Regulations - Food Biopreservation - page 111

used in the processing of raw materials, foods or their ingredients, to fulfi ll a certain
technological purpose during treatment or processing; and (3) may result in the
unintentional but technically unavoidable presence in the fi nal product of residues
of the substance or its derivatives provided they do not present any health risk and
do not have any technological effect on the fi nal product. According to this defi ni-
tion, bacteriocins could be applied as processing aids for the preservation of food
ingredients, whereby the bacteriocin has no preservative or technological effect in
the fi nal food product.
Application of bacteriocins in activated packagings must follow specifi cations of
Directive 2002/72/EC (European Parliament and Council 2002b ) concerning plastic
materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs and Regulation
(EC) No 1935/2004 (European Parliament and Council 2004 ) on materials and arti-
cles intended to come into contact with food: Active food contact materials are
designed to deliberately incorporate 'active' components intended to be released
into the food or to absorb substances from the food: “'active food contact materials
and articles' (hereinafter referred to as active materials and articles) means materi-
als and articles that are intended to extend the shelf-life or to maintain or improve
the condition of packaged food. They are designed to deliberately incorporate com-
ponents that would release or absorb substances into or from the packaged food or
the environment surrounding the food.” Substances deliberately incorporated into
active materials and articles to be released into the food or the environment sur-
rounding the food shall be authorised and used in accordance with the relevant
Community provisions applicable to food, and shall comply with the provisions of
this Regulation and its implementing measures. These substances shall be consid-
ered as ingredients. Covering or coating materials forming part of the food and pos-
sibly being consumed with it (such as edible coatings) do not fall within the scope
of this Regulation.
Bacteriocin-producing strains may be applied as starter or bioprotective cultures
with the aim of contributing to microbiological safety (Aymerich et al. 2008 ). For
example, Bactoferm F-Lc (Christian Hansen, Denmark) is an antilisterial mixed
culture of Pediococcus acidilactici and Lactobacillus curvatus producing pediocin
and sakacin A, respectively for application in fermented sausages. The same com-
pany also sells bioprotective cultures containing Lactobacillus sakei , and
Leuconostoc carnosum 4010 for meat products packed under vacuum or modifi ed
atmosphere packaging (MAP), and a nisin-producing Lactococcus lactis prepara-
tion. Danisco (Copenhaguen, Denmark) markets a series of protective cultures
(HOLDBAC™) for specifi c applications in meat and dairy foods based on their
capacity to produce bcteriocins as well as other antimicrobial compounds and their
competition in food systems. Such preparations include mainly strains of
Lactobacillus plantarum , Lactobacillus rhamnosus , L. sakei , Lactobacillus paraca-
sei and Propionibacterium freundenreichii subsp. shermanii ), whose primary func-
tionalities are growth control of Gram-positive pathogens such as Listeria , spoilage
microorganisms such as yeasts and moulds, heterofermentative lactic bacteria, and
enterococci. Such strains have not been subjected to genetic modifi cation, but the
company advertises that local regulations should always be consulted concerning