculants for prevention of entry into animal production systems: Bacteria and yeasts will be used for the breakdown of mycotoxins in stored cereals.
	Task 5. Decontamination using physico/chemical  means. Adsorbent materials and biomarkers will be used to assess the exposure to Fusarium mycotoxins (i.e. sphinganine/sphingasine ratio for fumonisins) to quantify the effectiveness of treatments.

The main food contamination systems to be examined in this project are:

Wheat/barley/oats: F.culmorum, F.avenaceum, F.graminaerum

Mycotoxins: trichothecenes (nivalenol, DON, T-2), zearelenone

Maize: F.graminearum, F.verticilloides (F.moniliforme) and F.proliferatum.