Grain Monitoring Project

A new UK-wide project to co-ordinate the monitoring of grain and grain-derived co-products for potential contaminants is being funded by HGCA.

This will give the UK grain chain a strong foundation for meeting its due diligence requirements.

Dr Roger Williams, HGCA assistant director of research, said: “Purchasers and end-users of grain and grain-derived products need assurance that what they buy is safe and meets legal levels for contaminants, such as pesticides, mycotoxins and heavy metals.

“This ongoing monitoring for contaminants in UK grain is vital to support home and overseas sales by providing representative and independent data.”

Led by Dr Denise Baxter at BRi, and in partnership with CCFRA, the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC), MAGB and nabim, the project will cover malting barley and malt, milling wheat and grain and grain-derived co-products for animal feed. “The UK malting industry values this independent monitoring work, which gives valuable cross checks to food safety assurance in the malt supply chain,” said Ivor Murrell, of the Maltsters Association of Great Britain.

Judith Nelson, feed sector head at AIC, said: “The animal feed compounding industry is the major user of home produced grain and we see this co-ordinated work as being a vital component in meeting due diligence requirements and delivering safe product.”

Companies within each sector provide samples, collected at intake, of grain entering the food and feed chains. The method and timing of sampling, sample number and geographic distribution will be agreed each year to provide a good representation of UK cereals as a whole.

Samples are analysed for several potential contaminants using validated methods. Results from the project will be disseminated through the participating trade associations, together with annual reports on the HGCA website.