We Claim:
1. Method for the prophylactic treatment of the development of parasites
in a food product with a powder comprising more than 40% by weight of an
alkali metal bicarbonate, wherein the powder is in the form of particles having a
medium particle size of at most 300 urn,
and said treatment comprising mixing the powder with the food product,
characterized in that:
at most 1000 ppm by weight of the powder is mixed with the food product, wherein 'at most 1000 ppm' means 'at most 1000 mg of the powder reported to one kg of food product.
2. The method according to claim 1 wherein at most 500 ppm by weight, preferably at most 300 ppm by weight, more preferably at most 200 ppm by weight, even more preferably at most 100 ppm by weight of the powder is mixed with the food product.
3. The method according to claims 1 or 2, wherein at least 10 ppm of the powder is mixed with the food product.
4. The method according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the powder comprises at least 50, preferably at least 85 % by weight of the alkali metal bicarbonate.
5. The method according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the alkali metal bicarbonate is chosen from: sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, sodium sesquicarbonate, trona, and mixtures thereof.
6. The method according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the powder comprises at least 1 wt. % of a co-formulant chosen from: a silica, a diatomaceous earth, an alkaline-earth metal silicate, a clay, a montmorillonite, a zeolite, or mixtures thereof.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the powder comprises at most 50 % by weight, preferably at most 15% by weight of the co-formulant.

8. The method according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the medium particle size of the powder is at most 100 um, or preferably at most 70 um.
9. The method according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the food product is grain seeds chosen from: Cereals (such as wheat, rice, maize, sorghum), "pseudocereals" (grains of the family Polygonaceae such as buckwheat; or grains of the family Chenopodiaceae such as: quinoa, amaranth; or grains of Pedaliaceae such as: sesame); oil plants (such as: rapeseed, sunflower, peanut, linum); legume seeds; and beans (such as horse beans, French beans, lentils and peas, or beans of the family Fabaceae), or nuts .

10. The method according to anyone of the preceding claims for preventing an increase in population of parasite in the food product during storage, wherein the powder in the food product is added at a dose so that the mortality rate of parasite in contact with food product at a temperature of at 23.5°C +/- 1.5°C and at 61.5% +/- 1.5% relative humidity, is at most 15+/-4% after 7 days.
11. The method according to the preceding claim wherein the powder in the food product is added at a dose so that the mortality rate of parasite in contact with food product at a temperature of at 23.5°C +/- 1.5°C and at 61.5% +/- 1.5% relative humidity is at most the mortality of the parasite compared to their mortality in the absence of food.
12. The method according to anyone of the preceding claims wherein the parasite is selected from at least one of: Tribolium confusum, Sitophilus granarius (grain weevil), Sitophilus oryza (rice weevil), Rhizopertha dominica (lesser grain borer), Sitotroga cereallela, Acanthoscelides obtectu, Bruchus pisorum, Cryptolestes turcicus, Trogoderma granarium, or Ephestia kuehniella (flour moth).
13. Food product, having a shape of a grain or of a bean or of a nut, wherein said shape defining a surface, and having on said surface at least 10 ppm and at most 1000 ppm in weight, reported to the total weight of the food product, of a powder comprising more than 40% by weight of an alkali metal bicarbonate, and wherein the powder is in the form of particles having a medium particle size of at most 300 um.

14. Food product, according to the preceding claim wherein mortality rate
ofSitophilus Oryza (Rice weevil), in contact with said food product, and
measured at a temperature of 23.5°C +/- 1.5°C and at 61.5% +/- 1.5% relative
humidity, measured with 50 parasite individuals in contact with 2 kg of food
product, is at least 34% of individuals after 7 days,
and at most after 15 days the one in same conditions but deprived of food.
15. Use of a powder comprising more than 40% by weight of an alkali
metal bicarbonate, wherein the powder is in the form of particles having a
medium particle size of at most 300 urn, according to the method of anyone of
the claims 1 to 12, for:
- its combined prophylactic effect against the development in the food product of insects, acarids, fungi, and mycotoxins;
- and/or improving dust separation when the food product is in the form of grains, beans or nuts;
- and/or decreasing fire and explosion hazards in silo when handling and storing said food product.