Research Publications (Food Safety)

Background Antibiotics are used in ethanol production to discourage undesirable bacteria growth. To determine if antibiotic residues remain in the distillers grain (DG) byproduct, which is used as an animal food ingredient, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Center for Veterinary Medicine previously developed an LC-MS/MS method to detect residues of erythromycin A, penicillin G, virginiamycin M1, and virginiamycin S1 in DG to enable regulatory decision-making.

Global population is expected to increase by 2.5 billion people by 2072 according to UN projections made recently. Africa will lead growth by adding.8 billion people to its continent (147% increase), and 45 of 50 global countries with greatest percentage growth will be in Africa. Europe’s population will decline by an estimated 100 million people (13% decline), Asia’s population will increase by 12%, and North and South America will increase about 20%.

Soybean (Glycine max) is a major grain and oil crop worldwide, but low phosphorus (LP) in soil severely limits the development of soybean production. Dissecting the regulatory mechanism of the phosphorus (P) response is crucial for improving the P use efficiency of soybean. Here, we identified a transcription factor, GmERF1 (ethylene response factor 1), that is mainly expressed in soybean root and localized in the nucleus.

Extracellular electron transfer (EET) is a bioelectrochemical process performed by electrochemically active bacteria (EAB) found in host-associated environments, including plant and animal ecosystems and fermenting plant- and animal-derived foods. Through direct or mediated electron transfer pathways, certain bacteria use EET to enhance ecological fitness with host-impacting effects.

The growing number of Listeria monocytogenes strains displaying increased tolerance to sanitizers widely applied in the food industry is becoming a problem. The aims of this study were to evaluate the susceptibility of L.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus illnesses, often associated with the consumption of raw or undercooked oysters, are most common in summer months when higher temperatures increase V. parahaemolyticus levels in the environment. In Washington, post-harvest controls focus on the time from harvest to temperature-controlled storage to minimize V.

Vacuum packaging is known to be an effective way to limit the growth of food spoilage and food-poisoning bacteria. However, Listeria monocytogenes (LM) can survive under low-oxygen conditions and as well as refrigeration temperatures. This study was conducted to model the fate of LM-inoculated meatballs and Sundae, a Korean black pudding, and assess the effect of packaging (aerobic packaging, AP; vacuum packaging, VP) on risk.

Raw materials associated with foodborne illness outbreaks are rarely available for evaluation. The levels and distribution of Salmonella were determined in naturally contaminated raw cashews linked to a salmonellosis outbreak associated with a fermented cashew cheese analog. Two unopened 22.7-kg boxes from a single lot of cashew kernel pieces were each divided into seven approximately equal units, 14 in total.

The Illness Dose (ID) step of a Poultry Food Assess Risk Model (PFARM) for Salmonella and chicken gizzards (CGs) was shown in the present study. The illness dose is the minimum dose of Salmonella consumed that causes an illness. It depends on the zoonotic potential (ZP) of Salmonella, food consumption behavior (FCB), and consumer health and immunity (CHI) or the disease triangle (DT).

Salmonellosis incidence rates have not declined over the last 15 years in the US despite a significant Salmonella prevalence reduction in meat and poultry products. Ground beef is currently regulated using only qualitative Salmonella criteria, and Salmonella enumeration values have been proposed as an alternative for implementing risk-based mitigation strategies to prevent illnesses.

Traditional kosher meat processing involves the following steps after slaughtering: soaking with water to remove blood, salting to help draw out more blood, and rinsing to remove salt. However, the impact of the salt used on foodborne pathogens and beef quality is not well understood.

This work aims to propose a new approach for enhancement the reclamation of soil spiked with metal ions, specifically lead and chromium by applying electro-kinetic method. Different tests were carried out on Iraqi silty clay soil that had been polluted with either lead or chromium in concentration of 1500 mg/kg (single system) and in the form of binary system consisted of lead and chromium at concentrations of 750 mg/kg for each metal.

Salmonella Enteritidis is an important intracellular pathogen, which can cause gastroenteritis in humans and animals and threaten life and health. S. Enteritidis proliferates in host macrophages to establish systemic infection. In this study, we evaluated the effects of Salmonella pathogenicity island-1 (SPI-1) and SPI-2 to S. Enteritidis virulence in vitro and in vivo, as well as the host inflammatory pathways affected by SPI-1 and SPI-2. Our results show that S.

Highland barley, also called “qingke” in Tibetan, is mainly cultivated in the Tibetan Plateau of China and has been used as a major staple food for Tibetans. Recently, Fusarium head blight (FHB) of qingke was frequently observed around the Brahmaputra River in Tibet. Considering the importance of qingke for Tibetans, the assessment of Fusarium mycotoxin contamination is essential for food safety.

Journal of Basic Microbiology, EarlyView. Monascus spp. can produce a variety of beneficial metabolites widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries. However, some Monascus species contain the complete gene cluster responsible for citrinin biosynthesis, which raises our concerns about the safety of their fermented products.

Journal of Food Science, EarlyView. This study aimed to investigate the behavior of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes in processed date paste and syrup at different temperatures. Commercial products were inoculated with approximately 6 log CFU/mL of S. enterica or L.

Aflatoxins are among the main carcinogens threatening food and feed safety while imposing major detection challenges to the agrifood industry. Today, aflatoxins are typically detected using destructive and sample-based chemical analysis that are not optimally suited to sense their local presence in the food chain. Therefore, we pursued the development of a non-destructive optical sensing technique based on fluorescence spectroscopy.

(1) Piglet diarrhea is one of the most serious diseases in pigs and has brought great economic losses to the pig industry. Alteration of the gut microbiota is an important factor in the etiology of piglet diarrhea. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the differences in the gut microbial structures and fecal metabolic profile between post-weaning diarrhea and healthy Chinese Wannan Black pigs.

Chilled tuna fillets are easy to be contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes, which is an important risk factor for the outbreak of foodborne diseases. Nisin (NS) in combination with sesamol (SE) has showed to have the ability to inhibit the growth of L. monocytogenes in bacterial culture-medium, however, their bacteriostatic effect in actual food model has been not evaluated.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a powerful mycotoxin present in a variety of food products, and its detection is important for human health. Here, a fluorescent aptasensor is reported for sensitive OTA determination.

Aflatoxin contamination in peanut kernels seriously harms the health of humans and causes significant economic losses. Rapid and accurate detection of aflatoxin is necessary to minimize its contamination. However, current detection methods are time-consuming, expensive and destructive to samples.

Background Species of the genus Monascus are economically important and widely used in the production of food colorants and monacolin K. However, they have also been known to produce the mycotoxin citrinin. Currently, taxonomic knowledge of this species at the genome level is insufficient.

Methods

International travel and the globalization of food supplies have increased the risk of epidemic foodborne infections. Salmonella strains, particularly non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS), are major zoonotic pathogens responsible for gastrointestinal diseases worldwide.

Introduction Piglets are more susceptible to weaning stress syndrome when fed high levels of plant-based proteins that contain abundant food antigens and anti-nutritional factors. Xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) are a potential prebiotic that may improve the tolerance of weaned piglets to plant-based proteins.

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination in peanut oil can lead to serious food safety problems. Thus, the development of AFB1 decontamination technology is an urgent and necessary matter. Herein, a renewable and effective biomass-derived adsorbent, namely magnetic rice husk-based biochar (MRHB), was prepared and successfully used for the removal of AFB1 from peanut oil. The adsorption conditions, adsorption mechanism, reusability and cytotoxicity of MRHB were systematically studied.