Survey of UK Grown Cereals

The UK Home Grown Cereal Association, HGCA, has recently unveiled a survey of contaminants in UK grown cereals.

This project is the latest in a series looking at the occurrence of key contaminants in UK-grown cereals to ensure compliance with legal and guideline limits for food and animal feedstuffs. The project covered wheat, barley and oats from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 harvests.

Samples of each type of grain were collected immediately after harvest and after storage of up to six months. The contaminants selected were mycotoxins (Fusarium toxins, Ochratoxin A and ergot alkaloids), pesticides, including some growth regulators and desiccants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and heavy metals.

The report presents the levels of each contaminant present, with the overwhelming majority of samples being within legal tolerances. Presence of Mycotoxins is presented which indicates the seasonal variation as expected for those Mycotoxins persisting from fungal contamination of the cereal crop during the growing and flowering periods.

The full report can be accessed from the HGCA website here

For more information on grain quality assessment please contact one of the Adesco Team.