Be careful with the Biogenic Animes – Fergal Rattray

Be careful with the Biogenic Amines

Histamine and tyramine can become a challenge for cheese producers especially in products with low salt content, produced from raw milk or with long ripening times. Professor Fergal Rattray advices the dairies to remember this small, but important risk.

Salmonella and listeria can make any dairy person fearful. These dangerous bacteria can be life-threatening and any dairy will be in serious difficulty, if their products become contaminated with theses microorganisms. A less serious issue is that of biogenic amines such as histamine and tyramine which are produced from certain strains of lactic acid bacteria. These compounds may be present in ripened cheeses at a low levels, and normally do not present serious problems to consumers. However, at high levels (greater than 400 ppm) facial flushing Professor Fergal Rattray advices the dairies to or burning throat may depay attention til Biogenic velop – the symptoms will Aminces. normally disappear after about one hour. A very small part of the population (less than 1 pct.) may be sensitive to histamine at even lower concentrations (20-50 ppm).

Right now Pofessor Fergal Rattray at the Department of Food Science, University of Copenhagen does not see a big problem in Denmark with biogenic amines. - I guess that most of the incidences in Denmark, which are not even registered, are from imported cheese products – and mostly from raw milk cheese, Fergal Rattray says. Nevertheless, the professor wants to remind the dairies to be conscious about the risks of biogenic amines. - In these years you see several development projects with focus on low salt content or the use of raw milk – of course with a very high awarness about salmonella and listeria. But if you forget about biogenic amines, we risk another food safety issue in our dairy products, he says.

Contamination with biogenic amine producing lactic acid bacteria can be caused by poor hygiene, low salt content or raw milk products. - But also when you change your production process – and maybe the cleaning procedure, you should be particularly careful with the risk of developing high biogenic amine content, Fergal Rattray says. LW

Biogenic amines – Histamine & Tyramine

1. Most long ripened cheeses have some biogenic amines present 2. Level is critical - higher than 400 ppm (histamine) is of concern 3. No regulatory control of

BAs in cheese 4. Production technology is critical. Highest risk associated with • Raw milk • Poor hygiene • Low salt • Long ripening time