Research Publications (Food Safety)

International Journal of Dairy Technology, EarlyView.

Foodborne campylobacteriosis has been traced to undercooked chicken liver dishes; it is important to use the best available culture methods when testing for the presence of Campylobacter .  We compared two Campylobacter enrichment broths (Bolton formulation and Neogen formulation) in combination with three selective plating media (Campy-Cefex, Campy-Line and RF Campylobacter agars) for detection of Campylobacter from fresh retail chicken livers.  In each of three experiments, nine r

Oxytetracycline is an antibiotic authorized for use in aquaculture and is often detected in seafood products, especially shrimp. Previous studies investigating the fate of oxytetracycline in shrimp tissues after cooking were limited to quantification of parent compound residues, and did not describe any potential transformation products formed. Hence, the main objective of this study was to apply a non-target analysis workflow to study the fate of oxytetracycline in shrimp muscle.

Fruit drying has traditionally received little food safety attention in spite of Salmonella outbreaks and recalls involving low-moisture foods. This study aimed to assess the food safety implications during the home drying process, using dried apples as an example. A cohort of home apple dryers (N=979) participated in an online survey through Qualtrics XM in May 2021. The results showed that participants’ food handling regarding dried fruit was low.

This multi-institutional study assessed the efficacy of Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 as a non-pathogenic Salmonella surrogate for thermal processing of nonfat dry milk powder, peanut butter, almond meal, wheat flour, ground black pepper, and date paste. Each product was analyzed by two laboratories (five independent laboratories total), with the lead laboratory inoculating (E. faecium or a five-strain Salmonella enterica cocktail of S.

Foodborne antimicrobial resistant (AMR) microorganisms are a global food safety concern. Antimicrobial drug use (AMU) in livestock may increase the risk of resistant foodborne bacterial infections in humans via contaminated animal products. Consequently, countries have implemented different livestock AMU restriction policies, opening the potential for trade disputes.

While public health risk assessments for Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) have been published for different foods, firm-level decision making on interventions targeting Lm involves considerations of both public health and enterprise risks. Smoked seafood is a ready-to-eat product with a high incidence of Lm contamination and associated with several recalls.

The study determined the prevalence, risk factors, and characteristics of Campylobacter species contamination of chicken carcasses sold at informal poultry outlets in Gauteng, South Africa. Using six townships, 151 chicken carcasses were collected from 47 outlets. Carcass and cloacal swabs, as well as carcass drip, were collected from each chicken along with a matched questionnaire on risk factors regarding Campylobacter contamination.

Supplemental interlighting is commonly used in modern greenhouses to improve light deficiency, but the light spectrum affects fruit quality and color change. This study aimed to analyze the effect of interlighting with red, blue, and additional far-red light on the fruit qualities and carotenoid contents of red and yellow sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum L.).

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging zoonotic pathogen with multiple species and genotypes, which may be classified into human, animal, and zoonotic HEV. Codon usage bias of HEV remained unclear. This study aims to characterize the codon usage of HEV and elucidate the main drivers influencing the codon usage bias. A total of seven HEV genotypes, HEV-1 (human HEV), HEV-3 and HEV-4 (zoonotic HEV), HEV-8, HEV-B, HEV-C1, and HEV-C2 (emerging animal HEV), were included in the study.

Vibrio cholerae can cause pandemic cholera in humans. The waterborne bacterium is frequently isolated from aquatic products worldwide. However, current literature on the impact of aquatic product matrices on the survival and pathogenicity of cholerae is rare. In this study, the growth of eleven non-O1/0O139 V.

The biofilm community of microorganisms has been identified as the dominant mode of microbial growth in nature and a common characteristic of different microorganisms such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The biofilm structure helps in the protection from environmental threats including host immune system and antimicrobial agents. Thus, the biofilm community has led to a higher prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains in recent years.

Abstract Insects and fungal pathogens pose constant problems to public health and agriculture, especially in resource-limited parts of the world; and the use of chemical pesticides continues to be the main methods for the control of these organisms. Photorhabdus spp.

Peptidoglycan (PG) was targeted as the marker for bacterial occurrence inside yeast. Detection of only few bacteria in old and new generations of yeast raised the question of how yeast controls the abundance of its intracellular bacteria. One gastric C. tropicalis that showed concurrence of H. pylori and Staphylococcus 16S rDNA was stained for assessing the viability of intracellular bacteria.

Water chestnut (Trapa bispinosa Roxburg) has short shelf life even after drying due to insect infestations resulting in huge economic losses to farmers. Study was performed including coating with Aloe-vera gel, air drying, LDPE packaging and gamma irradiation (≤ 1 kGy) were evaluated for their efficacy in controlling storage losses. The study was performed with complete randomized design up to 6-month storage period.

Abstract The multimycotoxin analysis of aflatoxins (AFs), zearalenone (ZEA), ochratoxin A (OTA), enniatins (ENNs) and beauvericin (BEA) was performed in 85 samples of medicinal herbs dietary supplements. The samples were classified in 64 samples of one herbal ingredient and 21 mixed samples. The extraction was performed by QuEChERS method and the determination by liquid chromatography coupled to ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS-IT).

Fucoidan extracted from Fucus versiculosus was able to inhibit the replication of human noroviruses (hNoV) GII.4[P16] in zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae. In the hNoV infected zebrafish larvae, a transcriptomic analysis showed significant upregulation (p < 0.01) of the interferons (IFNs) signaling related genes as well as a series of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) encoding antiviral effectors compared to the mock-infected controls.

In this article, the thermal inactivation of two Salmonella strains (Salmonella Enteritidis CECT4300 and Salmonella Senftenberg CECT4565) was studied under both isothermal and dynamic conditions. We observed large differences between these two strains, with S. Senftenberg being much more resistant than S. Enteritidis.

In this study, we analyzed enterotoxin genes, biofilm formation, and resistance to sixteen antimicrobials and chlorine dioxide (ClO2) in Bacillus cereus group isolates (n = 76) from samples (leaves, seeds, water and nutrients, and soil) from microgreen primary producing farms. Most isolates possessed at least one enterotoxin gene, as well as resistance to β-lactam antimicrobials, and more than half of the isolates showed moderate to strong biofilm-forming ability.

The obligate intracellular bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis store glycogen in the lumen of the vacuoles in which they grow. Glycogen catabolism generates glucose-1-phosphate (Glc1P), while the bacteria can take up only glucose-6-phosphate (Glc6P). We tested whether the conversion of Glc1P into Glc6P could be catalyzed by a phosphoglucomutase (PGM) of host or bacterial origin. We found no evidence for the presence of the host PGM in the vacuole. Two C.

Since its emergence in the beginning of the 90’s, multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Kentucky has become a significant public health problem, especially in East Africa. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial resistance profile and the genotypic relatedness of Salmonella Kentucky isolated from animal sources in Ethiopia and Kenya (n=19).

Maize and other cereals are the commodities most contaminated with fumonisins. The maize acreage is increasing in Africa, and the maize harvest provides important foods for humans and feeds for domestic animals throughout the continent. In North Africa, high levels of fumonisins have been reported from Algeria and Morocco, while low levels have been detected in the rather few fumonisin analyses reported from Tunisia and Egypt.

International Journal of Food Science & Technology, Accepted Article. Aflatoxins are known for their high toxicity, and their presence in food is associated with a high health risk. The levels were set for aflatoxin in different foodstuffs to protect public health. Various chemical, physical, and biological methods have been reported for decontamination and detoxifying aflatoxins. Among biological methods, probiotics have an important role in the decontamination of aflatoxins.

Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) is causative agent of Johne’s disease (JD) in domestic animals and has broad host range. JD infected animals shed viable MAP in their milk, feces, blood, and tissues which get transmitted to human beings directly or indirectly by consumption of animal products, through contact, animal handling and through contaminated environment, aerosols.

Active packaging, such as edible film with antibacterial properties, can help extend the shelf life of food. The research aimed to develop a 3D printed gelatin edible film by using glycerol and Garcinia atroviridis extract (GAE). Mechanical properties of gelatin gel, physical, mechanical, and antimicrobial properties of edible film with glycerol and GAE were determined.