CLEAN: Are current cleaning methods in the food industry effective against fish and shellfish allergens?

Organized on January 12, 2021, the restitution of the CLEAN project, financed by France Filière Pêche (France Fishing Sector) within the framework of the call for projects Enjeux immédiats Aval 2019 (Immediate Stakes Ahead of 2019), hosted about forty participants.

The objective of the CLEAN project is to determine the effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection methods currently used in the aquatic products industry (fish trading, cutting, freezing, etc.) with respect to fish and shellfish allergens.

It is in this context that AQUIMER and the project partners, ACTALIA, represented by Bernard Picoche and Sawsen Zouaghi, and the University of Lorraine, represented by Gisèle Kanny, shared the results of their research conducted over a year.

The presentation began with a bibliographical study that highlighted the influence of agri-food technologies on the allergenicity of seafood products. The presentation then continued with the spread of the results of experiments conducted in the laboratory to test the effectiveness of current cleaning methods encountered by the industrial partners of the project. Finally, this presentation ended with perspectives of applied research to continue to improve our knowledge on allergen removal.

"(...) Allergens don't only come from food products, they can also come from cleaning procedures. (...)" Sawsen Zouaghi