Moisture & Temperature Control in Flour Silos – Is It a Food Safety Risk

Hello,

Our company is producing pastries and butter croissants and we have big silos for the storage of flour.

It seems that there is no control of the humidity or temperature in those silos.

This is a non-conformance?

What are the risks?

How to handle this to be compliant in the futur?

Thank you

Yes, uncontrolled humidity or temperature are indeed an issue in a flour silo.

Risks - I think the most significant risk is the formation of condensation owing to uncontrolled humidity and temperature resulting in mold growth and mycotoxin formation. Molds can grow at lower moisture than bacteria and the resulting mycotoxins are heat stable so cooking the flour will not remove them. Consumers are therefore at risk of illness from accumulation of these toxins in the body.

Control: Any of the following is generally used to control the humidity and temperature

- Aeration of the silo using fans/blowers - this was what was used at the factory I worked to control heat and humidity in our grain silos. I live in the tropics and the blowers works very well in our silos

- Desiccant Dehumidifiers - I am not familiar with this method but I see it in the research as an option. Maybe someone else here can let you know the advantages and disadvantages

You can also consider the periodo of the rotation (full and empty) of the silos. If it is faster you could not consider the umidity like a problem. You should consider it in you HACCP analysis and see what PRP are in place.

How many problem do you had with the formation of moulds? I think you keep the umidity at the arrive of the flour..... tray to validate the max period of storage of your flour in the silos.