Research Publications (Food Safety)

The current study was carried out to investigate metabolic activities and main probiotic characteristics of two Latilactobacillus sakei strains (8.P1 and 28.P2) isolated from pastırma, a highly seasoned, air-dried cured beef. Both strains showed antimicrobial activity against important foodborne pathogens like Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and so forth.

With the large-scale use of plastic products in daily life and the progress of industrial production, it has had a serious impact on the soil environment. To identify the effect of heavy metal and microplastics on the development of plants, we examined the changes of physiological and biochemical indexes of Brassica chinensis var. chinensis under different concentrations of heavy metal cadmium and polyethylene stress with a pot experiment.

The contamination of animal feed with aflatoxins is an ongoing and growing serious issue, particularly for livestock farmers in tropical and subtropical regions. Exposure of animals to an aflatoxin-contaminated diet impairs feed efficiency and increases susceptibility to diseases, resulting in mortality, feed waste, and increased production costs. They can also be excreted in milk and thus pose a significant human health risk.

by Anna-Delia Knipper, Narges Ghoreishi, Tasja Crease The consumption of raw milk from dairy cows has caused multiple food-borne outbreaks of campylobacteriosis in the European Union (EU) since 2011. Cross-contamination of raw milk through faeces is an important vehicle for transmission of Campylobacter to consumers. This systematic review and meta-analysis, aimed to summarize data on the prevalence and concentration of Campylobacter in faeces of dairy cows.

Salmonella contamination of poultry remains a food safety challenge for broiler processors. The objectives of this study were to measure the efficacy of antimicrobial interventions in commercial broiler processing plants to reduce Salmonella and to assess changes in the Salmonella serovars before and after the chilling process.

Salmonella enterica is a ubiquitous and multi-host pathogen that causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Outbreaks of foodborne salmonellosis continue to occur, highlighting the need for additional interventions.

A corn flour certified reference material (KRISS CRM 108-01-011) was developed to ensure accurate and reliable measurements of type B trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol, 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol), and deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside. The material was freeze-dried, ground, sieved, and well-mixed. The final produced CRM was packaged at 14 g per unit and stored at –70 °C.

Sprouts have been involved in many outbreaks of salmonellosis where seeds were identified as the likely source of contamination. This study aimed to develop an effective heat treatment that could achieve a >5-log reduction of Salmonella inoculated on alfalfa seeds while maintaining seed viability and vigor. Effects of seeds' water activity (aw) and heat treatment temperature on Salmonella inactivation and seed viability were determined.

The first weeks of life represent a crucial stage for microbial colonization of the piglets’ gastrointestinal tract. Newborns’ microbiota is unstable and easily subject to changes under stimuli or insults. Nonetheless, the administration of antibiotics to the sow is still considered as common practice in intensive farming for pathological conditions in the postpartum.

Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive bacterium that plays a role in the pathogenesis of skin lesions in diabetes mellitus, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis, all of which are associated with elevated non-enzymatic glycation biomarkers. The production of biofilm protects resident bacteria from host immune defenses and antibiotic interventions, prolonging pathogen survival, and risking recurrence after treatment.

Hybrid diarrheagenic E. coli strains combining genetic markers belonging to different pathotypes have emerged worldwide and have been reported as a public health concern. The most well-known hybrid strain of enteroaggregative hemorrhagic E. coli is E. coli O104:H4 strain, which was an agent of a serious outbreak of acute gastroenteritis and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in Germany in 2011. A case of intestinal infection with HUS in St.

Journal of Food Science, EarlyView. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) in various foods continuously concern the public. Pork and its byproducts, especially from Yorkshire pigs, are the largest meat food consumed by the general population in China. This study aims to investigate the distribution of PCDD/Fs in different tissues of Yorkshire pigs to understand their bioaccumulation. Yorkshire pigs were fed a known amount of PCDD/Fs through fly ash.

With the rapid development of logistics, a growing number of pathogenic microorganisms has the means to spread worldwide using food as a carrier; thus, there is an urgent need to develop effective detection strategies to ensure food safety.

There is a need to identify the presence of microorganisms, in particular human pathogens, in food processing facilities and products. Adhesion of pathogens to surfaces poses a detection challenge with biofilms greatly hindering detection by precluding the transfer of specific material to downstream sensors. Enzymes that disrupt biofilms can therefore enhance detection of foodborne pathogens through facilitating their release from abiotic and biotic surfaces.

Softening of apple fruit depends on maturity at harvest and a range of orchard and environmental factors. We investigated seasonal effects on ‘Royal Gala’ storage performance independent of maturity and separate from potential orchard effects. In two consecutive seasons, fruit were harvested at four times: very early (H1), early (H2), commercial (H3) and late (H4), and were cold-stored at 0.5 °C for 100 d followed by a shelf-life period.

Alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH) is a form of liver failure with high short-term mortality. Recent results have shown that HNF4a defective function and systemic inflammation are major disease drivers of AH. Plasma biomarkers of hepatocyte function could be useful for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.

Several individuals reported gastrointestinal symptoms following meals consumed in late January 2021 at a restaurant in western Finland. We conducted a retrospective cohort study and defined a case as a person who ate at the lunch restaurant between 27 and 29 January 2021 and had stomach pain, vomiting or diarrhoea and/or a laboratory-confirmed Salmonella Typhimurium infection within 2 weeks after the exposure.

Salmonella enterica serovar Indiana (S. Indiana) has aroused widespread concern as an important zoonotic pathogen. The molecular mechanism of multidrug resistance (MDR) in S. Indiana is not known and should be assessed. We aim to investigate the molecular mechanism of MDR and the importance of large plasmids carried class 1 integrons in the MDR of foodborne S. Indiana. Class 1 integrons in 48 S.

Zearalenone (ZEN), also known as the F-2 toxin, is a common contaminant in cereal crops and livestock products. This experiment aimed to reveal the changes in the proteomics of ZEN-induced intestinal damage in weaned piglets by tandem mass spectrometry tags. Sixteen weaned piglets either received a basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with 3.0 mg/kg ZEN in a 32 d study.

Food contamination caused by food-spoilage bacteria and pathogenic bacteria seriously affects public health. Staphylococcus aureus is a typical foodborne pathogen which easily forms biofilm. Once biofilm is formed, it is difficult to remove. The use of nanotechnology for antibiofilm purposes is becoming more widespread because of its ability to increase the bioavailability and biosorption of many drugs.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the EUCAST RAST method by extending analysis to 16–20 h reading time and performance with new β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations. A total of 676 positive blood cultures (BCs) were enrolled. Results at 4 h, 6 h, 8 h and 16–20 h were interpreted according to bacterial species using EUCAST RAST breakpoints (version 5.1). For species for which no breakpoints were available, tentative breakpoints were used.

Fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance in a major foodborne bacterial pathogen, Campylobacter jejuni, derived from cattle has recently become prevalent and poses a significant public health concern. However, the underlying factors for this increase are not entirely clear. To evaluate the effect of enrofloxacin treatment on FQ-resistance development in C. jejuni, 35 commercial calves were equally divided into five groups (Groups 1–5) and were orally inoculated with FQ-susceptible (FQ-S) C.

Microbiology Resource Announcements, Ahead of Print. Cronobacter sakazakii is a foodborne pathogen that causes severe illness in neonates and the elderly. Here, we present the genome sequence of C. sakazakii H05 sequence type 156 (ST156), CC21 strain from Kitfo, resulting in a genome size of 4,495,386 bp, with 4,340 coding sequences and a G+C content of 56.85% after assembly and annotation.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Ahead of Print. For decades, quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC)-based sanitizers have been broadly used in food processing environments to control foodborne pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes. Still, there is a lack of consensus on the likelihood and implication of reduced Listeria susceptibility to benzalkonium chloride (BC) that may emerge due to sublethal exposure to the sanitizers in food processing environments.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis (SE) is a primary pathogen that causes foodborne diseases in humans. Although whole-genome sequencing (WGS) -based typing analyses have been increasingly used to investigate food-poisoning outbreaks, they are rarely applied to the epidemiology of multiple Salmonella outbreaks in Sichuan, China.