Safety of Oxygreen®, an ozone treatment on wheat grains.Part 1. A four-week toxicity study in rats by dietary administration of treated wheat

Abstract

The Oxygreen® process is a new treatment approved by The French Food Safety Authority (AFSSA) as a processing aid for flour quality improvement, based on treatment by ozone, in a closed sequential batch reactor. This treatment takes place in the classical milling sequence, after the grain-cleaning step and before milling. The Oxygreen® process could also be used for its properties in wheat grain decontamination (insects, fungi, bacteria, mycotoxins, storage insecticides residues). The aim of this study was to determine if Oxygreen® treatment could induce in the grain the formation of processing-related substances, able to provoke adverse effects, after ingestion of the wheat and/or derived products, and to establish the safety of the Oxygreen® process for animals and consumers. A four-week toxicity study, according to OECD guideline No. 407, was performed on Dark agouti rats fed exclusively with wheat grains, treated or untreated with Oxygreen®. Clinical, haematological, blood biochemical, urinary and histopathological parameters were investigated during the study. The few modifications observed in animals given treated wheat were an increase of rectal temperature in females, a slight decrease of calcium concentration in males and slight decrease of certain blood cell number without clinical significances. This work shows that wheat treated by Oxygreen® does not induce adverse effects in Dark agouti rats after oral administration. Therefore wheat and derived products from wheat, after Oxygreen® treatment on grain, could be considered as safe for the consumer.

Keywords:

• Ozone, wheat
• decontamination
• toxicity
• processing-related substances
• Oxygreen
• flour