Impact of Biotechnology on Food Supply and Quality

In 2000 I was awarded a Nuffield Farming Scholarship to study the impact of biotechnology, in particular genetically modified crops, on international agricultural research, production and marketing. I studied this topic in 2001 in Canada, USA and United Kingdom in an attempt to gain an insight into the issues with GM crops and how this may impact on our decision to grow them in Western Australia. I was impressed by the technology available that opened up a range of opportunities for vast improvements in production traits, quality of food, food safety and environmental and human health benefits. I also gained an understanding of the challenges faced by Canada and the US in production, identity preservation, testing and marketing of GM crops. In contrast the UK gave me a valuable appreciation of the influence of the marketplace in determining the future of GM research and production. Since my return I have had an opportunity to reflect on what I learnt and assess the impact this has on our decision to grow GM crops in WA in an environment of growing public concern and debate. The technology provides us with a valuable tool for more efficient production and market segmentation and we must take advantage of it to remain competitive in the world market. However, we need to learn from the mistakes made by other countries producing GM crops and commit resources to very good testing and identity preservation systems backed by strong regulatory, research, development and production processes to minimise the risk of making the same mistakes.

With the approval of bST for use in enhancing productive efficiency and milk production of dairy cows the public has been subjected to confusing public discussions about the health consequences of using biotechnology to improve our food supply. This paper presents a scientist's assessment of its effect on animal agriculture and the consumer.

PROTOCOL: Impact of the food environment on diet-related health outcomes in school-age children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Food supply fluctuations constrain group sizes of kangaroos and in turn shape their vigilance and feeding strategies

Cutting edge technologies to end food waste

We performed supplemental feeding experiments during three breeding seasons of the Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus L.) in order to establish the importance of food in reproductive timing. In particular, we addressed the question of why the response to supplemental food is restricted to 3—6 d in many bird species. Supplemental food advanced the start of egg—laying in all three breeding seasons. The mean difference between fed and control pairs was 4 d in two years and 6 d in another. The amount and quality of the supplemental food used in the experiment were not limiting, since pairs receiving a further increase in amount and quality of food did not start laying earlier than pairs with a standard feeding regime. The amount of food that was consumed increased during the period from 15 d before egg formation until the beginning of egg formation and then remained at a high utilization rate until clutch completion. Although fed pairs, on average, started egg—laying earlier than control pairs, the earliest control females started to lay eggs as early as the first females. Fed pairs were also relatively late in a year when control pairs were late. In 1992, fed pairs did not produce larger clutches or more fledglings, but had nestlings with lower mass at 13 d post—hatching than those of control pairs. Analysis at the territory level revealed that supplemental food affected laying date to a greater extent in low—quality territories, in which laying could be advanced by up to 9—10 d, compared to high—quality territories in which laying was not advanced at all. We conclude that laying date in most Blue Tit females is limited by low food supply early in spring, but some females, occupying high—quality territories, will not advance laying in response to food. Thus, above a certain critical limit, laying date is unrelated to food supply, and birds use other cues in their decision to commence breeding. Such cues are probably also responsible for the between—year variation in laying dates of food—supplemented pairs, since these were provided with the same amount of food during the different years.

The subject of animal-population cycles has been quite thoroughly reviewed in recent literature. Some of the old ideas regarding the cause of such cycles have been reappraised and several new theories have been advanced. Palmgren (1949) and Cole (1951) have proposed that the so-called cycles are merely random fluctuations in animal numbers. Lack (1954b) has concluded that predators may be responsible for the regular cyclic decline in some animal populations, and Siivonen and Koskimies (1955) have presented evidence to show that a lunar cycle may be the immediate cause for these animal cycles. It is not the intention of this paper to disprove any of these theories, but rather to present evidence to show that these cycles may be merely the result of variations in quantity and the nutritive quality of available food. Braestrup (1940) suggested that a decline in the quality of food as a result of a regular climatic change may cause hare cycles, but subsequent study did not bear out the climatic cycles. He also expressed the belief that nutritional problems may result from overutilization of key food species long before any general overutilization of the food supply is apparent. Grange (1949) proposed that cycles were the result of the interreaction between herbivorous mammals and their food Such a simple cycle, like the waves in the ocean, assumes that the animals' populations build up until they consume all of the food, then die off and rebuild again after the food supply has recovered. Recent studies of lemming populations at Point Barrow, reported by Thompson (1955), suggest a cycle almost that simple. He reports that almost all vegetation was consumed at the peak of the three to four-year cycle. Although Thompson concluded that the cycle was due to a combination of predation and food and cover depletion, it is quite apparent that some cycle would have resulted even if the predators were absent, as most of those lemmings taken by predators were already doomed to starvation. An indication that rabbits may also respond to such a simple starvation cycle is found in reports that they sometimes severely damage their winter food plants during peak years (Bailey, 1946; Grange, 1949; and Cowan, 1950). Howev r, such examples of direct starvation limiting herbivore populations are relatively uncommon in nature, since (in my opinion) malnutrition, not starvation, usually sets the p pulation limits. Most animals resort to so-called stuffing (Leopold, 1933) rather than succumb to direct starvation. Actually, the rabbits mentioned above which were damaging their ranges, probably were consuming foods that were well below their minimum nutritional requirements. Most living things have a reproductive capacity that keeps their population at environmental capacity, and the most important single component of that environment s food. This is borne out by Lack (1954a), who concludes that many bird species are limited in numbers by their food supply. Starker Leopold (1955) gives further support to this conclusion when he states that food is the all-important regulator of deer numbers.

In order to calibrate carrying capacity models, investigations were conducted into the effects of food concentration and food quality on the feeding rates of small (25–50 mm), medium (60–85 mm) and large (90–115 mm) Greenshell mussels (Perna canaliculus). Experimental diets varying from 3.3 to 6.0 μg l−1 chlorophyll a concentration and 12–25% organic content were fed to mussels housed in individual flow through chambers. Not surprisingly, this study found that the main factor affecting feeding rates is mussel size. Small mussels were observed to maintain a constant filtration rate of approximately 20 mg h−1 irrespective of food concentration or quality, whereas mussels of greater than 60 mm length had more variable filtration rates between 30 and 80 mg h−1. The filtration rates of these large mussels were also observed to increase positively with organic content, and showed no sign of levelling out, even at the highest organic content tested (25%). Highest rejection rates (50–70 mg h−1) were observed when the organic content of the available seston was low, suggesting that P. canaliculus are able to selectively reject organic material, thereby organically enriching their diet. It appears that the organic content of the seston is the primary determinant of the net efficiency with which food is selected from the available seston by the mussel. The present study shows that P. canaliculus of all sizes are capable of adapting their feeding behaviour to compensate for changes in the food supply, which may occur over relatively short time periods, in the culture environment.

Food safety and quality has received attention in the agri‐food sector and is basis of all initiatives taken on different activity levels starting from farm to enterprises as a whole on regional, national, and international levels. A hybrid of the ISO 9001, Quality Management System and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), ISO 22000 has been developed as an international solution for improving the food safety. Instead of applying good manufacturing practices, HACCP and ISO 9001:2000 separately, ISO 22000:2005 is implemented to observe the synergetic effect and to ensure food safety in food supply chain. ISO 22000 also known as Food Safety Management System (FSMS) is an international auditable standard. Standard ensures safe food supply throughout the chain and provide a framework of internationally harmonized system for the global approach. ISO 22000 incorporates critical control point and hazard analysis systems in more improved form to produce much effective auditable FSMS. This standard endorses conformity of services and products for international trading by assuring about reliability, food quality, and food safety.Practical applicationsThe role exploration of Food Safety Management System (FSMS) in implementing food safety throughout the food production and supply chain is reviewed in this paper. The goal “once certified, accepted worldwide” of Globe Food Safety Initiative theme discussed to help industries and researchers. ISO 22000 along with its sister standards are auditable, reliable, and reasonable to ensure safe production, distribution, and consumption of food. During review of literature it is revealed that all technical aspects and requirements to implement the FSMS are not discussed on one place and thus leading to confusion. The aim of this review is to discuss different requirements, documentations, and systems in place for the certification of standards and the article will be helpful for the industries, technocrats, academicians, researchers, and policy framers.

The impact of plant biotechnology on food allergy

Ungulates can respond to changes in food supply by altering foraging behavior, digestive function, and metabolism. A multifaceted response to an environmental change is considered robust. Short seasons of plant growth make herbivores sensitive to changes in food supply because maintenance and production must be accomplished in less time with fewer options in a more fragile response. Caribou live at high latitudes where short summers constrain their response to changes in food supply. We measured the ability of female caribou to resist and tolerate changes in the quality and quantity of their food supply during winter and summer. Caribou resisted changes in food abundance and quality by changing food intake and physical activity with changes in daily temperature within each season. Peak food intake rose by 134% from winter pregnancy to summer lactation (98 vs. 229 g kg-0.75 d-1), as digestible requirements to maintain the body increased by 85% for energy (1,164 vs. 2,155 kJ kg-0.75 d-1) and by 266% for N (0.79 vs. 2.89 g N kg-0.75 d-1). Caribou required a diet with a digestible content of 12 kJ g-1 and 0.8% N in pregnancy, 18 kJ g-1 and 1.9% N in early lactation, and 11 kJ g-1 and 1.2% N in late lactation, which corresponds with the phenology of the wild diet. Female caribou tolerated restriction of ad lib. food intake to 58% of their energy requirement (680 vs. 1,164 kJ kg-0.75 d-1) during winter pregnancy and to 84% of their energy requirement (1,814 vs. 2,155 kJ kg-0.75 d-1) during summer lactation without a change in stress level, as indicated by fecal corticosterone concentration. Conversely, caribou can respond to increased availability of food with a spare capacity to process digestible energy and N at 123% (2,642 vs. 2,155 kJ kg-0.75 d-1) and 145% (4.20 vs. 2.89 g N kg-0.75 d-1) of those respective requirements during lactation. Robust responses to changes in food supply allow caribou to sustain reproduction, which would buffer demographic response. However, herds may decline when thresholds of behavioral resistance and physiological tolerance are frequently exceeded. Therefore, the challenge for managing declining populations of caribou and other robust species is to identify declines in robustness before their response becomes fragile.

The Social Regulation of Population Density and Age-Sex Distribution in the Toque Monkey

A biochemically-based model was developed to simulate the growth, development, and metamorphosis of larvae of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas. The model defines larvae in terms of their protein, lipid, carbohydrate, and ash content and includes variation in growth efficiency and egg quality to better simulate cohort population dynamics. Changes in tissue composition occur as the larva grows and in response to the biochemical composition of the food. The premise behind this modeling study was that certain periods of larval life are more critical than others with respect to the availability of food and that food quality is as important as food quantity. The results of the simulations indicate that critical periods do exist, but that the period of larval life which is critical depends upon the composition of the available food supply and how it varies over time. Overall, the most critical time is late in larval life, near the time of metamorphosis. At this point, some variations in food quality are particularly efficacious, others particularly disastrous. But, under certain circumstances, events early or midway in larval life also dramatically change cohort survival. Simulations show that cohort survival varies in a relatively predictable way when salinity or food quantity vary. Both control time-integrated food supply to the larva by varying the amount of food ingested. Reduction of time-integrated ingestion reduces survival. Larvae with high growth efficiency are more successful, as are larvae coming from large eggs. The simple effect of time-integrated food presents a stark contrast to the complexity introduced by varying food quality. Simulations indicate that it is late in larval life when larvae are most sensitive to changes in food quality. Increased protein at this time always improves survival. Increased lipid is most efficacious midway in larval life, but also exerts a positive impact late in larval life. Variations in carbohydrate are relatively inconsequential in affecting larval survival. Simulations in which food quantity and food quality vary independently show that cohort survival is sensitive to the exact timing and type of environmental change. Transient changes in food quantity influence survival primarily by varying the length of larval life. Transient changes in food quality, on the other hand, can produce large changes in survivorship by restricting the range of genotypes in the cohort that can survive, as well as by varying larval life span. The simulations support the adaptive advantage of larval cohorts with a relatively wide range of genotypes and suggest the important influence of variations in food quality in maintaining genetic variability.

In mountain environment of the Jeseniky Mts., we studied the botanical composition and quality of diets of red deer, roe deer and chamois as well as utilization of their food supply. The data were collected from two localities of different altitudes and food supply. The locality on summits was covered mostly with grasses in herb layer and inhabited by chamois and red deer, while in the lower locations raspberry, forbs and broadleaved tree was abundant and red and roe deer were presented. The aim of the study was to analyze a feeding strategy of three ungulate species in mountain habitats with limited food supply and to deduce implications to management of their populations. (1) Botanic composition of the ungulate food was influenced not only by their foraging specialisation but also food supply was very important. Red deer consumed grasses (more than 90 percent of volume) on the summit in growing season while forbs and browse were presented in substantial amount in its diet in lower altitudes. (2) The food quality based on nitrogen content was higher in general in roe deer than in the others ungulates but during late winter the roe deer consumed the diet based on spruce needles of very low quality. The quality of red deer diet was lower in the summit area (grassy habitats) than at foot hills where the food supply was more various. (3) The roe deer distribution can be restricted by absence of high quality food resources in ground vegetation while red deer and chamois can use food of lower quality (grasses). (5) Winter is a critical period for all study species when the food supply is a worst quality and the ungulate diets were similar and the possibility of competition for limited resources increase.

Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is an innovative use of information and communication technologies and refers to the exchange of goods and related information between companies supported by Internet-based tools such as electronic marketplaces (also called electronic trade platforms) or online shops. It provides opportunities for cost-efficiency in supply chain management processes and access to new markets. With regard to the food sector with its chain levels input – agriculture – industry – retail – consumer, B2B e-commerce would take place in the exchange of food products between all levels except retail to consumer (business-to-consumer e-commerce). It is evident and widely known that B2B e-commerce brings key advantages and potentials for European consumers and the European food sector: The affordability of high quality, traceable food for European consumers is supported as the innovation potentials from e-commerce technologies for cost-efficient processes along the food chain. The healthy choice of quality food will become the easy and affordable choice for European consumers. The competitiveness of the European food sector with the majority of SMEs increases as B2B e-commerce technologies support cost-efficient transaction processes in food supply chains. In recent years, the availability of sophisticated B2B e-commerce technology has improved tremendously. The “European e-Business Market Watch” initiative from the Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry from the European Commission has shown that only large multinationals exploit the potentials of B2B e-commerce in the food sector for their supply chain management with their business partners. SMEs however, which create the majority of turn over in the European food sector and therefore create jobs and welfare in Europe, are reluctant to take up existing B2B e-commerce technologies into their food supply of selling. The crucial barrier to adoption is that trust between companies is not mediated appropriately by existing e-commerce technology. Currently, the barrier for food sector SMEs towards B2B e-commerce come from the difficulty to examine the quality and safety of food products. This refers to all kinds of transactions in the food sector, whether supported by e-commerce or not. However, when it comes to e-commerce, the difficulty of physical product examination plays a much larger role as physical product inspection is not possible; the (perceived) risk of performing a transaction via e-commerce. This includes concerns regarding secure transfer of data, or the possibly unknown transaction partner. Elements for the generation of trust between companies in the food chain and therefore of trustworthy B2B e-commerce environments for the food sector include guaranties regarding food quality, multimedia food product presentations to signal their quality, secure e-commerce technology infrastructures, third-party quality signs to be provided. As trust is highly subjective and depends on culture, food chains in different European countries with a different cultural background require different combinations of trust generating elements regarding the quality and safety of food. Different food chain scenarios with their transaction processes and risks regarding food quality and food safety and related trust elements need to be analysed and differences in trust in different European food chains need to be considered. It is the objective of this paper to identify food chains with trans-European cross-border exchange of food products (e.g., fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, meat, grain) and international food chains from Brazil and the US to Europe and to analyse the these food chains with their transaction processes along the food chain and typical risks regarding food quality and food safety. This WP mainly builds on expert interviews with food chain business leaders and food chain business associations from the advisory board. It is therefore an essential part of the communication with the stakeholders of the project’ results and will create awareness and sensibility towards the topic. It includes the analysis of the transaction process phases and the analysis of particular risks involved in the food product distribution chains, respectively. Risks regarding food quality and food safety provide hints for the necessity of B2B trust elements to compensate the risks. The analysis focuses on trans-European cross-border and international food chains with their chain levels (e.g. production to wholesale trade, wholesale trade to industry, or wholesale trade to retail). In particular, it regards the food product groups meat, grain, olive oil, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruits and the particular risks regarding food quality and safety along the chains.