A Challenge for Industry - to Transform Chicken Skin into Leather to Benefit Food Safety and Human Health

Purpose: Establish whether the industry biological asset fair valuing challenges are country-specific or agricultural-sector specific. Determine how the inputs and challenges experienced by the valuers relate to the industry challenges. Research Methodology: Descriptive, qualitative conceptual content analysis of financial reports of 50 listed organizations across 10 countries from 2012 to 2015; with relational content analysis through in-person interviews with 24 biological asset valuers. Results: This paper contradicts prior research as no correlation was identified between large agricultural organizations and the extent of biological asset disclosures. The biological asset valuation and disclosure challenges are not country-specific or agricultural-sector-specific and the inconsistency in factors applied by the valuers appears to impact the industry challenges directly. Limitations: As biological assets are only held by agricultural organizations of which not all fair value the assets to report thereon – limiting the number of interviews to 24. Data collected via the interviews represent the challenges and valuation considerations of the individuals and their exposure to biological asset valuations. Contribution: This research analyzed and categorised the biological asset valuation challenges to determine whether it is country-specific and/or unique to an agricultural sector. The input factors and challenges experienced by the valuers in relation to the reporting challenges allow a relational analysis of the industry challenges. Keywords: Biological asset valuation, Decision-enhancing disclosures, Fair value accounting, Users of financial statements, Valuation elements

Foodborne bacterial pathogens in consumed foods are major food safety concerns worldwide, leading to serious illness and even death. An exciting strategy is to use novel phenolic compounds against bacterial pathogens based on recruiting the inducible metabolic responses of plant endogenous protective defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. Such stress-inducible phenolic metabolites have high potential to reduce bacterial contamination, and particularly improve safety of plant foods. The stimulation of plant protective response by inducing biosynthesis of stress-inducible phenolics with antimicrobial properties is among the safe and effective strategies that can be targeted for plant food safety and human gut health benefits. Metabolically driven elicitation with physical, chemical, and microbial elicitors has shown significant improvement in the biosynthesis of phenolic metabolites with antimicrobial properties in food and medicinal plants. Using the above rationale, this review focuses on current advances and relevance of metabolically driven elicitation strategies to enhance antimicrobial phenolics in plant food models for bacterial-linked food safety applications. Additionally, the specific objective of this review is to explore the potential role of redox-linked pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) regulation for enhancing biosynthesis of stress-inducible antibacterial phenolics in elicited plants, which are relevant for wider food safety and human health benefits.

The development and application of modern sequencing technologies have led to many new improvements in food safety and public health. With unprecedented resolution and big data, high-throughput sequencing (HTS) has enabled food safety specialists to sequence marker genes, whole genomes, and transcriptomes of microorganisms almost in real-time. These data reveal not only the identity of a pathogen or an organism of interest in the food supply but its virulence potential and functional characteristics. HTS of amplicons, allow better characterization of the microbial communities associated with food and the environment. New and powerful bioinformatics tools, algorithms, and machine learning allow for development of new models to predict and tackle important events such as foodborne disease outbreaks. Despite its potential, the integration of HTS into current food safety systems is far from complete. Government agencies have embraced this new technology, and use it for disease diagnostics, food safety inspections, and outbreak investigations. However, adoption and application of HTS by the food industry have been comparatively slow, sporadic, and fragmented. Incorporation of HTS by food manufacturers in their food safety programs could reinforce the design and verification of effectiveness of control measures by providing greater insight into the characteristics, origin, relatedness, and evolution of microorganisms in our foods and environment. Here, we discuss this new technology, its power, and potential. A brief history of implementation by public health agencies is presented, as are the benefits and challenges for the food industry, and its future in the context of food safety.

Simple SummaryReducing Salmonella contamination of poultry meat is vital to reducing the incidence of human Salmonella infections in the United States. While individual birds can carry Salmonella, poultry meat often becomes contaminated in the processing plant where a high risk of cross contamination also exists. Currently, chemicals such as peracetic acid are used during processing to kill microbes and prevent contamination. However, consumers are increasingly weary of chemical use with interest in natural alternatives growing. Garlic and ginger oils have proven antimicrobial activity and possess many benefits for human health. Therefore, we sought to determine the ability of garlic and ginger to reduce Salmonella in the processing environment. A combination of both oils reduced Salmonella on chicken skin by up to 99% and prevented Salmonella growth in the simulated scalding tank environment. Investigation into the antibacterial mode-of-action revealed a potential of the oils to inhibit the ability of Salmonella to adhere to host cells. In total, this data demonstrates the potential of garlic and ginger oil to serve as a natural alternative to reduce Salmonella prevalence and cross-contamination in the processing plant.Approximately 1.35 million human salmonellosis cases are reported in the United States every year, resulting in over 26,000 hospitalizations and 400 deaths. Consumption of contaminated poultry products is one of the leading causes of human salmonellosis. Poultry meat becomes contaminated when feces from an infected bird comes into contact with the carcass during processing. Additional carcasses can then become cross-contaminated along the processing line. While chemicals such as peracetic acid are currently used to kill microbes such as Salmonella, consumers are increasingly calling for more natural alternatives. Our objective for this study was to determine the ability of the phytochemicals garlic and ginger oil to reduce Salmonella prevalence in the processing environment. In a simulated scalding tank environment, dipping contaminated chicken skin samples in a solution containing both garlic and ginger oil reduced Salmonella by up to 2 log CFU. Furthermore, the oils prevented Salmonella growth in the tank solution. The mechanism of action of garlic and ginger was evaluated using the sub-inhibitory concentration of each oil individually. While both were found to decrease autoinducer-2 (AI-2) levels, no effect was seen on expression of 10 genes involved in Salmonella virulence and survival. In total, this work demonstrates the potential of garlic and ginger to reduce Salmonella prevalence in the post-harvest environment. However, more work remains to be done to understand the mechanism of action.

Peracetic acid (PAA) exhibits higher antimicrobial efficacy compared to chlorine-based disinfectants against Salmonella Typhimurium on chicken skin and food-contact surfaces.

Campylobacter spp. are foodborne pathogens responsible for a significant portion of human cases of bacterial-mediated gastrointestinal disease. A primary method for the introduction of Campylobacter into the food supply is through poultry products. Reducing the number of Campylobacter on poultry products may reduce the incidence of human disease. Research has been conducted on the use of light to inactivate Campylobacter on poultry products and processing environments. More recently, the use of high intensity visible 405-nm light has been proposed for the elimination of pathogenic bacteria. This study investigated the ability of 405-nm light to reduce Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in poultry products. Campylobacter in chicken exudate were placed onto chicken skin or food-grade stainless steel before treatment with 405-nm light. A range of 405-nm light doses were applied to cocktails of six C. jejuni or six C. coli strains in exudate at 10°C to minimize thermal effects. Little difference was observed between inactivation of C. jejuni and C. coli on poultry skin with only minor average reductions of 1.7 logs and 2.1 logs, respectively, at the maximal dose of 184-186 J/cm(2). More noticeable differences were observed when the samples were placed on stainless steel and treated with a dose of 89 J/cm(2), producing an average reduction of 3.0 logs for C. coli but only 1.1 logs for C. jejuni. The maximal dose (181-183 J/cm(2)) applied to Campylobacter on stainless steel produced significant (p ≤ 0.05) reductions for C. jejuni and C. coli of 4.9 logs and 5.1 logs, respectively. However, significant 405-nm-mediated reductions in Campylobacter numbers required exposure times to achieve necessary dose levels that might be impractical under processing conditions. In addition, the most potent exposure times likely produced secondary thermal effects by raising sample surface temperatures above 48°C.

Organic farming: Does it contribute to contaminant-free produce and ensure food safety?

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of dietary inclusion of 5% Chlorella vulgaris, individually or supplemented with two carbohydrase mixtures, on pork's mineral profile (calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, phosphorous, sulfur and zinc). Design/methodology/approach Forty male finishing pigs were assigned to four dietary treatments: cereal and soybean meal-based diet (control), control diet with 5% microalga (CCV), CCV diet supplemented with 0.005% of a commercial xylanase and β-glucanase-based complex and CCV diet supplemented with 0.01% of a mixture of four carbohydrate-active enzymes. Pigs were slaughtered after 41 ± 7.8 days of trial and the mineral composition of longissimus lumborum muscle was analyzed using inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry. Findings When C. vulgaris was supplemented with a four-CAZyme mixture, an increase of total minerals in meat was found due to a higher content of potassium, which led to a decrease of sodium to potassium ratio in pork. However, CCV treatment decreased the amount of calcium and manganese in meat, which was likely due to a lower bioavailability of these minerals in the diet. Originality/value Considering the imbalance of sodium and potassium in most Western diets and the increasing occurrence of cardiovascular diseases in the population, the improvement of meat quality caused by a reduction of sodium to potassium ratio might help to reduce the prevalence of high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases, having thus benefits for consumers' health.

The world is facing a series of new societal and industrial challenges, such as continuously increasing costs in food and energy supply and a short supply of skilled labor. To solve these new challenges, operation, information, and communication technology is entering a new era with more focus targeted to cost reduction and energy savings. In this article, how innovative technologies including virtualization, low-code development, digital twins, and industrial agents can support and impact digital and green transitions is analyzed. In addition, how these technologies will help the security and sustainability of future industrial automation systems is also discussed.

Strategically unlearning specific knowledge, behaviors, and practices facilitates product and process innovation, business model evolution, and new market opportunities and is essential to meet emergent supply chain and customer requirements. Indeed, addressing societal concerns such as climate change and net zero means elements of contemporary practice in food supply chains need to be unlearned to ensure new practices are adopted. However, unlearning is a risky process if crucial knowledge is lost, for example, if knowledge is situated in the supply base not the organization itself, or there is insufficient organizational food safety knowledge generation, curation, and management when new practices/processes are designed and implemented. An exploratory, critical review of management and food safety academic and gray literature is undertaken that aims to consider the cycle of unlearning, learning, and relearning in food organizations and supply chains with particular emphasis on organizational innovation, inertia, and the impact on food safety management systems and food safety performance. Findings demonstrate it is critical with food safety practices, such as duration date coding or refrigeration practices, that organizations "unlearn" in a way that does not increase organizational, food safety, or public health risk. This paper contributes to extant literature by highlighting the organizational vulnerabilities that can arise when strategically unlearning to promote sustainability in a food supply context. Mitigating such organizational, food safety, and public health risk means organizations must simultaneously drive unlearning, learning, and relearning as a dynamic integrated knowledge acquisition and management approach. The research implications are of value to academics, business managers, and wider industry.

Part 1 Soy is a traditional Chinese food, its protein contains a complete essential amino acids as an equivalent of animal protein. Many studies have also pointed out that soy and soy products have many benefits on human health, including the prevention of cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, diabetes, malignancy, obesity, osteoporosis, allergies, constipation, etc and improved health condition. The purpose of this study is using Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei NTU 101 (NTU 101) to optimize the production conditions of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition value with Response Surface Methodology (RSM). After separating and purifing active ingredients, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was applied to identify isolated bioactive compounds. Among 16 groups measured, fermented soil milk extraction had the highest ACEI activity, with half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) reduced from 1.22 mg/mL to 1.02 mg/mL under the follow condition: 12% soy milk, starting from pH 9.0 and 15% inoculum. NTU 101 soil milk alcohol extraction were separated and purified by different polarity organic liquids, Silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH20 column chromatography, TLC and HPLC. After that, purified compounds F1-6-2 had the most inhibitory activity. Purified compounds F1-6-2 was identified as Daidzein by NMR and FTIR. IUPAC name is 7-Hydroxy-3- (4-hydroxyphenyl) chromen-4-one. In conclusion, soy milk fermented by NTU 101 can produce bioactivity substances that inhibited ACE activity. In the future, to enhance the value of traditional soy milk products, this multifunction component can be applied to the development of functional foods to prevent the development of hypertension and associated diseases. Part 2 Many studies have pointed out a higher total cholesterol (TC) value in serum contributed to a higher death rate from coronary heart disease, and the percentage of saturated fat accounted for total calories in dietary showed a strong positive correlation with coronary heart disease (correlation coefficient r = 0.84). Excessive intake of saturated fatty acids in food will increase blood TC and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and promote atherosclerosis. And there are many studies indicating that abnormal blood lipids and high cholesterol diet are both important risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of fucoidan on lipid modulation of hypercholesterolemic hamsters fed with high cholesterol diet, evaluation for TC, triglycerides (TG), LDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and the antioxidant ability of blood, feces and liver. The results indicated that TC ,TG, the ratio of LDL-C to HDL-C of serum, and total liver TC and TG were significant decreased after feeding with fucoidan, compared with high cholesterol group. In addition, the level of the activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase were significantly increased in the fucoidan groups (p < 0.05), as compared to those in the high cholesterol group. In conclusion, fucoidan can regulate the blood lipid of hamsters fed with high cholesterol diet.

BackgroundEnvironmental impact assessments of pharmaceuticals typically consider only a part of the pharmaceutical supply chain, e.g. tablet formulation. While the environmental impact can be expressed in environmental Human Health burden due to resource use and emissions, the Human Health benefit of the pharmaceutical treatment of patients is currently not simultaneously taken into account. The study aims include a cradle-to-grave assessment of all Human Health impacts of the production, administration and disposal of two antipsychotics for the treatment of schizophrenia. This is complemented with the environmental impact of health care providers such as hospitals. The aim is to holistically quantify to what extent the environmental Human Health burden compares to the Human Health benefit associated with the treatment.MethodsWe applied an overall framework which included Life Cycle Assessment to model the environmental Human Health impacts of the pharmaceutical supply chain, administration and disposal of the drug and health care providers. To model the patient benefit, this was complemented with a Markov model with a 1-year time horizon. Three patient groups were modeled: medicine coverage of paliperidone palmitate for either one month (PP1M) or three months (PP3M) at a time, and compared to Treatment Interruption (TI) as a control group. Outcomes were quantified using Years of Life Lost (YLL), Years Lived with Disability (YLD) and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY).ResultsThe main environmental impacts were visits to the psychiatrist and psychiatric hospitals. The pharmaceutical supply chain had a limited impact. For 1000 patients for 1 year, PP1M and PP3M respectively avoided 0.38 and 0.49 environmental DALYs compared to TI. PP1M and PP3M further avoided 45.60 and 57.87 YLL and 23.31 and 29.91 YLD compared to TI. The main outcome was the sum of environmental DALYs, YLL and YLD, in which PP1M and PP3M respectively avoided 69.29 and 88.26 DALYs. Alternative analysis of Quality-Adjusted Life Years confirmed the results.ConclusionsThe overall environmental burden was lower for PP1M and PP3M treatment than Treatment Interruption because patients are kept more stable, which reduces the environmental burden due to hospitals. Moreover, the Human Health burden was outweighed by the Human Health benefit.

Introduction:Stroke or cerebrovascular accident or Intracranial Hemorrhage (ICH) is definedas an abrupt onset of a neurological deficit that is attributable to a focal vascularcause. Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide causing 6.2million deaths in 2011. Relation of high total cholesterol and triglycerides withischemic heart disease is well established worldwide. High cholesterol level areestimated to cause 56% of ischemic heart disease. However, dyslipidemia as arisk factor for ischemic stroke has been quite controversial in recent times. Ithas been observed in several studies that higher cholesterol and triglyceridelevels are associated with better outcome after ischemic stroke.Aim:The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of serum cholesterol on themortality and morbidity of stroke.Materials and Method:We retrospectively included 100 consecutive patients over age 18 with Strokeor cerebrovascular accident or Intracranial Hemorrhage (ICH) who wereadmitted in Sree Mookambika Institute of Health Sciences, confirmed by CTwithin 12 hours after onset. Patients with traumatism, brain tumor, previousICH, hemorrhagic transformation of ischemic stroke, vascular cerebralmalformations, and patients who required neurosurgical procedures wereexcluded. Data was collected with meticulous history, clinical examination withdetailed neurological examinations along with appropriate investigations. Astructured questionnaire was used to obtain data on family history of diabetes mellitus, history of hypertension, past and present illness, dietary pattern,addiction and medication. NIH stroke scale (NIHSS) were evaluated atadmission. Descriptive and analytical statistics were performed by SPSSversion 16.IEC clearance and a written informed consent were obtained frompatient or patients attenders. A P value of less than 0.05 was consideredstatistical significant.Results:Out of the 100 patients that were included in the study, the average age was 58.6± 12.15. Male to female ratio was 3:1(75:25) which clearly states that men aremore prone to develop stroke compared to females. Among the patients who hadstroke, risk factors like hypercholesterolemia(75%), hypertension(65%),diabetes mellitus(24%), smoking(40%), alcoholism(40%) were identified.Regarding the stroke severity, 39% of the patients had a minor stroke, 44% hada moderate intensity stroke while 17% of the patient had a severe stoke. A highmorbidity rate i.e., 80% was seen in patients who had had high totalcholesterol(75%) then compared to patients who had normal lipid profile with asignificant p value (<0.02).Only 2 passed away who was also found to have highcholesterol and triglycerides.Conclusion:Our study concluded a positive correlation between serum total cholesterol.Thus early detection of dyslipidemia and treatment with drugs along withdietary modifications & lifestyle changes can reduce the risk of stroke.Keywords: ICH, Stroke, Total Cholesterol, Cerebrovascular accident

Research into IPM technologies has been conducted by NSW DPI for over 20 years. Evaluating the returns from investment in specific research and development projects is an important component of the NSW DPI science and research program. An economic evaluation has been conducted of IPM in managing invertebrate pests in lettuce in NSW. We found that there has been widespread adoption of IPM practices amongst NSW lettuce growers leading to a flow of economic benefits to the lettuce industry and the community. Important environmental and human health benefits were also identified. A benefit-cost ratio of 2 was calculated for the return to NSW DPI investment in lettuce IPM research which while satisfactory, is lower than returns calculated for other agricultural R&D evaluations. It does not include ‘spillover’ benefits to other States nor have human health or environmental benefits been valued.

Causation in risk assessment and management: models, inference, biases, and a microbial risk–benefit case study