Application of kefir for reduction of contaminants in the food industry: A systematic review

Nowadays, food contamination is a worldwide issue at all levels of food production and a serious threat to the quality and safety of animal feed and human food. There are various physical, chemical, and biological methods for the reduction of contaminants in the food industry. Considering the increasing demand for more natural and less heavily processed foods, biological approaches have been gaining more attention in recent years. In addition, biological strategies demonstrated special advantages including high efficiency, less energy consumption, and less environmental damage. Biosorption is an efficient and reliable method that adsorbs and converts contaminants including heavy metals, pesticides, and fungal toxins into compounds with less, or no toxicity. In this paper, we review the variety of kefir beverage functions against food contaminants. Moreover, we emphasise the need for further research on the application of kefir beverages for different contaminants in various types of foods.