Research Publications (Food Safety)

The objectives of this study were to detect bacteria on restaurant menus, to determine the bacterial transfer from menus to consumers' hands and to determine the survival of bacteria on menu surfaces. Local restaurant menus were sampled at different periods of operation. The average total plate count (TPC) was 28 (0–210) cfu/15 cm2 menu sampling area during “busy” periods and 15 (0–85) cfu/15 cm2 menu sampling area during “less busy” periods.

This study elucidated the effect of NaCl on the thermal resistance and cell morphology of Escherichia coli strains. E. coli O157:H7 NCCP11142, E. coli O111 ATCC12795 and E. coli O26 ATCC43887 were incubated in tryptic soy broth formulated with 0% NaCl (nonhabituated) as well as broth formulated with 2% and 4% NaCl (NaCl-habituated) at 35C. Nonhabituated, 2% NaCl-habituated and 4% NaCl-habituated E. coli O157:H7, E. coli O111 and E. coli O26 were heat-challenged at 50C.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) persists inside granulomas in the human lung. Analysis of the metabolic composition of granulomas from guinea pigs revealed that one of the organic acids accumulating in the course of infection is acetate (1), which might result either from metabolism of the pathogen, or might be provided by the host himself. Our studies characterize a metabolic pathway by which Mtb generates acetate in the cause of fatty acid catabolism.

Intensive animal farming could potentially lead to outbreaks of infectious diseases. Clinicians are at the forefront of detecting unusual diseases, but the lack of specificity of zoonotic disease symptoms makes this a challenging task. We evaluated patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) with known and unknown aetiology in an area with a high livestock density and a potential association with animal farms in the proximity.

Publication date: February 2016
, Volume 60
Author(s): Mohamad Es'haghi Gorji, Reza Ahmadkhaniha, Mojtaba Moazzen, Masud Yunesian, Ali Azari, Noushin Rastkari

Publication date: February 2016
, Volume 60
Author(s): Xiaojuan Yang, Jiahui Huang, Qingping Wu, Jumei Zhang, Shengrong Liu, Weipeng Guo, Shuzhen Cai, Shubo Yu

Publication date: Available online 26 July 2015

Author(s): Kun Xiong, Zhijin Chen, Chunyue Zhu, Jianhua Li, Xiaomei Hu, Xiancai Rao, Yanguang Cong

Publication date: February 2016
, Volume 60
Author(s): Peter Tölgyessy, Zuzana Miháliková

Publication date: February 2016
, Volume 60
Author(s): Marcel H. Zwietering, Liesbeth Jacxsens, Jeanne-Marie Membré, Maarten Nauta, Mats Peterz

Publication date: February 2016
, Volume 60
Author(s): Dong Joo Seo, Su Been Jeon, Hyejin Oh, Bog-Hieu Lee, Sook-Young Lee, Seung Hyun Oh, Ji Youn Jung, Changsun Choi

Publication date: February 2016
, Volume 60
Author(s): P.F. Ababio, K.D.A. Taylor, M. Swainson, B.A. Daramola

Publication date: December 2015
, Volume 52
Author(s): Jana Juránková, Walter Basso, Helena Neumayerová, Anita Frencová, Vojtech Baláž, Peter Deplazes, Břetislav Koudela

Ochratoxin A (OTA), a potentially carcinogenic mycotoxin which contaminates grains, is produced by several Aspergillus species. A comparative sequence analysis of the OTA-producing Aspergillus ochraceus fc-1 strain and other Aspergillus species was performed. Two new OTA-related polyketide synthase (PKS) (AoOTApks) genes were identified. The predicted amino acid sequence of AoOTApks-1 displayed high similarity to previously identified PKSs from OTA-producing A.

In the scientific field, there is a progressive awareness about the potential implications of food processing on mycotoxins especially concerning thermal treatments. High temperatures may cause, in fact, transformation or degradation of these compounds. This work is aimed to study the fate of mycotoxins during bakery processing, focusing on deoxynivalenol (DON) and deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside (DON3Glc), along the chain of industrial rusk production.

Publication date: February 2016
, Volume 60
Author(s): J.M.P.J. Garrido, V. Rahemi, F. Borges, C.M.A. Brett, E.M.P.J. Garrido

Publication date: February 2016
, Volume 60
Author(s): Lingling Wang, Minhui Zhang, Danfeng Zhang, Lei Zhang

Publication date: February 2016, Volume 60 Author(s): Samantha Shinbaum, Philip G. Crandall, Corliss A. O'Bryan The signing of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) into law in 2011 elevated the FDA into a significantly higher, international operational role to implement a new, prevention-oriented, systems-wide approaches to food safety for the entire spectrum of non-meat foods.

Niladri Sekhar Chatterjee, Kaushik Banerjee, Sagar Utture, Narayan Kamble, B. Madhusudana Rao, Satyen Kumar Panda, Suseela Mathew

In May 2013, Italy declared a national outbreak of hepatitis A, which also affected several foreign tourists who had recently visited the country. Molecular investigations identified some cases as infected with an identical strain of hepatitis A virus subgenotype IA.

As it became evident recently, extracellular DNA could be a versatile nutrient source of the facultative pathogen Vibrio cholerae along the different stages of its life cycle. By the use of two extracellular nucleases and periplasmic phosphatases, V. cholerae degrades extracellular DNA to nucleosides. In this study, we investigated the nucleoside uptake via identification and characterization of VCA0179, VC1953 and VC2352 representing the three nucleoside transport systems in V. cholerae.

Background

The prion protein-encoding gene (PRNP) is one of the major determinants for scrapie occurrence in sheep and goats. However, its effect on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) transmission to goats is not clear.

Methods

Background

Cell-culture-derived (CC) influenza vaccine production methods could provide benefits over classical embryonated-egg technology, including a higher production capacity and the faster creation of a supply that meets demand.

Methods