Research Publications (Food Safety)

This survey was conducted to investigate the occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Listeria monocytogenes isolates in the environment of a pig slaughterhouse raw processing plant complex in western Romania. A total of 97 environmental samples from food contact (n = 60) and nonfood contact (n = 37) surfaces were examined with standard methods. The susceptibility of the isolates to 17 antimicrobial agents was determined with the VITEK 2 automated system.

Chemical sanitizers may induce no injury (bacteria survive), sublethal injury (bacteria are injured), or lethal injury (bacteria die). The proportion of coliform bacteria that were injured sublethally by chlorine and fungicide mixed with agricultural water (pond water), which was used to dilute the pesticide solution, was evaluated using the thin agar layer (TAL) method. In pure cultures of Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, and E.

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Campylobacteriosis is the leading bacterial gastrointestinal disease internationally, contributing significantly to the enteric illness burden. Cases have been associated with the consumption of raw milk, a behavior that has garnered attention recently. Estimates of the prevalence and levels of Campylobacter spp. in raw milk are lacking, which hinders risk assessment attempts.

The requirement for validation of allergen cleaning processes is increasing. The use of lateral flow devices (LFDs) to identify allergens has rapidly expanded, but the best practices for use of these devices are still developing. The goal of this study was to compare commercially available milk-specific LFDs and a general protein identification method.

et al.

The possible role of natural phenolic compounds in inhibiting fungal growth and toxin production has been of recent interest as an alternative strategy to the use of chemical fungicides for the maintenance of food safety. Fusarium is a worldwide fungal genus mainly associated with cereal crops. The most important Fusarium mycotoxins are trichothecenes, zearalenone, and fumonisins.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) represents one of the most widespread mycotoxins in agricultural commodities in the world and is considered a possible human carcinogen with its potent nephrotoxicity. OTA is stable under most food processing conditions; however, higher-temperature treatment may reduce OTA content in foods.

Lactobacilli are applied as starter cultures for controlled fermentation in the production of food and feed. Among other lactobacilli, members of the Lactobacillus buchneri group are used in fermented milk, wine, and silage. Most of the L. buchneri species used for the manufacturing of food or feed are already on the list for qualified presumption of safety status and are recommended as biological agents by the European Food Safety Authority.

Listeria monocytogenes is a human foodborne pathogen that may cause an invasive disease known as listeriosis in susceptible individuals. Internalin A (InlA; encoded by inlA) is a virulence factor that facilitates crossing of host cell barriers by L. monocytogenes. At least 19 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in inlA that result in a premature stop codon (PMSC) have been described worldwide.

Staphylococcus aureus is a major etiological pathogen for bovine mastitis, foodborne illness, and various clinical infections. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) has been isolated from bovine mastitic milk, and the presence of MRSA in milk is a major public health concern. We investigated the frequency of MRSA isolation from mastitic raw milk in Korea and characterized the patterns of antimicrobial resistance, virulence, and genotypes of the MRSA isolates.

Consumer responses to food product recalls have been documented, but there is little information on how consumers respond to illnesses or outbreaks associated with food service facilities. This study uses an on-line survey of 885 adults conducted in 2012 to determine how respondents changed their dining behavior following personal experiences with and secondhand reports of gastrointestinal illness believed to be associated with food service facilities.

Two kinds of fish-derived natural antimicrobial substances, protamine and catfish (Clarias fuscus) epidermal mucus extract (CEME), were evaluated for their effect on the quality of grass carp fillets. Fillets were atmosphere packaged in cast polypropylene bags and were stored at 4°C in a low-temperature incubator without light. Solutions (0.5%, wt/vol) of CEME and protamine were used for dip pretreatment, respectively.

The effects of methanolic pomegranate peel extract (MPPE) on the quality of gutted rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were examined periodically during 6 months of storage at −18°C. Fresh samples were dipped (ratio of fish to liquid, 1:2 [wt/vol]) in sterile water or in sterile water containing 1, 2, or 4% (wt/vol) MPPE and packed in low-density polyethylene pouches. The control and treated samples were analyzed monthly for microbiological, chemical, sensory, and textural characteristics.

Preservation by pickling has been used for many years to extend the shelf life of various types of food products. By storing meat products in a brine solution containing an organic acid, salt, spices, as well as other preservatives, the pH of the product is reduced, thus increasing the safety and shelf life of the product. Pickling may involve the use of heated brines to further add to the safety of the food product.

We investigated the survival kinetics of Salmonella enterica and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli under various water activity (aw) conditions to elucidate the net effect of aw on pathogen survival kinetics and to pursue the development of a predictive model of pathogen survival as a function of aw. Four serotypes of S. enterica (Stanley, Typhimurium, Chester, and Oranienburg) and three serotypes of enterohemorrhagic E. coli (E. coli O26, E. coli O111, and E. coli O157:H7) were examined.

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No data exist on the impact of cultivation practices on food safety risks associated with cucumber. Cucumbers are typically grown horizontally over a mulch cover, with fruit touching the ground, but this vining plant grows well in vertical systems. To assess whether production system affects bacterial dispersal onto plants, field trials were conducted over 2 years.

More than 470 serotypes of Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) have been identified, but not all cause severe illness in humans. Most STEC that cause severe diseases can adhere to epithelial cells, produce specific stx subtypes, and belong to certain serotypes; therefore, these traits appear to be critical STEC risk factors. However, testing for these traits is labor intensive, and serotyping is inadequate because of extensive variations among E. coli O and H antigen types.

Online Ahead of Print.

Abstract

A prolonged outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis occurred in northern France between December 2014 and April 2015. Epidemiological investigations following the initial notification on 30 December 2014 of five cases of salmonellosis (two confirmed S. Enteritidis) in young children residing in the Somme department revealed that all cases frequented the same food bank A.

To the Editor: Norovirus is the world’s leading cause of nonbacterial acute gastroenteritis (1). Since their emergence, GII.P17-GII.17 noroviruses have replaced the GII.4 Sydney 2012 variant as the dominating norovirus genotype in parts of Asia (2), although they have been detected only sporadically, in a limited number, on other continents (3).

Publication date: 5 December 2016
, Volume 238

Author(s): José Guilherme Prado Martin, Gabriela de Oliveira e Silva, Carolina Rodrigues da Fonseca, Caio Baptista Morales, Caroline Souza Pamplona Silva, Daniel Lima Miquelluti, Ernani Porto