Current knowledge of food safety is based on traditional foods that include animal products. Corresponding knowledge of plant-based foods lags behind. "There is a naive belief that plant-based food is safer than animal-based food. Unfortunately, this is not the case," says Jenny Schelin, a researcher on food safety at Lund University in Sweden.
"Plant-based foods are just as vulnerable to the same pathogens we find in meat, fish, milk and eggs."
According to Jenny Schelin, experts agree that sooner or later, we will need to eat fewer animal products. There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, the transition is a prerequisite for reducing the climate impact arising from food production. While meat production does contribute to promoting open landscapes and biodiversity, it also requires large amounts of land, water and feed relative to the quantity of food produced.
Secondly, updated nutritional recommendations state that a higher intake of vegetables is beneficial for health, especially in adults who are no longer growing. Thirdly, locally grown crops and vegetables make us less vulnerable in case of crisis and war.
Several serious cases in recent years
Against this backdrop, we also need to increase our knowledge and awareness of the risks associated with plant-based foods, says Jenny Schelin.
"We have to learn how to cook these new ingredients to avoid food poisoning from lectins in beans that are not properly cooked, for example."
In recent years, several cases of serious food poisoning have arisen globally involving plant-based foods contaminated with classic foodborne pathogens such as listeria, salmonella and Clostridium botulinum.
"We know a lot about animal-based foods and are well aware of the risk of pathogens being present. This knowledge is not nearly as extensive when it comes to plant-based raw materials, manufacturing processes and ready-to-eat products, which has sometimes led to an underestimation of the risks, including people becoming seriously ill."
Many new foods on the way
A great deal of research and development is currently underway to find several new raw materials and to develop new plant-based foods, either as ingredients or ready-to-eat products. Jenny Schelin provides a few examples:
"These include flours from new crops, different types of plant-based beverages and complex ready-made meals such as plant-based alternatives to meat. Incidentally, this doesn't just pertain to plants - insect flour is another example."
Jenny Schelin explains that plant-based semi-prepared products often require more manufacturing steps. In other words, there are several junctures when something could go wrong and a risk could be introduced.
More ingredients and manufacturing steps
"Adding a manufacturing step means adding a risk," she says and gives plant-based alternatives with a meat-like texture as an example:
"First you make a protein powder from the plant, which is then turned into a dough that is subsequently shaped, flavoured and perhaps breaded. All these elements require several manufacturing steps and often lots of different ingredients for the plant-based option."
She emphasises, however, that this is not at all an issue when you are in control of all the manufacturing steps and ingredients - and the result is tasty, safe plant-based alternatives that she often eats herself.
"But it is certainly more complex and requires a lot of knowledge compared to boiling peas and eating them as they are!"
More difficult to clean
Residue from plant-based foods can also be more difficult to wash off after production is finished.
Among other things, plants contain more fibres that can get stuck in the manufacturing equipment, says Jenny Schelin.
"This can cause microbiological issues if the residue left over from the previous production run contains bacterial spores that could end up in the product manufactured in the next production run," she says.
"We need to think about the design of the equipment, and the cleaning methods need to be adapted to the new raw materials that we are now starting to prepare."
Passing on knowledge
Jenny Schelin emphasises that knowledge of food safety must constantly be maintained, expanded and renewed, and be communicated and taught to our younger generations - especially as we start eating new foods.
"In terms of both contingency planning and new foodstuffs, individual consumers must know how to store, handle and prepare food from scratch in their own kitchen," she says.
"We live in an incredibly privileged environment where access to water, refrigeration, freezing, energy and safe ready-to-eat food is taken for granted. But this has also made us vulnerable and serves to remind us that more knowledge, awareness and insight are always needed," she concludes.
