Martins, Carolina P. C.Ramos, Gustavo L. P. A.Pimentel, Tatiana C.Freitas, Monica Q....
7页
查看更多>>摘要：This study aimed to verify the knowledge related to domestic microwave ovens by Brazilians (n = 494) and Portuguese (n = 460). A questionnaire with 24 questions about use, knowledge, safety practices, and attitudes considering microwave ovens and microwave-treated foods was used. Brazilian and Portuguese use microwave ovens mainly for reheating, defrosting, cooking, and using utensils labeled safe for microwaves. Furthermore, the migration of compounds from the container to the food and textural changes were the main concerns reported. Brazilians use more microwave ovens to reheat and cook frozen commercial foods. However, 3.6% of Brazilians still use metal containers, 19.7% do not read the instructions for reheating, and 12.2% do not read the cooking instructions. Portuguese consumers had a higher understanding of the potency applied in the microwave oven, a parameter closely linked to heating uniformity and the formation of cold spots, which can pose microbiological risks. Furthermore, they allow food to stand still before consuming it, promoting a more uniform heat distribution, and minimizing the formation of cold spots. Perceived safety indices when consuming microwave-treated foods were calculated at 5.7 for Brazilians and 6.4 for Portuguese on a 9-point scale, demonstrating that they were indifferent or considered microwaved-treated products as slightly safe, respectively. People with different levels of education showed different knowledge about the technology, indicating the greater need for information dissemination to reach the population with the lowest level of education.
查看更多>>摘要：Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination in food is not only a serious health threat to humans, but also a considerable economic burden worldwide. Rapid and accurate detection of AFB1 during production, processing, transportation and storage is therefore a prerequisite to prevent spreading of AFB1. Here, we developed a simple and easy-to-use lateral flow aptasensor (LFA) to visually detect AFB1 using AFB1 aptamer. Polystyrene dyed particles were used as a signal reporter to enable colorimetric readout by naked eyes, in which the signal is directly proportional to the concentration of AFB1. Both aptamer specificity and target induced strand release approach enable a single-step AFB1 detection. The whole assay took 35 min to complete, starting from sample/dye complex incubation to color acquisition. Under the optimized condition, this sensing platform could detect AFB1 as low as 4.56 ng mL(-1) with two distinct linear ranges of 0-0.05 mu g mL(-1) and 0.05-1 mu g mL(-1). LFA validation with 4 spiked samples (peanut, corn, rice and chili powder) showed satisfying AFB1 recovery within the range of 90.83-110.21%. Our LFA platform could potentially be applied to the on-site, naked-eye, and instrument-free detection of AFB1 or other substances with available aptamers.
查看更多>>摘要：Psyllium husk powder (PHP) is a natural food hydrocolloid. This study was conducted to examine the changes of PHP-soybean oil emulsions affected by PHP concentrations. The emulsifying stability, rheological properties, microstructure and oxidative stability of four levels of PHP emulsions (0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6%, w/w) were determined. Results showed that the emulsion stability, the apparent viscosity, the storage modulus, and the loss modulus were increased with the incremental PHP concentration, whilst the emulsion droplet size, the surface tension, the peroxide value, and the thiobarbituric acid reactive substance value were decreased. The PHP formed a network structure around the oil droplets evidenced by cryo-scanning electron microscopy. The decreased oil droplet size and incremental viscosity might the reasons for the increase of emulsions stability and oxidative stability as the PHP concentration increased. The above results indicate that PHP could be an efficient emulsifier to form a stable oil-in-water emulsion and have a potential application for the food industry.
查看更多>>摘要：Fruits and vegetables, as fresh foods, are significant sources of nutrients. However, the spread of diseases related to fresh foods is widespread. Development and research of rotting-control technologies are necessary to maintain quality, reduce postharvest biological hazards, while processing and storage are essential to increase their shelf-life. Cold plasma as an advanced non-thermal disinfection method can be supplementary or sole alternative for reducing microbial loads on raw or fresh products and packaging materials. Plasma employs inert gases at room temperature to generate ionized and highly reactive, e.g., positive and negative ions, electrons, molecules in (non) excited states, free radicals, and photons. Different plasma species react with the biological cells, fostering permanent changes at the molecular levels and morphology, thus leading to their inactivation. There are three primary mechanisms attributed to cell death by plasma, including cell surface etching induced by reactive species, impact on intracellular components, and the destruction of genetic material. Aside from that, plasma-mediated treatments are beneficial enzymatic inactivation, resulting in a shelf-life extension. Food processors can employ this technology for surface decontamination and impediment for biofilm development. Cold plasma may induce bioactive compounds degradation by the combined effects of numerous plasma-reactive species and thermal-induced oxidative cleavage pathways. Therefore, issues related to this technology include adverse effects on food components, especially lipids and vitamins, still require more investigations to improve the practical applicability of this technique.
查看更多>>摘要：The labelling compliance with EU and national legislation of market products composed of Mytilus spp. sold in Italy was evaluated. Then, a PCR-RFLP technique analyzing a region of the Polyphenolic Adhesive Protein (PAP) nuclear gene was used to support the label assessment. The technique allows to discriminate the species most commercialized in EU (M. chilensis, M. edulis, M. galloprovincialis and their hybrids). The labelling of all the products was compliant with labelling legislation (mislabeling rate 0%). The PCR-RFLP identified 17 products (47.22%) as M. chilensis, 13 (36.1%) as M. galloprovincialis, 3 (8.3%) as a mix of pure species and hybrids and 3 (8.3%) as hybrids. Hybrids were represented by M. chilensis x M. edulis, M. chilensis x M. galloprovincialis, M. edulis x M. galloprovincialis. No cases of discrepancy respect to the information reported on the labels were found in products containing pure species; in those composed by mix of pure species and hybrids or hybrids, the pure species or at least one parental species of the hybrid corresponded to that declared. Some consideration emerged: the RFLP electrophoretic pattern should be deepened in M. edulis and in other Mytilus spp.; the possibility to extend the scope of the Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 to pre-cooked and cooked products should be evaluated; since no disposition on hybrids labelling exist, a revision of the EU lists of commercial designations is recommended, also in the light to support official laboratories in interpretating the results and issuing analysis reports.
查看更多>>摘要：In the food industry, a reactive, siloed approach to food safety is common; the proactive application of a broad risk management (multi-faceted risk management) approach is in a relatively early stage of evolution. This paper shows that opportunities exist to move beyond the typical mono-dimensional approaches that focus only on fixing specific causes and look at the broader risks associated with any event. Companies providing nutrition globally face a broad risk landscape across products, geographies, media platforms and Governments, regardless of business size. Multi-faceted risk management has been applied for some time across other industries and provides a useful set of tools to further develop within the food sector. Each event creates a unique series of risks for an affected company. More often than not, these are further enhanced by factors that are external to the company itself. In this paper, the same theoretical food safety event is placed in the context of both a small-scale boutique business and a large-scale corporate business, and a semi-quantitative multi-faceted risk management model is applied to determine and select mitigation options. The illustrative model considers not only the food safety risk, but also various risk facets relevant to the business, population, societal, environment, reputation and public perception. Consideration is also given to additional external events, such as occurrence under the circumstances of a coincidental catastrophic condition. The use of the model in business continuity planning to identify event likelihood and consequences, and therefore pre-emptive identification and emplacement of preventative measures is also illustrated.
Britton, Brianna C.Cook, Kelden T.Wu, Sophie TongyuBurnett, Jack...
11页
查看更多>>摘要：The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of L. monocytogenes and validate a predictive statistical model for assessing L. monocytogenes contamination risk at retail which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. Ten environmental samples per store were collected during daily operations two times over 12 months in 44 retail deli departments across seven states. Each sample was tested for L. monocytogenes and other Listeria spp.; confirmation was conducted via whole genome sequencing and PCR amplification of the sigB gene, respectively. A 117-question survey was developed based on previous work in retail deli departments and distributed to store or deli managers once during sampling. Survey questions were correlated with L. monocytogenes using linear regression and ANOVA statistical models. A Firth's bias-corrected logistic regression model was developed to predict the probability of a deli having high L. monocytogenes prevalence (>10%). L. monocytogenes prevalence decreased from 5.8% prior to March 2020 to 4.3% during the pandemic. Squeegees and standing water had the highest L. monocytogenes prevalence of all sampling sites in the study; L. monocytogenes was not found on scales or trash cans. Cleaning and sanitation protocols most highly correlated with L. monocytogenes prevalence. The logistic regression model accurately predicted high L. monocytogenes prevalence in 10/17 stores with high prevalence (alpha < 0.0001, beta = 0.1186) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic heightened awareness of disease transmission and the importance of sanitation to prevent spread of SARS-CoV-2. This study indicates that there were additional benefits to enhanced sanitation and changes in service practices (i.e., reduced L. monocytogenes prevalence and therefore reduced risk of transmission to foods) beyond decreasing SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
查看更多>>摘要：This study investigated the effectiveness of the ultraviolet irradiation of the C region (UV-C) for the decontamination of Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) on artificially inoculated maize and peanut using innovative decontamination equipment that supports vibrations to achieve semi-fluidization of the grain/kernel material and getting equal irradiation of all surfaces of irradiated foods. UV irradiation is a non-thermal alternative to thermal processes commonly used in food processing with a well-known effect on AFB1 degradation. Samples of maize and peanut were exposed to UV-C irradiation with a total dose in the range of 1080-8370 mJ/cm(2). Analysis by Tracker and ImageJ software confirmed the even distribution of irradiation on all surfaces during the entire duration of exposure. The highest reduction of A. flavus count was observed after ten days of incubation and irradiation treatment delivering a dose of 8370 mJ/cm(2) achieving A. flavus count reduction of 4.4 log CFU/g in maize and 3.1 log CFU/g in peanut. Depending on the treatment, AFB1 reduction level in maize ranged from 17 to 43% and in peanut ranged from 14 to 51%. Sensory and physical testing of the peanut samples showed only minimal changes in the evaluated characteristics caused by different levels of the UV-C treatment. Presented results demonstrate a potential for the use of the presented approach as an effective reduction strategy for both A. flavus and AFB1 in maize and peanut.
查看更多>>摘要：As extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is a high value commodity, it might be subject of various fraudulent practices. This study is focused on a challenging authentication issue, addition of lower grade, soft-deodorized olive oil to EVOO. In the first step, sample sets of authentic EVOOs, soft-deodorized oils and their admixtures were extracted by aqueous methanol; obtained polar fractions were then analysed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-HRMS/MS). Subsequent chemometric evaluation of metabolic fingerprints enabled suggestion of several ions that might be characteristic for deodorized oils; most of tentatively identified compounds were oxidized fatty acid derivatives. In the second phase, the 'marker' ions were employed for target analysis by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS) what enabled achieving lower the detection limits. Two compounds were selected as the best markers for detection of soft-deodorized olive oil addition, tentatively identified as methyl ester of hydroxy octadecenoic acid and ester derivative of oleic acid.
Nicte Morales-Rabanales, QuetzaliRubio-Rosas, EfrainSalud Cortes-Ramirez, GeorginaSanchez Ramirez, Jose Francisco...
11页
查看更多>>摘要：The control of postharvest diseases in tomatoes using hybrid films represents an efficient and inexpensive alternative to avoid economic losses. This work reports on the design, characterization, and in situ application of hybrid films containing chitosan combined with the leaf essential oil of Schinus molle (SmEO) as antifungal agents. These materials were tested in situ on Lycopersicon esculentum cv. uva showing symptoms of soft rot caused by Fusarium oxysporum. According to our analytical conditions, SmEO contained beta-phellandrene (15.7%), a-phellandrene (12.1%), elemol (9.1%), apiole (6.4%) and camphene (6.2%) as the most abundant volatiles. Four distinct hybrid films were prepared from 1% chitosan combined with different amounts of SmEO (0.05, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.7% w/v) to generate four hybrid films named F5m1, FSm2, FSm3 and FSm4. The spectroscopic properties (FT-IR), texture and thickness (SEM), and optical properties (transmittance) of these films revealed that FSm3 and FSm4 had the best physicochemical and in situ antifungal properties to avoid conidial germination and mycelial proliferation of F. oxysporum. The fruits treated with films and essential oil showed a statistically significant delay (>50%) in mycelial growth compared with the control groups (p < 0.05) and a substantial decrease in conidial viability over 6 days (<2%). According to our results, FSm3 and FSm4 significantly avoided the in situ growth of F. oxysporum in tomatoes. Interestingly, all of the films significantly improved fruit firmness in comparison with untreated tomatoes (p < 0.05). The properties of the films reported in this work may improve the shelf life of Lycopersicon esculentum cv. uva.
NSTL
Elsevier