Addition of selected cereal grains as non-dairy ingredients to dairy products: A microbiological risk assessment approach

The addition of cereal grains to dairy products in the dairy industry has the potential to contaminate final products with pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. In this study, the microbial risks involved in the addition of cereal grains to dairy products with low, intermediate, and high-water activity/moisture content were assessed using a semi-quantitative risk assessment method. The results showed that the most critical microbiological hazard in the selected cereal grains is Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) due to its ability to form spores and persist in cereal grains. The addition of cereal grains to dairy products with high water activity/moisture content such as liquid breakfast products were found to pose the highest theoretical risk, and processing mitigations, such as UHT, would need to be implemented. The results of this study have identified some knowledge gaps in conducting risk assessments and have also provided background information about the microbial risks involved in the addition of cereal grains to dairy products.