Research Publications (Food Safety)

Food allergy has become one of the food safety issues in the world. As a common source of food allergy, soybean poses a dietary risk to allergic individuals due to the presence of β-conglycinin, a main allergenic protein in soybean. Therefore, an efficient and sensitive detection method using highly specific antibody materials is necessary for the detection of allergens.

With the drying process, the water activity and moisture content of the foods are reduced, so the growth of microorganisms in the foods is largely prevented/postponed. But low-aw foods should not be considered sterile they can be contaminated by fungi and other contaminants during the drying process under unhygienic conditions.

Environmental health is a critical concern, continuously contaminated by physical and biological components (viz., anthropogenic activity), which adversely affect on biodiversity, ecosystems and human health. Nonetheless, environmental pollution has great impact on microbial communities, especially bacteria, which try to evolve in changing environment. For instance, during the course of adaptation, bacteria easily become resistance to antibiotics and heavy metals.

In this study, eighteen 3.30-m-long sediment profiles were sampled in Maozhou River. In order to investigate the sediment pollution status and potential sources of heavy metals, we performed heavy metal contents, grain size, organic matter concentration, moisture concentration and total phosphorus analysis, and assessed the ecological risk of heavy metal pollution in the study area using enrichment coefficient, geo-accumulation index and potential ecological risk index.

Author(s): Shang Wu, Yang Yang, Tingwei Wang, Jiadi Sun, Yinzhi Zhang, Jian Ji, Xiulan Sun

Author(s): Renpeng Li, Jing Wang, Lu Wang, Bin Hu, Zongdong Liu, Na Sun, Ying Yang, Song Miao, Xi Guo

Author(s): Hong Bai, Donggen Zhou, Xiaowei Zhang, Yifang Cao, Xinglong Xiao, Yan Zhang, Yigang Yu

Author(s): Clayton J. Smith, Magdalena A. Olszewska, Francisco Diez-Gonzalez

Author(s): Marco Cossu, Luigi Ledda, Andrea Cossu

Author(s): Ourania Misiou, Konstantinos Koutsoumanis

Author(s): Philipp Eyring, Marc Tienstra, Hans Mol, Susan Strange Herrmann, Peter Have Rasmussen, Henrik Lauritz Frandsen, Mette Erecius Poulsen

Author(s): Riley M. Seeger, Amy D. Hagerman, Kamina K. Johnson, Dustin L. Pendell, Thomas L. Marsh

Author(s): Olanrewaju E. Fayemi, Gabriel B. Akanni, James A. Elegbeleye, Olusimbo O. Aboaba, Patrick M. Njage

Author(s): Amir Saber Marouf, Shahram Hanifian, Jalal Shayegh

Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) has long been studied as an aqueous sanitizer to enhance microbial safety of fresh produce. Recently, we demonstrated that cold plasma-activated H 2 O 2 aerosols, hereafter referred to as ionized hydrogen peroxide (iHP), reduced populations of Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli by up to 5.5 logs on surfaces of various produce items. However, the amount and fate of H 2 O 2 residue left on fresh produce after treatments have not been evaluated.

Here, a Bacillus strain, UTK D1-0055, is described that was isolated from a laboratory environment. It was of interest as it demonstrated antilisterial activity. The genome was sequenced, which identified the strain as Bacillus altitudinis, and a high-quality complete annotated genome was produced. Additionally, the taxonomy of this and related species was evaluated, including B. aerophilus, B. pumilus, B. safensis, B. stratosphericus, and B.

Dried parsley is regularly contaminated with foodborne pathogens, especially Salmonella (S.) spp. Application of contaminated ingredients in ready-to-eat dishes without further thermal treatment represents a considerable health risk. This study examines the suitability of pulsed light as a novel decontamination method of Salmonella spp.

Recently, ready-to-eat vegetable salads have gained popularity worldwide. However, the microbial safety of ready-to-eat salads is a health concern, primarily due to Salmonella enteritidis contamination during the growing, harvesting, processing, and handling of produce. This study aimed to develop a bacteriophage-based strategy to control S. enteritidis growth in mixed-ingredient salads.

Bacillus cereus, which causes foodborne disease, is detected using selective media. However, competing flora is the most common factor preventing the correct enumeration of B. cereus on selective agars. In this study, we aimed to improve the selectivity of mannitol-yolk-polymyxin B agar (MYPA) and its modified version containing trimethoprim (mMYPA) developed in our previous study by supplementation with ceftazidime (16 μg/mL).

Contamination with potentially pathogenic microorganisms may occur at all stages of the food chain. We conducted a representative cross-sectional survey of 1008 consumers aged 16 years and older in Germany via an online panel; the aim was to assess the perception of consumers regarding the influence of aspects of meat production on the safety and quality of meat.

The northeastern United States receives elevated mercury (Hg) deposition from United States and global emissions, making it critical to understand the fate of Hg in watersheds with a variety of aquatic habitats and land use types, such as the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Bats are valuable and important organisms to study chronic Hg exposure, because they are at risk of sublethal effects from elevated Hg exposure.

Fusarium verticillioides is a prolific producer of useful secondary metabolites such as naphthoquinone pigments, monoterpenes, and sesquiterpenes, as well as the harmful mycotoxins fumonisins. A strategy to increase their production includes creating a proper nutritional environment that enables the fungus to produce the compounds of interest.

As a tool for assessing water quality in the Arctic Basin, a new technology is proposed based on the coupling of spectral observations of multi-channel optical sensors and mathematical model estimates for the qualitative and quantitative distribution of water pollutants. Adaptive spectrophotometer and spectroellipsometer structures are used to carry out the observations, the operation of which is described in detail.

Journal of Applied Microbiology, Accepted Article. Aims
To determine the occurrence, diversity, antibiotic resistance and biofilm formation of V. parahaemolyticus isolated from marine fishes in Bangladesh.

The role of livestock animals as a putative source of ESBL/pAmpC E. coli for humans is a central issue of research. In a large-scale pan-European surveillance, 2,993 commensal Escherichia spp. isolates were recovered from randomly collected fecal samples of healthy cattle, pigs and chickens in various abattoirs. One-hundred Escherichia spp. isolates (0.5% from cattle, 1.3% pigs, 8.0% chickens) fulfilled the criteria for cefotaxime and ceftazidime non-wildtype (EUCAST).