SAFE bread TIN: lowering energy and contaminants in bread and rusk tins – SATIN

The project is based on an in depth study of the bread-pan interface (heat transfer & biochemical reactions during baking) in order to determine the means to lower the baking temperature and by the way to reduce the risk associated to EC and NFC. An automatic baking machine will be developed to carry out ageing tests of anti-stick coating in well defined conditions. Modeling of the heat transfer between the mould and the bread will allow a better understanding of the temperature evolution at the mould-bread interface and of the crust formation. Chemical reactions describing crust formation (in particular formation of NFC and interactions between polymers of the anti-stick coating and of the crust) will be developed. These approaches will allow a better understanding of the links between the degree of ageing of the anti-stick coating, the structure of the crust and the presence of EC and NFC.

In parallel, non destructive testing equipments of the anti-stick coating based on optical properties will be developed; the presence of EC and NFC will be considered to determine the end of the life of the anti-stick coating.

The testing equipments and innovative pans will be implemented in industry conditions: two set of prototype baking pans will be tested to assess the degree of ageing of the anti-stick coating. These results will permit the complete the models and studies carried out on contaminants.

SATIN aims at developing methodologies, equipments and technological solutions resulting in the production of healthy and sustainable breads. Main expected outcomes :
- More durable anti-stick coating ; solutions will be developed to extend the shelf life of perfluorinated coating for the benefice of the environment and of the health of consumers meanwhile i twill be attempted to reduce the energy demand for baking.
- Sensors to assess the ageing of the ant-stick coating; a non destructive sensor will be designed and tested in industry to detect the end of life of the anti-stick coating.
- Sensor to detect NFC (neoformed compounds); a non destructive sensor will be evaluated and tested in industry to detect the presence of NFC in breads.
- Innovative baking processes ; a better control of the baking and a low temperature baking technology will be developed with the objective of reducing at the same time the chemical risk and the energy demand.
- European standards; thanks to a partnership with the European reference laboratory on food contact material, it is envisaged to support the evolution of European standards and in particular to establish protocols to assess and qualify anti-stick coatings.
- A guide of good practice related to perfluorinated anti-stick coating used for baking will be written and made available. A final workshop will help for the transfer of the project’s result towards the European baking industry.

An important issue lies in the production of missing data needed for the improvement of the French and European regulations on food contact material undergoing multiple thermal cycles. Complementary researches could be envisaged in the field of baking technologies and in the field of chemistry and physics of surfaces to develop new anti-stick coating dedicated to baking applications. This project could also yield in research project on other anti-stick coating such as silicone and on other field of baking (viennoiserie, tartes, pies, ….).

A Poster has been presented at the FOOD FACTORY 2012 congress held in LAVAL – France. It attracted the interest of the EHEDG (European Hygenic Equipment Design Group), which has taken contact with SATIN consortium.

Processing can induce contaminants in food, especially when high temperature is reached. This is the case of bakery, whose products can contain neoformed contaminants (NFC) from inoffensive precursors in the dough and exogenous contaminants (EC) transferred from the support coating at the interface. EU regulations do not appropriately cover these fields and industrials are missing the tools and protocols to produce breads safely. In particular the existing food simulants and migration tests are not adapted to baking supports.

SATIN will focus on Pan Bread and Rusk baked most of the time with Perfluorinated (PFC) coated pans. These two cases represent the main utilization of these coating with effective sticking and ageing problems. SATIN aims at developing technologies and knowhow which will allow the production of pan (tin) bread and rusk with (i) a reduced energy demand for baking by exploring ways to reduce oven temperature with even sensorial qualities and (ii) a better control of the chemical risks associated to perfluorinated antistick coating. One of the challenges lies in the assessment of the ageing of antistick coating in industry and in correlating the ageing with either the baking practices (pan temperature) or the risk of release of EC in the product. SATIN will concomitantly look at both NFC and EC and related their formation to various parameters influenced by food processing.

Key objectives are (i) to assess the exposure of EC in particular PFC, (ii) to develop ageing tests in the case of baking support, (iii) to develop testing equipment(s) to monitor the ageing of the coating and to assess the conditions of an anti-stick coating to detect its end of life by analysing the crust condition and the volatiles in the baking oven and (iv) to develop innovative pan coating structure which will permit to mitigate the risk of transfer of PFC in the products. This will be supported by a transversal approach based on a reduction of the baking temperature and by the way of the baking energy. SATIN proposes a “win-win” strategy to reduce the EC and NFC while extending the shelf life of the coating; in turns, it will result in a reduction of the baking energy and a reduction of chemical waste generated when refurbishing used coating. SATIN will contribute to the improvement of the French and European regulation on Food Contact Material (FCM). SATIN will alsoinvestigate vacuum baking to reduce the baking temperature and baking energy with the objective of extending the life span of the antistick coating.