Area Of Food Safety Research Articles

AIE-based superwettable microchips for evaporation and aggregation induced fluorescence enhancement biosensing

Superwettable microchips with superhydrophilic microwells on superhydrophobic substrate have attracted increasing attention in fluorescence-based biological and medical diagnostics. However, traditional fluorophores often suffer from the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) problem at high concentration or in aggregated state. Here, we developed an AIE-based superwettable microchip by combining the evaporation-induced enrichment of superwettable microchips and the aggregation-induced emission of AIEgens together into one chip. Benefitting from the synergistic effect of the above two mechanisms, the AIE molecules (TPE-Z, a tetraphenylethene salt) were enriched from the diluted solution via evaporation and aggregated within the superhydrophilic microwell and then realized the fluorescence enhancement. Based on the dual enhancement effect of the AIE-based superwettable microchip, microRNA-141 (miR-141) can be detected with excellent reproducibility, sensitivity and specificity. A low detection limit of 1 pM can be achieved with higher signal-to-noise ratio than the traditional fluorescent probes. The proposed AIE-based superwettable microchip will provide a simple fluorescence enhancement biosensing platform for rapid, multiplexed and high-throughput analysis of specific targets in environmental monitoring, food safety, medical diagnosis and related research areas.

Aflatoxins in peanut oil: food safety concerns

Aflatoxins are widely recognised as important natural contaminants of a wide range of foods, including maize and peanuts (groundnuts), which form part of the staple diet in many countries of the developing world, especially in Africa. There is a frequent misconception based on solubility considerations and developed market surveys that aflatoxins do not occur in peanut oil. Thus, the use of peanut oil in human food is frequently overlooked as a source of aflatoxin exposure, yet artisanal oil extraction from contaminated peanuts in local facilities in the developing world results in carryover of these mycotoxins into the oil. Consequently, these peanut oils can have high contamination levels. This review highlights food safety concerns and addresses inter alia the analytical adaptations required to determine the polar aflatoxins in peanut oil. The determination of aflatoxins in peanut oil was first achieved by thin-layer chromatography, which was later mostly superseded by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection, or later, by mass spectrometric detection. More recently, a specially modified HPLC method with immunoaffinity column clean-up and fluorescence detection has achieved official method status at AOAC International. In addition, the review deals with toxicology, occurrence and detoxification of contaminated oil. Although various methods have been reported for detoxification of peanut oil, the toxicity of degradation products, the removal of beneficial constituents and the effect on its organoleptic properties need to be considered. This review is intended to draw attention to this often overlooked area of food safety.

Probing and Quantifying the Food-Borne Pathogens and Toxins: From In Vitro to In Vivo.

Development of real-time and in situ analytical methods for determination of food-borne pathogens and toxins ingested into the human body would be a promising research direction in the food-safety area. The present perspective starts with summarization of the up-to-date progress of the nanomaterial-assisted in vitro detection methods for pathogens and toxins and finally focuses on application of animal bioimaging to in vivo study, including prospective strategies for in vivo quantification of target pathogens or toxins and in vivo investigation of their behaviors inside the living body, with the assistance of real-time and non-invasive optical bioimaging. This perspective provides the advisory direction for food-safety research, from in vitro to in vivo, along with a prospective discussion of the further development roadmap of the food-safety detection techniques, especially the bioimaging-guided methods for investigation and mediation of the food contamination effect to human health.

National Institute of Nutrition: 100 years of empowering the nation through nutrition.

The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has reached a remarkable milestone of completing 100 years of exemplary service to the nation. The long journey that started in a humble one-room laboratory at Coonoor (now in Tamil Nadu) in 1918 to a colossus of the nutrition research in the country today is dotted with several interesting vignettes. The NIN has always been at the forefront of need-based, pragmatic research. Its large-scale community-based interventions have been of great practical value in the nation's fight against malnutrition. The evolution of nutrition as a modern science almost coincides with the growth of the Institute. Being the oldest in the fraternity of institutes under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the NIN has grown from strength to strength due to the sheer relevance of its contributions in furthering nutrition science and promoting public health in the country. This article provides a historical overview of the evolution and contributions of ICMR-NIN in the areas of nutrition, food safety, public health and policy.

MS-Based Analytical Techniques: Advances in Spray-Based Methods and EI-LC-MS Applications.

Mass spectrometry is the most powerful technique for the detection and identification of organic compounds. It can provide molecular weight information and a wealth of structural details that give a unique fingerprint for each analyte. Due to these characteristics, mass spectrometry-based analytical methods are showing an increasing interest in the scientific community, especially in food safety, environmental, and forensic investigation areas where the simultaneous detection of targeted and nontargeted compounds represents a key factor. In addition, safety risks can be identified at the early stage through online and real-time analytical methodologies. In this context, several efforts have been made to achieve analytical instrumentation able to perform real-time analysis in the native environment of samples and to generate highly informative spectra. This review article provides a survey of some instrumental innovations and their applications with particular attention to spray-based MS methods and food analysis issues. The survey will attempt to cover the state of the art from 2012 up to 2017.

Using Critical Thinking Styles of Opinion Leaders to Drive Extension Communication

In order to address the complex challenges facing the agricultural and natural resource industry, extension educators must collaborate with opinion leaders. Extension educators can use the assistance of opinion leaders in program design and implementation in order to best meet the needs of stakeholders and the public. Collaboration between extension educators and opinion leaders is more easily conducted when each party understands one another’s cognitive style and communication channel preference. This study explored the relationship between opinion leader critical thinking style among three contextual issue groups in agriculture and natural resources and preferred communication preferences used by extension educators. The three contextual issue groups included opinion leaders from the areas of water, food safety, and genetic modification (GM). Researchers used the University of Florida Critical Thinking Inventory (UFCTI) to measure critical thinking style of 300 respondents in Florida. Each of the contextual issue groups preferred engagement with information as their preferred critical thinking style. Among the contextual issue groups, significant differences were identified between the water and food safety groups in the information seeking UFCTI score and the GM and food safety groups in the information engagement score. The preferred method of receiving information overall was visiting a website.

A metagenomic assessment of viral contamination on fresh parsley plants irrigated with fecally tainted river water

Microbial food-borne diseases are still frequently reported despite the implementation of microbial quality legislation to improve food safety. Among all the microbial agents, viruses are the most important causative agents of food-borne outbreaks. The development and application of a new generation of sequencing techniques to test for viral contaminants in fresh produce is an unexplored field that allows for the study of the viral populations that might be transmitted by the fecal-oral route through the consumption of contaminated food. To advance this promising field, parsley was planted and grown under controlled conditions and irrigated using contaminated river water. Viruses polluting the irrigation water and the parsley leaves were studied by using metagenomics. To address possible contamination due to sample manipulation, library preparation, and other sources, parsley plants irrigated with nutritive solution were used as a negative control. In parallel, viruses present in the river water used for plant irrigation were analyzed using the same methodology. It was possible to assign viral taxons from 2.4 to 74.88% of the total reads sequenced depending on the sample. Most of the viral reads detected in the river water were related to the plant viral families Tymoviridae (66.13%) and Virgaviridae (14.45%) and the phage viral families Myoviridae (5.70%), Siphoviridae (5.06%), and Microviridae (2.89%). Less than 1% of the viral reads were related to viral families that infect humans, including members of the Adenoviridae, Reoviridae, Picornaviridae and Astroviridae families. On the surface of the parsley plants, most of the viral reads that were detected were assigned to the Dicistroviridae family (41.52%). Sequences related to important viral pathogens, such as the hepatitis E virus, several picornaviruses from species A and B as well as human sapoviruses and GIV noroviruses were detected. The high diversity of viral sequences found in the parsley plants suggests that irrigation on fecally-tainted food may have a role in the transmission of a wide diversity of viral families. This finding reinforces the idea that the best way to avoid food-borne viral diseases is to introduce good field irrigation and production practices. New strains have been identified that are related to the Picornaviridae and distantly related to the Hepeviridae family. However, the detection of a viral genome alone does not necessarily indicate there is a risk of infection or disease development. Thus, further investigation is crucial for correlating the detection of viral metagenomes in samples with the risk of infection. There is also an urgent need to develop new methods to improve the sensitivity of current Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques in the food safety area.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s role in improving nutrition: Labeling and other authorities

The US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition establishes regulations and guidance to enable consumers to make nutritious, healthy food choices and to protect the public from contaminated or otherwise unhealthy foods. The Center is known for its robust portfolio in the area of food safety, including prevention of foodborne illness, but also in nutrition, which is the emphasis of this overview. The breadth of the agency’s efforts and accomplishments in this and related areas is demonstrated by recent regulations and policies issued on food labeling, trans fat, sodium, folic acid fortification, and inorganic arsenic in foods, each of which is briefly discussed. As this work was presented at the annual meeting of the National Nutrient Databank Conference held in 2016, implications of FDA’s actions for nutrient databases are included as appropriate.

Benchmarking Agri-Food Value Chain Performance Factors in South Mediterranean Countries

Fruits and vegetables (F&V) and olive oil are in South Mediterranean Countries (SMCs) two prominent agricultural activities in terms of contribution to national economy and exports. However, both are affected by inefficiencies and poor performance, in particular on the export market. In this paper we assess and compare performance factors between F&V and olive oil value chains (VCs) in Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and Turkey, on the one side, and in Spain and Italy taken as benchmarks, on the other side. We propose an adapted Value Chain Maturity Model to benchmark performance factors in these VCs in SMCs. The proposed method could help to identifying poor performing areas in these VCs in order to suggest measures to improve their overall performance in general and export performance in particular. Findings confirm a robust association between VC maturity and performance. VC participants should learn from best practices and incorporate them for improvement, in particular in the areas of VC organization, responsiveness and technology adoption and implementation. In addition, more efficient agri-food exportation from SMCs needs more focus on trade facilitation issues including improvements in administrative procedures, infrastructure and technologies that reduce costs and time to export and facilitate investment. Further challenges outline the need for improvements in the areas of transparency, standards, certification, food safety, traceability and sustainability, taking into consideration that long-term partnerships are desired by international buyers to ensure product supply and quality. Public policies should be refocused towards these new challenges considering not only purely economic performance in these countries but also social development and environmental protection and resource preservation.

Initiatives to Build Capacity in the Area of Food Safety and Analysis

Initiatives to Build Capacity in the Area of Food Safety and Analysis

Evolution of the MassiCare model nd prevention in the area of food safety 2.0 using augmented reality

Evolution of the MassiCare model nd prevention in the area of food safety 2.0 using augmented reality

Self-reference plasmonic sensors based on double Fano resonances.

High-sensitivity plasmonic refractive index sensors show great applications in the areas of biomedical diagnostics, healthcare, food safety, environmental monitoring, homeland security, and chemical reactions. However, the unstable and complicated environments considerably limit their practical applications. By employing the independent double Fano resonances in a simple metallic grating, we experimentally demonstrate a self-reference plasmonic sensor, which significantly reduces the error contributions of the light intensity fluctuations in the long-distance propagation and local temperature variations at the metallic grating, and the detection accuracy is guaranteed. The numerical simulation shows that the two Fano resonances have different origins and are independent of each other. As a result, the left Fano resonance is quite sensitive to the refractive index variations above the metal surface, while the right Fano resonance is insensitive to that. Experimentally, a high figure of merit (FOM) of 31 RIU-1 and a FOM* of 860 RIU-1 are realized by using the left Fano resonance. More importantly, by using the right Fano resonance as a reference signal, the influence of the light intensity fluctuations and local temperature variations is monitored and eliminated in the experiment. This simple self-reference plasmonic sensor based on the double Fano resonances may find important applications in highly-sensitive and accurate sensing under unstable and complicated environments, as well as multi-parameter sensing.

High-performance SERS substrate based on hybrid structure of graphene oxide/AgNPs/Cu film@pyramid Si.

We present a novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate based on graphene oxide/silver nanoparticles/copper film covered silicon pyramid arrays (GO/AgNPs/PCu@Si) by a low-cost and simple method. The GO/AgNPs/PCu@Si substrate presents high sensitivity, good homogeneity and well stability with R6G molecules as a probe. The detected concentration of Rhodamine 6 G (R6G) is as low as 10−15 M. These sensitive SERS behaviors are also confirmed in theory via a commercial COMSOL software, the electric field enhancement is not only formed between the AgNPs, but also formed between the AgNPs and Cu film. And the GO/AgNPs/PCu@Si substrates also present good property on practical application for the detection of methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV). This work may offer a novel and practical method to facilitate the SERS applications in areas of medicine, food safety and biotechnology.

Graphene oxide-Ag nanoparticles-pyramidal silicon hybrid system for homogeneous, long-term stable and sensitive SERS activity

In our work, few layers graphene oxide (GO) were directly synthesized on Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) by spin-coating method to fabricate a GO-AgNPs hybrid structure on a pyramidal silicon (PSi) substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The GO-AgNPs-PSi substrate showed excellent Raman enhancement effect, the minimum detected concentration for Rhodamine 6G (R6G) can reach 10−12M, which is one order of magnitude lower than the AgNPs-PSi substrate and two order of magnitude lower than the GO-AgNPs-flat-Si substrate. The linear fit calibration curve with error bars is presented and the value of R2 of 612 and 773cm−1 can reach 0.986 and 0.980, respectively. The excellent linear response between the Raman intensity and R6G concentrations prove that the prepared GO-AgNPs-PSi substrates can serve as good SERS substrate for molecule detection. The maximum deviations of SERS intensities from 20 positions of the GO-AgNPs-PSi substrate are less than 8%, revealing the high homogeneity of the SERS substrate. The excellent homogeneity of the enhanced Raman signals can be attributed to well-separated pyramid arrays of PSi, the uniform morphology of AgNPs and multi-functions of GO layer. Besides, the uniform GO film can effectively protect AgNPs from oxidation and endow the hybrid system a good stability and long lifetime. This GO-AgNPs-PSi substrate may provide a new way toward practical applications for the ultrasensitive and label-free SERS detection in areas of medicine, food safety and biotechnology.

Risk under construction: The German discourse on the ban of MON810

Food crises ranging from BSE to EHEC have time and again demonstrated that uncertainrisks in the area of food safety constitute one of the main societal challenges we arecurrently facing. Their nature as “possible, new, imaginable hazards, with which societyhas no or limited experience” (van Asselt and Vos, 2008) leads to situations in whichtraditional means of science prove to be inadequate for drawing suitable conclusionsinforming how the uncertain risk is to be handled. This challenge is particularly visible inthe regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs): they have been characterizedas an uncertain risk and pose questions related to socio- political, economic and culturalconsiderations (Ansell and Vogel, 2006; van Asselt and Vos, 2008).

Amplified fluorescent sensing of DNA using luminescent carbon dots and AuNPs/GO as a sensing platform: A novel coupling of FRET and DNA hybridization for homogeneous HIV-1 gene detection at femtomolar level

The demand for simple, sensitive, affordable, and selective DNA biosensors is willing, due to the important role of DNA detection in the areas of disease diagnostics, environment monitoring and food safety. The presented work is devoted to the fabrication of an ultrasensitive homogeneous biosensor for the detection of DNA sequences related to HIV based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET) between carbon dots(CDs) and AuNPs as nanoquenchers. CDs as fluorophore with average size 3–4nm were prepared by hydrothermal treatment of histidine. In this respect, the hybridization was occurring between the assemblies of fluorescence CDs functionalized 5-amino-labeled oligonucleotides as capture probe and label free oligonucleotides as detection probe. Due to strong fluorescence and good biocompatibility of CDs, the capture probe was covalently conjugated to CDs. In the presence of the target probe, the association between capture probe-CDs and detection probe is stronger than that between capture probe-CDs and AuNPs, leading to the release of the capture probe-CDs from AuNPs, resulting in the recovery of the fluorescence of CDs. This oligonucleotides detection probe was observed to detect target oligonucleotides specifically and sensitively in a linear range from 50.0fM to 1.0nM with a detection limit of 15fM. Furthermore, the sensitivity of this FRET strategy amplified using AuNPs/graphene oxide nanocomposite as quencher. The Sensor response indicates only the complementary sequence showing an obvious change signal in comparison to non-complementary and two bases mismatched sequences. Moreover, satisfactory results from determination of HIV DNA target in human serum were obtained showing great potential of the proposed method for real sample analysis. The proposed biosensor with highly biocompatibility and nontoxicity, can be developed for detection of other DNA biomarkers.

Introduction to Preharvest Food Safety.

This introductory article provides an overview of preharvest food safety activities and initiatives for the past 15 years. The section on traditional areas of preharvest food safety focuses on significant scientific advancements that are a culmination of collaborative efforts (both public health and agriculture) and significant research results. The highlighted advancements provide the foundation for exploring future preharvest areas and for improving and focusing on more specific intervention/control/prevention strategies. Examples include Escherichia coli and cattle, Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry, and interventions and prevention and control programs. The section on "nontraditional" preharvest food safety areas brings attention to potential emerging food safety issues and to future food safety research directions. These include organic production, the FDA's Produce Rule (water and manure), genomic sequencing, antimicrobial resistance, and performance metrics. The concluding section emphasizes important themes such as strategic planning, coordination, epidemiology, and the need for understanding food safety production as a continuum. Food safety research, whether at the pre- or postharvest level, will continue to be a fascinating complex web of foodborne pathogens, risk factors, and scientific and policy interactions. Food safety priorities and research must continue to evolve with emerging global issues, emerging technologies, and methods but remain grounded in a multidisciplinary, collaborative, and systematic approach.

The Constitutional and Administrative Framework of India With a Focus on Consumer Protection

The aim of this paper is descriptive. Its main goal is to analyse the pure black-letter law mechanisms, at a constitutional level, of law making and enforcement in order to provide a summary but comprehensive overview and background of the legal context governing regulatory making and enforcement in the areas of food safety and general product safety. While reading this snapshot analysis, it must be kept in mind that, according to its Preface, the Constitution of India is a “living document” the flexibility of which lies in its amendments that are progressively integrated into the existing core. It is therefore a long and “incremental” Constitution, structured in 22 Parts, followed by a series of 12 Schedules laying down specific detailed provisions specifying the contents of numerous constitutional articles (and finally 2 Appendixes providing special dispositions regarding the State of Jammu and Kashmir). The paper is structured into four main parts, the first one dedicated to the general constitutional organization, in order to provide a background of the institutional architecture of India. Part two will serve as a complement to the first one by looking into the structure of the executive specifically, focusing especially on the enforcement powers, their multi-level dislocation and the means of coordination. Part three will subsequently tackle the complexities and distinctive features of the Indian judiciary. Based on the context provided by this threefold introduction, part four will finally take a summary look into the specificities of consumer safety, namely foodstuff regulation and product safety.

Weighing evidence and assessing uncertainties

Methodologies for integrating (weighing) evidence and assessing uncertainties are of utmost importance to ensure that scientific assessments are transparent, robust and fit for purpose to support decision-makers. One of the key challenges remains the development of harmonised methodologies for both weighing scientific evidence and assessing uncertainties in the food safety area mainly because of the multidisciplinary and complex nature of the topics involved. The breakout session ‘Weighing evidence and assessing uncertainties’ was held at the EFSA 2nd Scientific Conference ‘Shaping the Future of Food Safety, Together’. This paper aims at summarising the contributions of this breakout session and formulates recommendations to further support the development of harmonised methodologies and practical applications for weighing evidence and analysing uncertainty in key areas of food safety, including chemical risk assessment, microbiological risk assessment and environmental risk assessment.

A food recall case study in Australia – Towards the development of food safety applications for consumers

Changes in consumer attitudes, behaviours and purchasing preferences towards different types of food highlight the increased demand for better quality information on safety, quality and provenance of food products and on sustainability of food production processes. These changes offer both new opportunities and risks for food producers who require mechanisms to better understand and respond to changing consumers’ decision-making trends on food. In the area of food safety, investigation of consumer and producer responses during recall incidents provide an opportunity to holistically understand existing information flows and elicit user requirements necessary for the development of more effective consumer food safety applications. This paper reports on a case study conducted with an Australian premium manufacturing company that experienced a food recall in 2014. The investigation confirms that current Australian food recall response mechanisms do not guarantee a closed loop of communication with all purchasers of a recalled product. It also highlights that producers still face difficulties in understanding how best to effectively understand and respond to different types of consumers. It emerges that recovery from a food incident relies on many factors including pre-existing brand reputation, effective information management, control mechanisms and supply chain partner response. From a consumer perspective, it is evident that consumers’ responses are influenced by various factors that require sensitivity around the choice of information modality and information platform adopted to enhance communications during food recall. The paper highlights the need for further research into understanding consumer food safety behaviours post-purchase to improve the development of consumer food safety applications.