Evaluation of the effect of high pressure carbon dioxide-pasteurized food on animal health

High pressure-carbon dioxide processing (HPCDP) is used as a non-thermal technology for food pasteurization to produce newer flavors for bread. However, there is no evidence that this process does not produce undesirable toxic materials. To confirm the safety of high pressure carbon dioxide-processed food, we fed high pressure carbon dioxide-processed bread to mice and evaluated their health by monitoring body weight, stress biomarkers, and gut microbiota. There was no significant difference in the body weight of normal and HPCDP bread-fed mice. Similarly, no significant difference in expression of genes important for maintaining the health of the mice was found. Although the mice’s gut microbiota showed a significant difference between the control and the two bread-fed groups, there was no significant difference between the HPCDP and the normal bread-fed groups. Therefore, we found no conclusive evidence to suggest that the processed bread contained toxic materials in comparison to the unprocessed bread.