Research Publications (Food Safety)

by Jacob J. Capelle, Eva Hartog, Tony Wilkes, Tjeerd J. Bouma Aggregation into groups may affect performance of individuals through the balance and strength of facilitative versus competitive interactions. We studied in situ how seasonal variation in abiotic environment affects this balance for blue mussels, a semi-sessile species. We hypothesize that seasonal variation in stresses and resources affects the strength of the interaction.

Listeriosis remains one of the most severe foodborne diseases regarding mortality rate. L. monocytogenes can grow under stressful conditions and contaminate various food categories. Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 modified on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs includes either qualitative or quantitative food safety criteria on L. monocytogenes and mentions EN ISO 11290-1 Standard as the reference detection method.

by Tingting Li, Qinpei Zou, Cheng Chen, Qin Li, Shuquan Luo, Zhifeng Li, Chuan Yang, Di Yang, Zhi Huang, Huadong Zhang, Wenge Tang, Li Qi Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) is a common cause of foodborne illness. An outbreak of acute gastrointestinal illness occurred at two middle schools in a rural region of Chongqing, China, in 2021. This study aimed to elucidate the outbreak’s characteristics, identify risk factors, and determine the source of contamination.

Atrazine, a herbicide, is used for eradication of broad-leaved herbs in corn crop; and ochratoxins, particularly ochratoxin A (OTA), are major pollutants of poultry diet. Existence of both of these hazardous chemicals as residues is obvious as elucidated by various epidemiological findings. The present study was designed to investigate toxicopathological, serum biochemical and immunological alterations incurred by atrazine alone and/or, in combination with OTA in broilers.

Abstract Browning discoloration is a critical issue that negatively affects the quality of fresh‐cut products and their industrial growth. Although many individual anti‐browning technologies have been adopted, very few reports on the combination use of natural product extracts and physical methods exist.

by Shary Tamara Schneider, Rudi Isbrandt, Heidrun Gehlen, Nina Langkabel, Diana Meemken The ‘positive list for equines’ (Regulation (EC) No 1950/2006) was implemented in the European Union in 2006. The drugs listed are approved for use in slaughter equines under certain conditions, although those drugs are not approved for use in livestock and are not listed in Table 1 of the annex to Regulation (EU) No 37/2010.

Enterotoxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus are a common cause of food poisoning, leading to significant gastrointestinal symptoms and even hospitalization. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched three electronic databases for studies on detection of staphylococcal enterotoxins or enterotoxigenic S. aureus in raw ruminant milk.

Aflatoxins pose a severe risk to the human health. In this study, the detoxifying capacity of a thermal cooking treatment applied to white and brown rice spiked with aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 as well as the aflatoxin bioaccessibility in cooked rice after applying an in vitro digestion model was evaluated.

Clostridium perfringens is one of the major foodborne pathogens in humans and animals. With the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant C. perfringens strains, bacteriophages and their endolysins have received considerable attention as promising alternatives to antibiotics. In this study, C. perfringens phage CPD2 was isolated from retail chicken samples. CPD2 belongs to the Podoviridae family and exhibits remarkable thermostability.

Zearalenone (ZEN), a non-steroidal estrogenic fungal toxin widely present in forage, food, and their ingredients, poses a serious threat to animal and human reproductive health. ZEN also threatens ovine, a major source of human food and breeding stock. However, the mechanisms underlying the impact of ZEN on the in vitro maturation (IVM) of ovine oocytes remain unclear. This study aimed to elucidate these mechanisms using the Smart-seq2 technology.

Salmonella spp. can be present in pasteurized liquid egg products because of its heat resistance or post-processing contamination, thereby representing a food safety risk.

Microbiology Resource Announcements, Ahead of Print. We announce the genome sequence of the Staphylococcus gallinarum MTR_B001 strain isolated from the breast muscle of a chicken in 2022 in Bangladesh. This assembled genome had an estimated length of 2,889,393 bp (with 50× genome coverage), 15 contigs, 36 predicted antibiotic resistance genes, and 27 predicted virulence factor genes.

Background The use of omics data for monitoring the microbial flow of fresh meat products along a production line and the development of spoilage prediction tools from these data is a promising but challenging task. In this context, we produced a large multivariate dataset (over 600 samples) obtained on the production lines of two similar types of fresh meat products (poultry and raw pork sausages).

Microbial safety of fresh produce continues to be a major concern. Novel antimicrobial methods are needed to minimize the risk of contamination. This study investigated the antimicrobial efficacy of pulsed light (PL), a novel nisin-organic acid based antimicrobial wash (AW) and the synergy thereof in inactivating E.

Recently, the hybrid Broussonetia papyrifera (BP) has been extensively cultivated and predominantly utilized in ruminants because of its high protein and bioactive compound content. In the present study, the effects of an ethanolic extract of BP leaves (BPE, 200 mg/kg) on mitigating 2% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced intestinal inflammation in mice were evaluated.

Phage-encoded peptidoglycanases (phage endolysins) are hydrolyzing enzymes that break peptidoglycan bonds within infected bacterial cell walls at the end of the lytic cycle. They are promising antibacterial agents capable of controlling major foodborne pathogens. Here, we cloned, overexpressed, and purified the phage-encoded protein LysCPQ7, a putative endolysin from the Clostridium perfringens phage CPQ7.

Adenovirus serves as an excellent viral vector and is employed in vector vaccine research. Duck hepatitis A virus type 1 (DHAV1) and duck adenovirus type 3 (DAdV3) cause significant economic losses in the Chinese duck industry.

This study aims to provide insights into the current status of pesticide residue contamination in Hainan province and to develop food safety regulations for controlling the excessive use of pesticides on cowpea. First, to assess the dietary exposure risks of pesticide residues in Hainan cowpea, more than 340 pesticides in 80 different fresh cowpea samples were investigated by HPLC-Q-TOF/MS/MS.

Aflatoxins are mycotoxins produced by several species of Aspergillus fungi which can be found in food and feed. When lactating animals are exposed to feedstuff contaminated by aflatoxin B1, they can excrete its hydroxylated form, aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), into milk.

Wheat-based products are largely consumed by children worldwide. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is known for its acute and chronic toxicity and is the most common contaminant of cereal grains. Since no legal limits are set for DON in wheat-based products and specific foods intended for children over 3 years on the market, a high risk of overexposure to this contaminant may emerge.

The effect of select antibiotics on Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 persistence in a porcine cecal continuous flow culture was examined under two different washout rates. Porcine continuous flow cultures were conducted in the presence or absence of gram-positive antibiotic carbadox. Carbadox eliminated chemostat anaerobes culturable on Brucella agar under 24 h turnover conditions, allowing Salmonella Typhimurium to persist for 15 days.

In this study, the heat resistance of S. aureus in goats’ raw milk subjected to thermisation temperatures was characterised through tests at various temperatures and modelling the survival curves using the Weibull model, through a two-step and an omnibus approach, which can model a full dataset covering all experimental conditions in one step. The fitting capacity of the secondary models obtained from the two-step approach was reasonable (adj.

The most abundant by-product of the brewing industry is beer bagasse (BSG); its high moisture content requires a rapid drying process to stabilize the product. The objective of this work was to carry out the analysis and mathematical modeling of the drying process of thin layer bagasse at temperatures above 60 °C in order to establish adequate processing conditions that assure its safe use and storage as a functional ingredient.

Given the urgent requirement for more laboratories to develop proficiency in detecting foodborne viruses, this case study charts the path to accreditation, demystifying the process of validating a method for detecting norovirus and hepatitis A virus in fresh produce. Securing accreditation is crucial to ensuring dependable and precise food analysis, particularly relevant for products frequently consumed raw, which are at risk of contamination by foodborne viruses.

Optimisation of solar drying to reduce fungal growth and Ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination is a crucial concern in raisin and currant production. Stochastic and deterministic analysis has been utilized to investigate environmental indicators and drying characteristics. The analysis was performed using two seedless grape varieties (Crimson—red and Thompson—white) that were artificially inoculated with Aspergillus carbonarius during open-air and tunnel drying.