Public health departments in European countries have set off alarm bells in the cheese industry by focusing on the concentrations of histamine and tyramine being consumed by the population through cheeses. Therefore, in 2022, the GAZTAMINA project was launched in the Dairy Centre, demonstrating that high levels of these compounds are possibly being consumed in cheeses that are marketed in the Basque Country. Bearing in mind that in 2011 the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) indicated that R&D efforts should be focused on reducing the levels of biogenic amines found in all food, the Dairy Centre applied for the Basque government’s BERRIKER 2022 research grant to identify a combination of cultures used in the manufacture of pressed uncooked sheep’s milk cheese that will lead to safe products that are free of biogenic amines, while preserving its organoleptic quality.

The ELAMINA project, a continuation of GAZTAMINA, has been backed and, therefore, classified as a top priority by the Food Safety Research Coordination Committee that is headed by ELIKA, and the results achieved will be made freely available.

• Leartiker, S. Coop.

• Research on the effect of bacteria on the presence of biogenic amines in ripened cheeses.
• Identification of specific cultures that lead to high-quality cheeses that are free of histamine and/or tyramine.