Research Publications (Food Safety)

Toxins, Vol. 10, Pages 141: Dose-Response Modelling of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) in Humans

Toxins doi: 10.3390/toxins10040141

Authors:
Nathalie Arnich
Anne Thébault

ABSTRACTAvian leukosis virus subgroup K (ALV-K) is an emerging ALV tumor virus of chickens. We developed a SYBR green-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the rapid and economical detection of ALV-K in chicken flocks. The assay was specific for ALV-K and did not cross-react with other ALV subgroup or avian influenza virus, Newcastle disease virus, or Marek's Disease virus.

Angelina Münster, Corina Knipper, Vicky M. Oelze, Nicole Nicklisch, Marcus Stecher, Björn Schlenker, Robert Ganslmeier, Matthias Fragata, Susanne Friederich, Veit Dresely, Vera Hubensack, Guido Brandt, Hans-Jürgen Döhle, Werner Vach, Ralf Schwarz, Carola Metzner-Nebelsick, Harald Meller, Kurt W. Alt

Thomas J. Hagenaars, Marielle B. Melchior, Jack J. Windig, Alex Bossers, Aart Davidse, Fred G. van Zijderveld

The past decade has seen a surge in the scientific literature investigating the potential food-related applications of plasma. A multidisciplinary scientific effort has started to demonstrate process efficacy for a range of plasma applications, including antimicrobial, pesticidal, food functionalization, and waste treatment. Insights into the interactions of plasma species with food and the mechanisms of action are also emerging.

Sequencing technologies have deeply changed our approach to the study of food microbial communities. This review describes recent exploitations of high-throughput sequencing applications to improve our knowledge of food microbial consortia. In the past 10 years, target amplicon sequencing has become routinely used in many food microbiology laboratories, providing a detailed picture of food-associated microbiota.

Radio-frequency (RF) heating, as a thermal-processing technology, has been extending its applications in the food industry. Although RF has shown some unique advantages over conventional methods in industrial drying and frozen food thawing, more research is needed to make it applicable for food safety applications because of its complex heating mechanism.

Patrícia T. dos Santos, Pilar Menendez-Gil, Dharmesh Sabharwal, Jens-Henrik Christensen, Maja Z. Brunhede, Eva M. S. Lillebæk, Birgitte H. Kallipolitis

Nicole Roschanski, Jennie Fischer, Linda Falgenhauer, Michael Pietsch, Sebastian Guenther, Lothar Kreienbrock, Trinad Chakraborty, Yvonne Pfeifer, Beatriz Guerra, Uwe H. Roesler

Saskia Neuert, Satheesh Nair, Martin R. Day, Michel Doumith, Philip M. Ashton, Kate C. Mellor, Claire Jenkins, Katie L. Hopkins, Neil Woodford, Elizabeth de Pinna, Gauri Godbole, Timothy J. Dallman

Heat treatments are widely used in food processing often with the aim of reducing or eliminating spoilage microorganisms and pathogens in food products. The efficacy of applying heat to control microorganisms is challenged by the natural diversity of microorganisms with respect to their heat robustness.

There has been considerable concern related to Cronobacter spp. in foods, especially due to their highlighted association with neonatal infections through the ingestion of reconstituted powdered infant formula (PIF). This concern resulted in improved microbiological criteria recommendations by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and revised WHO advice on the preparation of infant feeds.

Low-moisture foods (LMFs) have been defined as those food products with a water activity (aw) less than 0.85 and are generally considered less susceptible to microbial spoilage and the growth of foodborne pathogens. However, in recent years, outbreaks linked to LMFs have increased, with Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Cronobacter sakazakii, Clostridium spp., Escherichia coli O157:H7, non-O157 E. coli, and Staphylococcus aureus being the principal pathogens involved.

ABSTRACTSalmonella spp. are among the most common foodborne pathogens, and increase in the occurrence of antimicrobial drug-resistant Salmonella poses a severe risk to public health. The main objective of this study was to determine changes in Salmonella prevalence and their antimicrobial resistance on poultry farms following recommendations to changes in biosecurity practices.

Publication date: Available online 26 March 2018


Author(s): Nadja Saile, Lisa Schwarz, Kristina Eißenberger, Jochen Klumpp, Florian W. Fricke, Herbert Schmidt

Vibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative bacterium with a monotrichous flagellum that causes the human disease cholera. Flagellar-mediated motility is an integral part of the bacterial lifecycle inside the host and in the aquatic environment. The V. cholerae flagellar filament is composed of five flagellin subunits (FlaA, FlaB, FlaC, FlaD, FlaE), however only FlaA is necessary and sufficient for filament synthesis.

Vibrio cholerae is a natural inhabitant of aquatic ecosystems. Some strains of V. cholerae can colonize the human host and cause cholera, a profuse watery diarrhea. The major pathogenicity factors and virulence regulators of V. cholerae are either encoded in mobile genetic elements acquired in the environment (e.g. pathogenicity islands or lysogenic phages) or in the core genome. Several lines of evidence indicate that the emergence of numerous virulence traits of V.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a foodborne pathogen, and serotype O157:H7 is typically associated with severe disease. Australia is unique in its STEC epidemiology, as severe cases are typically associated with non-O157 serogroups, and locally acquired O157 isolates are H-negative/nonmotile.

We compared the performances of various DNA extraction kits for their ability to recover Brucella abortus strain 19 inoculated into Brucella-free bovine tissues. Tissues were homogenized in a FastPrep bead homogenizer and extracted in triplicate by using one of five kits (Qiagen DNeasy, GE Illustra, Omega Bio-tek E.Z.N.A., Quanta Extracta, and IBI Science DNA Tissue kit).

Ceftaroline fosamil was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2010 and by the European Medicines Agency in 2012. As of April 2017, only one commercial antimicrobial susceptibility testing device offered a Gram-negative panel that included ceftaroline. This circumstance is unfortunate, as many clinical microbiology laboratories rely solely on commercial devices to generate in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing results for common bacterial pathogens.

The detection of campylobacters in stools is performed essentially by culture, but this technique has a low sensitivity. New detection methods are now available. Among them, immunochromatography tests (ICTs) are very attractive in that they offer a result within 15 min. However, previous studies suggest that these tests have a relatively low specificity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of these tests.

Naturally occurring functional variants (rs148314165 and rs200820567, collectively referred to as TT>A) reduce the expression of the tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3) gene, a negative regulator of NF-B signaling, and predispose individuals to autoimmune disease.

Publication date: September 2018
, Volume 91

Author(s): Wenqing Xu, Melissa Cater, Rebecca Gravois, Christine Navarre, Diana Coulon, Dorra Djebbi-Simmons, Austin Wong

Publication date: July 2018
Source:LWT, Volume 93

Author(s): A.M. Cruz-Gálvez, J. Castro-Rosas, M.L. Rodríguez-Marín, A. Cadena-Ramírez, A. Tellez-Jurado, X. Tovar-Jiménez, E.A. Chavez-Urbiola, A. Abreu-Corona, C.A. Gómez-Aldapa

Toxins, Vol. 10, Pages 138: The Impact of T-2 Toxin on Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide-Like Immunoreactive (VIP-LI) Nerve Structures in the Wall of the Porcine Stomach and Duodenum

Toxins doi: 10.3390/toxins10040138

Authors:
Krystyna Makowska
Kazimierz Obremski
Slawomir Gonkowski