Research Publications (Food Safety)

Availability of clean and safe freshwater has become a looming global concern. The accelerated demography, industrialization, and climate changes contaminate the meager freshwater reserves. Pollution of water bodies is significantly detrimental to health, ecology, economy, and society.

Mycotoxins should be monitored in order to properly evaluate corn silage safety quality. In the present study, corn silage samples (n = 115) were collected in a survey, characterized for concentrations of mycotoxins, and scanned by a NIR spectrometer.

Mycotoxins are unavoidable contaminants produced by fungi in food, especially grains. This study aimed to measure the occurrence and levels of total aflatoxins (AFs); ochratoxin A (OTA); zearalenone (ZEN); fumonisins B1, B2, and B3 (FUM); deoxynivalenol (DON); and T-2/HT-2 toxins in the four most commonly consumed breakfast cereals in Chile and to assess mycotoxin exposure and risk in children aged 2 to 13 years due to cereal consumption.

The term toxicant-associated fatty liver disease (TAFLD) has been proposed to describe fatty liver diseases connected to toxicants other than alcohol. Aflatoxins are mycotoxins commonly found as contaminants in foods and feeds, which are known liver toxicants and potential candidates as potential causes of TAFLD.

Journal of Food Science, EarlyView. Rice is a recognized source of cadmium (Cd) exposure. In this study, a total of 102 rice samples were obtained from main producing rice regions of China, and the bioavailability of Cd in rice were assessed by using an in vitro digestion method combined with a Caco-2 cell monolayer model.

Conventional wastewater treatment plants do not effectively remove parasitic protozoa resulting in their presence in wastewater effluent. Therefore, agricultural reuse of wastewater effluent could be a route of Cryptosporidium transmission into the food chain.

Pork head meat may harbor Salmonella and contaminate other carcass byproducts during harvest and fabrication. A large pork processing plant in the United States was sampled bimonthly for 11 months to determine the concentration, prevalence, seasonality, serotype diversity, and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella enterica isolated from cheek meat and head trim of swine carcasses.

The aim of the present study was the determination of Listeria monocytogenes , competitive microbiota, microbial hygiene indicators and physico-chemical parameters in the typical Mediterranean Style fermented sausages “Salsiccia Sarda” . A batch of “Salsiccia Sarda” (25 samples) naturally contaminated by L. monocytogenes and vacuum packaged after 24 days of ripening was included in the study.

by Andrew J. Van Alst, Lucas M. Demey, Victor J. DiRita Vibrio cholerae respires both aerobically and anaerobically and, while oxygen may be available to it during infection, other terminal electron acceptors are proposed for population expansion during infection. Unlike gastrointestinal pathogens that stimulate significant inflammation leading to elevated levels of oxygen or alternative terminal electron acceptors, V.

Microbial risk assessment is a valuable tool to provide scientific evidence to control food safety. Therefore, this study evaluated the risk of foodborne illness caused by Staphylococcus aureus in ready-to-eat (RTE) salad products and economic impact. The prevalence of S.

This study was aimed at simplifying the conventional aflatoxin HPLC-FLD analysis procedure for determining aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 by utilizing the advantage of immunoaffinity column (IAC) and normal-phase chromatography. Normally, a derivatization procedure is needed to enhance the fluorescence signal of aflatoxin quenched by the reversed-phase solvent used as the HPLC mobile phase.

Salmonella is an important foodborne pathogen that is widely distributed in foods of animal origin. Salmonella strains (n = 246) were identified from 1178 pork samples collected in Jiangsu, China. The most predominant Salmonella serovars in pork and slaughterhouse environment were S. London (49.13%, 85/173) and S. Rissen (53.42%, 39/73), respectively.

Free fatty acids (FFAs) are known to exhibit antimicrobial and anti-virulent properties against bacterial pathogens. Specific FFAs, such as lauric acid (LA; C12:0), exert both effects against the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes: at low levels, LA acts to inhibit the activity of the virulence regulator PrfA, whereas at higher levels, LA inhibits bacterial growth. Deletion of prfA is known to promote tolerance toward antimicrobial FFAs, suggesting that the response of L.

Heavy metal resistant bacteria play an important role in the metal biogeochemical cycle in soil, but the benefits of microbial oxidation for plants and soil have not been well-documented. The purpose of this study was to explore the contribution of two Bacillus spp. to alleviate the antimony (Sb) toxicity in plants, and, then, to propose a bioremediation method for Sb contaminated soil, which is characterized by environmental protection, high efficiency, and low cost.

Salmonella enterica is one of the most common foodborne illnesses in the United States and worldwide, with nearly one-third of the cases attributed to contaminated eggs and poultry products. Vaccination has proven to be an effective strategy to reduce Salmonella load in poultry.

Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) is a foodborne pathogen that adversely affects the health of both animals and humans. Since poultry is a common source and carrier of the disease, controlling ST infection in chickens will have a protective impact on human health.

The inactivation kinetics of Listeria monocytogenes during High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) treatments was studied in a purple smoothie based of fresh fruit and vegetables. Pressure intensity studied was 300, 350, 400 and 450 MPa. Untreated samples were used as control. Furthermore, the effects on quality attributes (sensory, total soluble solids content, colour, titratable acidity, pH, vitamin C and total phenolics content) were also monitored.

An ultrasensitive electrochemical aptasensor was established based on metalloporphyrin metal organic frameworks (Pd@PCN-222) with peroxidase-like activity and exonuclease III-assisted recycling magnification for the detection of ochratoxin A (OTA).

Mushroom poisoning is a worldwide public health problem that may cause serious toxic consequences on renal functions. The study aimed to evaluate the acute toxicity (24 h) of orellanine (OR) from Cortinarius orellanus in rat kidney and the ameliorative effect of parsley ethanolic extract.

Fusarium verticillioides is a causal agent of maize ear rot and produces fumonisins, which are mycotoxins that are toxic to animals and humans. In this study, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and bulk-segregant RNA-seq approaches were used to uncover genomic regions and pathways involved in resistance to Fusarium ear rot (FER) and to fumonisin accumulation in maize kernels.

Pectobacterium parvum is an emerging bacterial pathogen that causes aerial stem rot in potato plants. To date, genomes of a few P. parvum isolates have been sequenced and characterized, but the assemblies still remain highly fragmented. Here, we present the first complete, high-quality genome of P. parvum FN20211, which was isolated from a potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plant showing symptoms of aerial stem rot.

Cronobacter sakazakii, as a most important foodborne pathogen in powdered infant formula (PIF), can cause diseases with high mortality in infants and young children, and has become a key monitoring target in dairy industry. In this study, a visual detection strategy based on DNAzyme and asymmetry recombinase polymerase amplification (aRPA) was developed for monitoring C. sakazakii in PIF.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a major food-borne pathogen and the leading cause of seafood-associated enteric infections worldwide. In addition, imprudent use of antibiotics has contributed to increasing antibiotic resistance in V. parahaemolyticus. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel control strategies to reduce V.

Metabolomics based on the mass spectrometry approach can serve as a platform to detect pathogens and spoilage microorganisms. However, the accurate quantification of biomarkers with lower molecular weight based on mass spectrometry is generally limited by isotope-labeled standards and complicated protocols, which is not conducive to large-scale applications.

Foodborne illness constitutes a substantial health and economic burden on society, and most cases are believed to be due to mishandling of food practices. This study aimed to establish the relationship between food handling practices and Campylobacter contamination in commercial restaurant kitchens. The handling practices of chefs during chicken preparation were observed and recorded.