Domestic Food Research Articles

Obesogenicity perception of food environments in adults: A cross-sectional study in urban areas of Santiago, Chile.

In Chile, there is a high prevalence of obesity, and most people have an inadequate quality of food. Food environments can constitute barriers that prevent healthy food choices and lead to overweight and obesity, as well as diet-related non-communicable diseases. There are international instruments that allow the characterization of food environments. In Chile, there are no studies on the perception of food environments. This study aimed to characterize the perception of obesogenicity of food environments in the urban Chilean population using an instrument previously validated in Chile. This is a cross-sectional study with probabilistic sampling. The "Perceived Nutrition Environment Measures Survey", based on the Chilean model of food environments, was applied to 256 participants from two urban communities of the Metropolitan Region. Scores were calculated for the instrument items, which allowed calculating scores by environments included in the Chilean model of Food Environments. Negative scores were related to a higher obesogenic level. The results show that the domestic food environment is perceived as less obesogenic (median of 15.8 points), with more than 90% of households having fruits, vegetables, and legumes, even though the supply food environment was negative (median -0.19 points). However, about 50% of households had ultra-processed foods. The street food environment was perceived as the most obesogenic (median -1.91 points), with more than 60% of the participants indicating difficulty finding healthy options. According to the level of obesogenicity of the environments studied, it is necessary to have public policies that improve them and ensure the availability and physical and economic access to healthy food, particularly in the food supply and public road environments.

Freezing time, freezing in time: reconfiguring freezing practices for reducing meat waste and energy consumption

Considering that many fresh food items require domestic cold storage, understanding the role of appliances such as freezers is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions relating to domestic food waste and energy use. Using a social practices approach, this article reports on a study of cold storage and food waste practices, particularly freezing relating to meat, in 20 Australian households. Householders were interviewed twice, over winter and summer, 2022–2023. We studied intersecting practices of eating, shopping, cooking and cold storage, and their connection to larger social phenomena such as cold supply chains to gain insights into how and why meat was wasted. Although we set out to study household practices, we found that retailer practices of pricing specials and bulk buying must also be considered. Retailer practices combined with ambiguity in consumer understandings of date labels, shelf life and freezing times mean that domestic cold storage has become a normalised extension of the cold supply chain of food, especially for meat. We argue that understandings such as convenience and thriftiness, in conjunction with retailer expectations of domestic cold storage, may lead to the ratcheting up of household freezer use for food storage. We illustrate through our findings that this may potentially increase energy consumption and accelerate food waste, which becomes particularly problematic for carbon-intensive foods such as red meat. In innovatively reimagining domestic cold storage as an extension of industrial and retailer cold supply chains, we explore what kind of capabilities may be required for an equitable and low waste cold supply chain that reduces reliance on household freezers.

International trade makes European food markets less vulnerable to concurrent and recurrent climate extremes

Abstract Extreme weather events are occurrences of unusually severe weather or climate conditions that can devastate local communities, agriculture and natural ecosystems. Due to climate change, these extreme events are becoming increasingly more likely, lasting longer, and more severe in impact. In this paper, we illustrate the potential effects of concurrent and recurrent extreme weather events on EU agricultural commodity markets and, in particular, on production and trade. A combination of concurrent and recurrent events is expected to have a negative and compounding effect on domestic food supply and trade, making EU agricultural markets less resilient. A set of scenarios based on record low yields show how EU production could be drastically affected in the coming two years compared to a business-as-usual situation. Market disruptions would be potentially larger for commodities in which the EU has a strong net exporter position, such as wheat. In the absence of extremes in non-EU regions, trade reveals as a key element in buffering the adverse impacts of extreme events in the EU.

Can food sovereignty be institutionalised? Insights from the Cuban experience

AbstractCuba stands out among Latin American nations for its efforts to institutionalize food sovereignty (FS) through the promotion of alternative small‐scale farming, making it a prime case study for this model. This paper examines the extent to which Cuba has institutionalized FS and the factors driving this process from an agrarian political economy perspective. Public policies, sustainable practices and key actors—including a ‘partner state’—have advanced agroecology as a core strategy to reduce food imports since the early 1990s. However, other entities, such as the military enterprise Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), may be seen as obstacles to this strategy. Whilst these struggles and tensions are not unique to Cuba, the island stands out for its decisive steps in institutionalizing FS. Cuba has achieved significant ‘pockets’ or ‘spaces’ of FS, despite lacking a fully consolidated domestic food system.

МНОГОУРОВНЕВАЯ СИСТЕМА ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОЙ БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ

Economic security is an integral part of the overall security of the state. It is like the foundation on which the prosperity and stability of the country are built. Economic independence, sustainable development and the well-being of society directly depend on how well our economy is protected from internal and external threats. The efficiency of enterprises and organizations is also closely related to the level of economic security. The article highlights the close relationship between food and economic security of the state. The ability of the agro-industrial complex to provide the population with high-quality and affordable food directly affects the stability of the economy, social cohesion and political independence of the country. The authors note that the balance between domestic production and food imports plays a key role in ensuring food security and allows the state to effectively respond to external challenges.

Cotton market contagion: analyzing volatility spillovers across borders

PurposeThe paper analyzes the volatility transmission within the cotton markets by utilizing commodity futures prices from the USA, China and India, encompassing important global events that have significantly influenced the global cotton markets, like the China-USA trade dispute, the COVID-19 outbreak and the Russia–Ukraine conflict.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ a volatility spillover measure developed by Diebold and Yilmaz (2009, 2012, 2014). Additionally, the methodology proposed by Baruník and Křehlík (2018), which divides the overall volatility spillover into short, medium and long-term segments has been used. To investigate the volatility connectedness, weekly (close-to-close) returns of the cotton futures contracts that are traded on the Chicago Board of Trade Dalian Commodity Exchange National Commodity Exchange of India (NCDEX), and Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) are considered.FindingsThe paper identifies the presence of long-term volatility transmission among the three cotton futures markets. It demonstrates that a global shock like the Russia–Ukraine conflict has a greater impact on volatility in other markets than USA–China trade disputes. It also highlights the weakening role of the US cotton futures markets as a price leader for Indian and Chinese markets.Research limitations/implicationsSince only three major markets have been studied, the future studies can explore the interconnectedness by including other important markets including Brazil, Turkey, Bangladesh, etc. Further, the moderating role of relationship between other important variables such as cotton production, harvest, inventory, exchange rate, oil price, trade policies, etc. can be examined. Furthermore, the interconnectedness with the regional spot markets in India can also be examined to study how the volatility from the futures market can affect the volatility in the spot markets and vice-versa.Practical implicationsThe understanding of domestic food price volatility and its transmission from international to domestic markets is crucial for designing effective policies to address excessive volatility and protect vulnerable groups like producers, consumers, etc.Social implicationsThe findings emphasize on the substantial market dependence with the US and the Chinese markets which have a significant impact on the Indian markets with considerable implications for hedgers, producers and exporters, particularly during periods of higher volatility.Originality/valueThis study assesses the interdependencies among three major cotton-producing countries and the influence of factors like the USA–China trade tensions in 2018, the COVID-19 crisis and the Russia–Ukraine conflict in order to gauge the degree of volatility interconnection among these key players in the cotton market.

A step toward the modern and sustainable agriculture: Evaluating the impact of information and communication technology on cereal production in China

AbstractAchieving food security has become a critical concern for many nations. China has also made significant efforts to ensure domestic food security. In order to provide an adequate food supply in the future, this research explores the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) on grain production. Pool Mean Group (PMG) method is used to estimate a panel dataset for 31 Chinese province administrative regions from 2005 to 2021. To ensure that the panel dataset is suitable for use with the PMG model, cross‐sectional independence tests, unit root tests, and co‐integration tests are performed. The empirical analysis shows that ICT boosts cereal crops yields over time. In particular, a 1% increase in fixed broadband users and cell phones boosts cereal production by 0.03% and 0.06%, respectively, in the long run. As a result, in order to increase yields, China must expand its use of ICT in agricultural production.

The fragrance of ghee: food aesthetics, food insecurity and policy dreams

In this short article, we call for policy makers, activists and academics to take account of food aesthetics of economically and racially marginalised people – especially women – when understanding and intervening in food distribution. Although it may seem that aesthetics and poverty are mutually exclusive, and somewhat provocative to suggest that food aesthetics, when understood more expansively, aesthetics is an important aspect of domestic food work, as our findings from our research with British Bangladeshi women from Tower Hamlets on low incomes and responsible for social reproductive labour in their families and communities attest. We draw inspiration from feminist philosophy of food and taste, and everyday domestic aesthetics. Reflecting on our data, we combine these philosophies with Krishnendu Ray’s critique of food sociologists who imagine that people on low incomes lack a sense of beauty because their lives are dominated by their life of suffering. To conclude, we propose that food aesthetics should become part of the politics of food distribution and rights.

Food inflation and monetary policy in emerging economies

The rising inflationary pressure has been linked with supply-side disruptions and rising energy and food prices against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine crisis. This paper investigates the role of monetary policy in stabilizing food inflation in emerging economies (India, China, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa). We also investigate the causal linkage between monetary policy and food inflation using frequency domain-based Granger causality and find strong feedback causal effects between food inflation and monetary policy changes. Our results are robust to different estimation methodologies, possible asymmetry, and alternative model specifications, which include climate change. While oil prices, world food prices, and exchange rates have heterogeneous effects on domestic food inflation, a contractionary monetary policy stance leads to a decline in domestic food inflation in all countries. Thus, we provide strong evidence that well-coordinated macroeconomic policies in emerging economies are essential for stabilizing food inflation.

Food safety within the household: a cross-sectional study among domestic food handlers in Italy

Food safety within the household: a cross-sectional study among domestic food handlers in Italy

Revitalization and Awareness of Domestic and International Food Upcycling Industries†

Food upcycling refers to the process of reprocessing food by-products generated in the food production process into new products with higher added value. This study aims to achieve a sustainable food system by promoting consumer awareness of food upcycling and revitalizing the domestic food upcycling industry in alignment with UN-SDGs 17 and 2.We utilized the 5 Forces Model and SWOT Analysis to evaluate the domestic market and analyzed financial statements from CRETOP for food upcycling companies. Additionally, we conducted interviews with industry CEOs to understand trends and consumer perceptions.The market analysis indicates that while the industry faces initial profitability challenges, its growth potential is strong, driven by increasing sales and positive market conditions. The analysis highlights the need for consumer awareness and producer sustainability. Through consumer surveys and corporate interviews, we identified a rejection and prejudice towards "food upcycling" and "upcycling jam," as well as effective marketing strategies.South Korea's food upcycling industry shows promise despite its smaller scale compared to North America and Europe. Positive market conditions and consumer responses suggest significant growth potential through in-ternational benchmarking and private investments. Government support and corporate involvement are crucial for sustaining operations and achieving long-term economic, nutritional, and environmental benefits. The government can facilitate a long-term sustainable food system through policies that boost private investments and enhance funding to ensure product safety and reliability. Establishing food upcycling certification systems and legal proposals will be essential in this process.

Eligibility Recipients Determination of El-Nino Direct Cash Aid Using C4.5 Algorithm

The El Nino phenomenon, which causes increased temperatures and prolonged drought, is predicted to continue to hit Indonesia until the end of 2023. The significant impacts of El Nino include reducing the productivity of agricultural products, including food crops such as rice. This condition will certainly greatly affect the stability of domestic food prices. A total of 420 people from Bernah Village, Kota Alam Subdistrict received it. In the selection process for BLT El Nino recipients in Bernah Village, problems often occur such as problems in identifying aid recipients. This creates a society where aid recipients are still relatively well-off. By applying the C4.5 Algorithm, the C4.5 Calculation can determine feasibility thereby increasing efficiency in determining El Nino Direct Cash Assistance receipts. Calculations using Microsoft Excel 2010 revealed that there were 252 eligible recipients while 168 were not eligible. And from the calculation results using Rapid Miner 10.1. It is known that the accuracy rate is 100.00% with a total of 420 people receiving aid data.

Qualitative Profiling, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Polar and Nonpolar Basil Extracts.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is a widely used culinary herb. In this study, ethanol, dichloromethane, and sunflower oil were used separately as solvents with distinct polarities for the extraction of basil aerial parts to simulate the different polarity conditions in domestic food processing. The oil extract (OE) was re-extracted with acetonitrile, and the chemical composition, antioxidant potential, and antimicrobial activities of the ethanol (EE), dichloromethane (DCME), and acetonitrile (ACNE) extracts were determined. A total of 109 compounds were tentatively identified in EE, DCME, and ACNE by HPLC-DAD/ESI-ToF-MS. Fatty acids were present in all extracts. Phenolic acids and flavonoids dominated in EE. DCME was characterised by triterpenoid acids, while diterpenoids were mainly found in ACNE. The extracts were analysed for their antioxidant capacity using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) assay. EE and DCME showed significant radical scavenging potential. Antimicrobial activity was explored in eight bacterial, two yeast, and one fungal species. All extracts exhibited high antifungal activity, comparable to or better than that of the commercial drug nistatin. Antibacterial activities were notable for EE and ACNE, while DCME showed no activity against bacteria in the applied concentration ranges. The different polarities of the solvents led to distinctive phytochemical compositions and bioactivities in the extracts.

Сорбиновая кислота в сыроделии

The domestic food industry is currently focusing on food products with long shelf life. Extended storage is usually a result of various aseptic packaging techniques. However, preservatives also prolong shelf-life. Such food additives can be applied only after a comprehensive and multifaceted study of their safety and possible impact on consumer health. New studies on negative effects of certain additives make it necessary to review their safety status. Sorbic acid and its salt E202 are common preservatives to be found in sauces, canned food, chocolate, jam, sausages, fruit juices, fish, bakery, confectionery, margarine, oil, butter, wine, carbonated drinks, etc. In Russian cheese production, sorbic acid and potassium sorbate serve as a surface treatment of long-maturing cheeses: they protect cheese wheels from mold, thus reducing product losses. These preservatives can be part of protective coatings, packaging matrix, and smart packaging, especially in flavored cheeses and particular wrapping types. Food preservatives require a strict qualitative and quantitative control to prevent adverse effects on consumer health, as well as elaborate labelling rules.

Последствия распространения коронавируса COVID-19 и новых штаммов для развития агропромышленного комплекса и потребительского рынка

The COVID-19 pandemic has become an example of the implementation of global biological threats, which are positioned as challenges to the economy, including the agricultural sector. The subject of the study was changes in food production and in the consumer market for agricultural products amid the consequences of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus and potentially dangerous new strains. Since the volume and structure of agricultural exports can serve as indicators of overcoming the challenge to the agro-industrial complex from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, including in conjunction with the influence of the sanctions policies of Western countries, the object of the study was changes in the main indicators of exports of the agro-industrial complex of the Russian Federation at the federal and regional levels for first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Changes in the main indicators of exports of agricultural products were studied both at the federal and regional levels, using the example of agricultural enterprises in the Voronezh region, for the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. As a background for studying the subject field of indicators for overcoming the challenge to the agro-industrial sector from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in the field of food production and in the consumer market for agricultural products were identified and studied. An overview of the main exporting companies in the Voronezh region is presented for the following types of products: grains (wheat, corn, barley); meat and dairy products (pork and pork by-products, beef, butter); products of the oil and fat industry (sunflower oil, cakes, mustard oil). The priority trend for the Russian Federation is the development of deep processing of crop products, in particular grain crops. The basis is the trend of growing consumer demand for food products of plant origin, including those that imitate traditional meat and dairy products. A trend has been noted for the production and consumption of organic products, the implementation of which will contribute to the growth of the competitiveness of domestic agricultural products in the domestic and foreign markets. An important factor in increasing the competitiveness of domestic food in the global and domestic markets is the expansion of production of organic crop and livestock products based on a single unified database of agricultural land that meets the legally established requirements for this category of products.

Synergic treatment of domestic wastewater and food waste in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor demo plant: Process performance, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions

Ambient operation and large-scale demonstration have limited the implementation and evaluation of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs) for low-strength wastewater treatment. Here, we studied these issues at an AnMBR demo plant that treats domestic wastewater and food waste together at ambient temperatures (7–28 °C). At varied hydraulic retention times (HRTs, 8–42 h), the AnMBR achieved a COD removal efficiency and biogas production of 80.4% ± 3.9% and 66.5 ± 9.4 NL/m3-Influent, respectively. Moreover, a stable high membrane flux of 14.4 L/m2/h was reached. The electric energy consumption for the AnMBR operation was 0.269–0.433 kW·h/m3, and 49.4%–91.3% could be compensated by the electric energy produced from methane production. At an HRT of 10 h, the AnMBR system demonstrated an impressively low net electric energy consumption of merely 0.05 kW·h/m3, resulting in a net greenhouse gas emission of 0.015 CO2-eq/m3, cutting 85% compared to the conventional activated sludge process. Achievements in this study provide key parameters for the ambient operation of AnMBR and demonstrate that AnMBR is an energy-saving and low-carbon solution for low-strength wastewater treatment.

Securing Survivability for Urban Poor: A Review on Food Accessibility and Food Affordability

There are multifaceted challenges, including poverty, international and domestic food supply disruptions, labor shortages, global economic crises, natural disasters, and burgeoning global population, precipitating a formidable food security predicament. This predicament manifests in the form of compromised affordability, unreliability in accessibility, and inadequacy of available nutritious sustenance. This study is part of a larger study exploring affordable food supply via accessibility, particularly for the urban poor in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to analyze how policymakers could improve food affordability via food accessibility for the urban poor. This study reports a desktop survey using the systematic literature synthesis process based on the keywords "urban poor", "food accessibility", and "food affordability". The results found that urban poor could improve food security by utilizing their local supply chain (LSC) with a selective coping strategy (CS). The results led to the developing a proposed Urban Poor Secured Survivability Model. This study is significant because the results identified the limitations among the urban poor in accessing nutrient-rich, safe, affordable and quality local food. The benefits of this study include guiding potential local supply chain development with local food resources. It is recommended that future studies develop a local supply chain for urban poor food security and propose a management system to enable its successful implementation.

Conservation of wild food plants from wood uses: evidence supporting the protection hypothesis in Northeastern Brazil

BackgroundThe interplay between different uses of woody plants remains underexplored, obscuring our understanding of how a plant’s value for one purpose might shield it from other, more harmful uses. This study examines the protection hypothesis by determining if food uses can protect woody plants (trees and shrubs) from wood uses. We approached the hypothesis from two distinct possibilities: (1) the protective effect is proportional to the intensity of a species’ use for food purposes, and (2) the protective effect only targets key species for food purposes.MethodsThe research was conducted in a rural community within “Restinga” vegetation in Northeast Brazil. To identify important food species for both consumption and income (key species) and the collection areas where they naturally occur, we conducted participatory workshops. We then carried out a floristic survey in these areas to identify woody species that coexist with the key species. Voucher specimens were used to create a field herbarium, which, along with photographs served as visual stimuli during the checklist interviews. The interviewees used a five-point Likert scale to evaluate the species in terms of perceived wood quality, perceived availability, and use for food and wood purposes. To test our hypothesis, we used Cumulative Link Mixed Models (CLMMs), with the wood use as the response variable, food use, perceived availability and perceived quality as the explanatory variables and the interviewee as a random effect. We performed the same model replacing food use for key species food use (a binary variable that had value 1 when the information concerned a key species with actual food use, and value 0 when the information did not concern a key species or concerned a key species that was not used for food purposes).ResultsConsistent with our hypothesis, we identified a protective effect of food use on wood use. However, this effect is not directly proportional to the species’ food use, but is confined to plants with considerable domestic food importance. Perceived availability and quality emerged as notable predictors for wood uses.ConclusionWe advocate for biocultural conservation strategies that enhance the food value of plants for their safeguarding, coupled with measures for non-edible woody species under higher use-pressure.

Review: Impact of food safety on global trade.

Food safety encompasses the supply and assurance of safe, high-quality food for consumers. It is a crucial aspect of food security, gaining greater global attention due to the increasing number of widespread foodborne incidents. International trade is expanding as countries increasingly rely on each other to secure a sufficient and diverse food supply. Beyond this, concerns about food safety have become more prevalent due to various factors. Therefore, this review aims to investigate the effects of food safety-associated risks on the international trade of food and related products. A total of 37 published studies retrieved using different search engines were included in this review. This review revealed that because of rapid population growth and rising food demand in developing nations, agricultural intensification is growing. It has been found that foodborne illnesses and associated discrepancies can impede the international trade of food commodities. Trade bans due to the fear of foodborne illnesses are growing. The consequences of foodborne diseases are multifaceted and include financial losses from trade restrictions, medical costs for prevention or control, resource depletion and a decline in food production. The overall effects are increased international trade tensions and livelihood vulnerability to poverty, notably for small-scale livestock producers. Potential food contaminants include microbes, pesticides, pharmaceutical residues, heavy metals and fraudulent such as improper food processing, mislabelling, poor packaging, adulteration and substitution. Hence, countries are encouraged to harmonize the rights and duties set by the World Trade Organization under sanitary and phytosanitarys to maximize their advantages in global markets. Based on this evidence, we recommend that each country develop and integrate regulations that would ensure the safety of both domestic and international food production systems. Furthermore, the global community should either revise the current functioning food regulatory and monitoring body or establish a more genuine collaborative network.

Research on Using K-Means Clustering to Explore High-Risk Products with Ethylene Oxide Residues and Their Manufacturers in Taiwan.

Considering the frequency of ethylene oxide (EtO) residues found in food, the health effects of EtO have become a concern. Between 2022 and 2023, 489 products were inspected using the purposive sampling method in Taiwan, and nine unqualified products were found to have been imported; subsequently, border control measures were enhanced. To ensure the safety of all imported foods, the current study used the K-means clustering method for identifying EtO residues in food. Data on finished products and raw materials with EtO residues from international public opinion bulletins were collected for analysis. After matching them with the Taiwan Food Cloud, 90 high-risk food items with EtO residues and 1388 manufacturers were screened. The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration set up border controls and grouped the manufacturers using K-means clustering in the unsupervised learning algorithm. For this study, 37 manufacturers with priority inspections and 52 high-risk finished products and raw materials with residual EtO were selected for inspection. While EtO was not detected, the study concluded the following: 1. Using international food safety alerts to strengthen border control can effectively ensure domestic food safety; 2. K-means clustering can validate the risk-based purposive sampling results to ensure food safety and reduce costs.