Food Facilities Research Articles

Effect of exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations of biocides on the susceptibility to antibiotics of sessile cells of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonellaenterica

The effect of sub-inhibitory concentrations of several disinfectants on the antibiotic resistance of sessile cells of Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica was investigated. Biofilms were formed in the presence of biocides at MIC/2. Five compounds were used: peracetic acid (PAA), benzalkonium chloride (BZK), sodium hypochlorite (SHY), polyvinyl pyrrolidone iodine (PVI) and bis(3-aminopropyl)amine (BAPA). Two strains of L. monocytogenes (LM30 and LM28) and S. enterica (S. Typhimurium -ST- and S. Enteritidis -SE-) were used. Mono-species biofilms (MSB) and mixed biofilms (MB, LM30 + ST and LM28 + SE) were tested. LM30 went from susceptible to resistant to tetracycline and erythromycin after exposure to BAPA in MB. LM28 went from susceptible to resistant to tetracycline in the presence of PVI in MSB, from susceptible to intermediate to chloramphenicol after exposure to PAA in both MSB and MB, from susceptible to resistant to erythromycin after exposure to BAPA in MB, and from susceptible to resistant to ampicillin after exposure to SHY and BAPA in MB. ST went from intermediate to resistant to gentamicin after exposure to SHY, PVI and BAPA (MSB), or to PVI and BAPA (MB). This strain went from susceptible to intermediate to cefoxitin after exposure to BZK and PVI (MSB) or to BZK, PVI and BAPA (MB). For fosfomycin, ST went from susceptible to intermediate after exposure to PAA, PVI and BAPA (MSB) or to SHY, BZK, PVI and BAPA (MB). In the case of cephalothin, ST moved from intermediate to resistant category in MSB exposed to BAPA. SE moved from susceptible to intermediate to cefoxitin after contact with PAA in both MSB and MB. By contrast, in several occasions, strains increased their susceptibility to antibiotics after exposure to biocides. In some additional cases, contact with disinfectants caused significative modifications in the MIC of various antibiotics without the strains changing from one category to another. These findings show that contact with low concentrations of biocides can modify the antibiotic resistance of sessile cells of L. monocytogenes and S. enterica. The need to use adequate doses of disinfectants in food facilities in order to avoid changes in bacterial resistance is highlighted.

Modeling long-term, stage-structured dynamics of Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) at food facilities with and without two types of long-lasting insecticide-incorporated netting.

The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), is a cosmopolitan and destructive external-infesting pest at many food facilities. The use of deltamethrin- and α-cypermethrin-incorporated long-lasting insecticide-incorporated netting (LLIN) has shown incredible promise for the management of stored product insects. However, it is unknown how LLIN deployed within food facilities may affect the long-term population dynamics of T. castaneum compared to populations where no LLIN is present. Exposure to LLIN has been shown to affect mortality in the current generation and decrease progeny production in the subsequent generation. Thus, we modeled the long-term population dynamics of T. castaneum at food facilities over 15 generations by incorporating realistic estimates for mortality and progeny reduction after contact with LLIN compared to baseline growth by the species. We parameterized the model with estimates from the literature and used a four-stage structured population (eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults). The model was implemented using the package popbio in R. Our models suggest that deploying LLIN led to significant population reductions based on the estimates of mortality and progeny reduction from prior work, whereas the baseline model exhibited exponential population growth. In addition, there were differences in the frequencies of each life stage under each scenario modeled. As a result, it appears deploying LLIN may contribute to the local extirpation of T. castaneum within as few as 15 generations. Our work contributes to a growing literature about the effectiveness of incorporating LLIN into existing pest management programs for managing stored product insects in food facilities.

Factors Influencing Customers’ Restaurant Dining Behaviour During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered the dietary habits and preferences of the global population. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify factors that influence customers’ restaurant dining behaviours and examine the most notable factors that influence the customers’ behaviours during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because every patron would consider several matters before deciding to choose the type or location or restaurant they would like to eat at. Customers’ decisions are typically influenced by several variables and standards, including the quality of food, quality of service, physical environment, and facilities or amenities. This quantitative-research study has primarily targeted three states in the East Coast of Malaysia, namely Pahang, Terengganu, and Kelantan. The study has employed an online questionnaire to customers who have dined out at restaurants before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 405 participants have actively participated in the study and responded to all the questions in the online questionnaire. The findings of the study have indicated that food quality, service quality, restaurant environment, and facilities or amenities have a substantial impact on customer behaviour when dining out both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pre-packaged cold-chain ready-to-eat food as a source of sporadic listeriosis in Beijing, China

Using a sporadic case of listeriosis suspected to have been caused by consuming a pre-packaged cold-chain ready-to-eat (RTE) food in Beijing, China in 2021 as an exemplar, this study demonstrated the importance of thoroughly investigating the source of listeriosis up to the production point for mitigating infection risk during routine monitoring of Listeria in food facilities and national surveillance program using whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Epidemiological, laboratory, traceback, and plant investigations were used to identify the source of infection. WGS showed the isolate from the patient was genetically indistinguishable from that of the implicated food. During a plant investigation, L. monocytogenes was detected in 26% (9/35) of the environmental samples and one of two raw material samples, confirming the source. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation in China linking a case of L. monocytogenes infection to a suspected food and its production environment. This report highlights the risk of L. monocytogenes contamination of RTE food and demonstrates the role of food safety risk monitoring in identifying potential sources of infection. Reinforcing control programs in RTE processing plants, intensified surveillance of microorganisms in food products and targeted health education is required to mitigate the infection risk.

Establishment of Donation Program Facilities (DPF) as a Sustainability Strategy Ensuing Social Transformation

Food and non-food donation is a considerable attempt to reduce wastage in the establishments. In the Philippines, wastage is being addressed by resorting to donation activities, yet not all donors consider the entirety of the impoverished population. To set up a centralized food and non-food donation program facility in every city and municipality backed up by sufficient information, this research project was proposed and conducted. Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard (or FLW Standard) revealed a considerable amount of food waste generated monthly in supermarkets and markets. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) forecasted the intention to participate in the program as impacted by behavior toward the probability of the outcome with acknowledgment of the risks and recompenses. The Learning Framework disclosed the willingness of the communities to participate in the program as determined by the capabilities, perceived benefits, and intentions. The cost-benefit analysis proved that the benefits exceeded the costs of setting up the facility. The institutional readiness in the areas of people; system; technology & infrastructure; and process indicated the ability to respond to changes and adapt to new ways that further determined the delivery of better services, supported by a combination of strong processes, the right people, and the needed infrastructure. Keywords: donation program, reduction of food and non-food wastes, donation program facility, wastage

The moderating effect of access to food facilities and recreational activity space on mHealth multiple health behavior change intervention.

To evaluate whether the neighborhood social and built environment moderates response to a mobile health multiple health behavior change intervention targeting fruit/vegetable intake, sedentary behavior, and physical activity. Participants were 156 Chicago-residing adults with unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Using linear mixed models, we evaluated whether access to food facilities (fast food restaurants and grocery stores) and recreational activity spaces (gyms and parks) moderated the difference in behavior change between the active intervention condition relative to control. Using spatial data analysis (cross K functions), we also assessed whether participants who achieved goal levels of behaviors ("responders") were more or less likely than those who did not achieve intervention goals ("non-responders") to reside near fast food restaurants, grocery stores, gyms, or parks. According to linear mixed models, none of the neighborhood social and built environment factors moderated the difference in behavior change between the active intervention condition and the control condition (Likelihood Ratio (χ²[1] = 0.02-2.33, P-values > 0.05). Cross K functions showed that diet behavior change responders were more likely than non-responders to reside near fast food restaurants, but not grocery stores. The results for activity behavior change were more variable. Sedentary screen time responders were more likely to reside around recreational activity spaces than non-responders. Moderate-vigorous physical activity responders had greater and lesser clustering than non-responders around parks, dependent upon distance from the park to participant residence. A complex relationship was observed between residential proximity to Chicago facilities and response to multiple health behavior change intervention. Replication across diverse geographic settings and samples is necessary.

Effects of nutrition on recovery, mortality, and mobility of adult Tribolium castaneum after exposure to long-lasting insecticide-incorporated netting.

Long-lasting insecticide-incorporated netting (LLIN) has been used to deliver contact insecticides as an integrated pest management tool for stored product insect pests in food facilities. Although the presence of food is known to improve insect recovery after exposure, it is not clear whether food nutritional quality plays a role. Here, the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum adults were exposed to two commercially available LLINs, Carifend (active ingredient α-cypermethrin) and D-Terrence (deltamethrin), then transferred to Petri dishes with foods with varying nutritional quality (e.g., 0-100% ratios of flour to non-nutritive cellulose). We investigated the effects of nutrition, LLIN type, and exposure time on post-exposure recovery, mortality, and mobility. After exposure for 2-168 h, the immediate mortality of T. castaneum adults ranged from 0.5% to 91.0% with Carifend and 0% to 75.3% with D-Terrence. Adult recovery and delayed mortality were significantly affected by nutritional quality, LLIN type, exposure time, and recovery time. For both LLINs, adult recovery increased over time, with a trend for higher recovery and lower mortality with increasing nutritional quality and decreasing exposure time. In addition, adult mobility decreased multiple-fold after Carifend or D-Terrence exposure for 30, 60 or 90 min compared to 10 min. This study shows nutrition significantly modulates the efficacy of LLIN against T. castaneum, and thus strengthens the rationale for implementing stringent sanitation protocols for food facility managers. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

Draft genome sequences of two wide-host-range phages of Listeria monocytogenes from food processing environments in the United States.

Listeria monocytogenes is notorious for persistence in food facilities. Phages can significantly impact the ecology of Listeria, but there is a dearth of genome sequence data for Listeria phages from food processing ecosystems. We report the genome sequences of two Listeria phages from turkey processing facilities in the USA.

Microbial vectoring capacity by internal- and external-infesting stored product insects after varying dispersal periods between novel food patches: An underestimated risk.

Understanding the ability of internal- and external-infesting stored product insects to vector microbes is important for estimating the relative risk that insects pose to postharvest commodities as they move between habitat patches and in the landscape. Thus, the aim of the current study was to evaluate and compare the microbial growth in novel food patches at different dispersal periods by different populations of Sitophilus oryzae (e.g., internal-infesting) and Lasioderma serricorne (e.g., external-infesting). Adults of both species collected from laboratory colonies or field-captured populations were either placed immediately in a novel food patch, or given a dispersal period of 24 or 72 h in a sterilized environment before entering a surrogate food patch. Vectored microbes in new food patches were imaged after 3 or 5 days of foraging, and microbial growth was processed using ImageJ while fungal species were identified through sequencing the ITS4/5 ribosomal subunit. We found that increasing dispersal time resulted in multiple-fold reductions in microbial growth surrogate food patches by L. serricorne but not S. oryzae. This was likely attributable to higher mobility by S. oryzae than L. serricorne. A total of 20 morphospecies were identified from 13 genera among the 59 sequences, with a total of 23% and 16% classified as Aspergillus and Penicillium spp. Our data suggest that there is a persistent risk of microbial contamination by both species, which has important food safety implications at food facilities.

Implementing Predictive Maintenance (PdM) Programs in Food and Beverage Manufacturing Facilities

Predictive maintenance (PdM) has emerged as a critical approach to maintaining equipment in food and beverage manufacturing facilities. By proactively monitoring and analyzing equipment data, PdM can help to identify and prevent equipment failures before they occur. This can lead to significant reductions in unplanned downtime, improved efficiency, and lower maintenance costs. This paper discusses the key steps involved in implementing a PdM program in a food and beverage manufacturing facility. These steps include: Establishing clear goals and objectives for the PdM program. Identifying critical equipment and collecting data from these assets. Analyzing the collected data to identify patterns and trends that could indicate potential equipment failures. Developing predictive models that can be used to forecast equipment failures. Implementing a process for responding to PdM alerts and taking corrective action. The paper also discusses some of the challenges of implementing a PdM program in a food and beverage manufacturing facility, such as the need for a strong data culture and the need to integrate PdM with other maintenance activities.

Boko Haram Terrorism and Development Challenges in the Northeastern Nigeria

The study examines the challenges that hinder development in the Northeast, of Nigeria as a result of the activities of the Boko Haram insurgency. Mixed methods techniques of data collection were adopted to elicit both quantitative and qualitative data using (structured questionnaires) and qualitative (in-depth interviews. A total of 470 respondents were sampled using the Morgan and Krejcie (1970) sample size table. The quantitative data obtained were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics while Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was employed for the analysis of the qualitative data. The study found that the Boko Haram violence had adversely affected the development and commercial activities of the areas studied. The destruction of markets, and government buildings, killings and abductions of business owners led to dire developmental challenges. Also, the study found that there was mismanagement of relief materials/assistance for the affected persons, lack of access to food, healthcare services and hygienic facilities in the affected communities and recurrent attacks by the Boko Haram members have hampered any development to take place in the study areas. This study suggests that the reopening of markets, provision of security, pro-poor social investment programs, introduction of surveillance technology, protection of farmers and exploration of natural resources endowed in the areas will rejuvenate the economic and social fortunes of the areas surveyed in this study.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Reliability-Centered Maintenance Programs in Food and Beverage Manufacturing Facilities; A Review.

While reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) boasts widespread success across industries, its efficacy within the complex environment of food and beverage manufacturing remains unclear. This study addresses this gap by analyzing the implementation and outcomes of an RCM program at a representative facility. Leveraging quantitative data, the research demonstrates the program’s transformative impact, including significant reductions in downtime, improved asset reliability, and substantial cost savings. Beyond these metrics, the study delves into the practical challenges encountered during RCM adoption and offers actionable solutions for potential implementers. This research extends beyond its case study, aiming to serve as a catalyst for broader industry adoption. By highlighting the tangible benefits and practical considerations of RCM in a food and beverage context, the study empowers manufacturers to unlock its potential, paving the way for enhanced food safety, optimized production flows, and a more resilient and competitive sector.

Numerical Simulation of Pyrethrin Aerosol Deposition

Highlights A steady state, laminar CFD model was developed to simulate the airflow inside an aerosol exposure chamber. The CFD model predicted the droplet tracks and deposition of various sizes of aerosol droplets. Larger aerosol droplets had higher deposition efficiency. A Higher flow rate, but still within the laminar flow regime, caused lower deposition efficiency for all droplet sizes. Abstract. Aerosol insecticides (e.g., pyrethrin) are widely used for the control of stored products insects inside food facilities. To optimize pyrethrin aerosol application, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to predict airflow and aerosol transport inside a vertical flow aerosol exposure chamber operated under laminar flow conditions. A discrete phase model in ANSYS FLUENT 2021 R1 was developed, and simulations were conducted to track pyrethrin droplets of various diameters (0.1 to 20 µm) and determine their deposition onto Petri dishes located near the center of the chamber. The deposition efficiency of the different aerosol droplet sizes and the effect of two flow rates (5 × 10-4 m3 s-1 and 4 × 10-4 m3 s-1) on deposition efficiency were determined. The results showed that the predicted deposition of pyrethrin aerosol increased with increasing droplet size, largely due to inertial and gravitational effects. Deposition efficiencies decreased with the higher flow rate—with 0.1% to 96.6% predicted deposition efficiencies for the low flow rate and 0.1% to 93.8% for the high flow rate. Results of this study can be used to improve aerosol application methods for stored product insect control. Keywords: Aerosol deposition, Aerosol insecticide, Computational fluid dynamics, Confused flour beetle, Deposition efficiency, Discrete phase model, Numerical simulation, Particle tracking, Pyrethrins, Stored product insect.

Intelligent pest trap monitoring under uncertainty in food industry

Pests bring significant losses in both quantity and quality of products in postharvest food facilities and their uncertain activities make imprecise obtained infestation information from trap monitoring, which causes unclear estimation on detriment costs, preventing effective pest management. Trap placement, which collects insect information through determining the exact location and number of traps, will enhance the precision for obtaining insect information. However, this method involves optimizing conflicting objectives. On one hand, smaller number of traps save the monitoring cost and enlarge the monitoring efficiency. On the other hand, number of traps may be insufficient and losses the monitoring accuracy. Existing studies to enhance the monitoring accuracy via both laboratory testing and high tech devices but they rarely considered economic efficacy in practice. In this paper, we characterize the trap placement problem as a Multi-Objective Optimization Problem under Uncertainty. Feedforward Neural Networks and Particle Swarm Optimization algorithms are used to design a tailored algorithm for modeling the conflicting objectives through process-based simulation. Then, robust multi-objective optimization evolutionary algorithm (RMOA) is developed to search for the Pareto optimal solution for the least number of traps settled at optimal positions. Results show the optimal and robust performance of exact trap locations to monitor insect infestation effectively under uncertain insect locations and dynamic insect growth. Compared to the studies that were mainly utilizing general algorisms for solving agricultural problems, the proposed model has implications for effective methods of capturing the characteristics of real-world insect monitoring applications in food industry.

Survey of dermestid beetles using UV-light traps in two food industry facilities in the Czech Republic: One year field study

There is a growing interest in stored product Dermestidae species due to their capacity to damage and contaminate stored products of animal and vegetable origin. Limited published information is available on surveys of these pests in museums, grain commodity storage facilities, and mills, with a noticeable absence of surveys in the food industry. Notably, information on dermestid monitoring using a colour or UV light sticky traps, which are required as part of international food safety standards and ISO pest control procedures for food facilities, is lacking. This study represents the first report on dermestid surveys conducted in a beverage and a food packaging facility premises using traps that combine UV light with yellow sticky plates in central Europe. A total of 1031 dermestid beetle individuals were captured in the two facilities during a one-year survey period. During the sampling period, there was a seasonal trend with the maximum captured individuals from spring to early autumn, and no individuals during winter. These population fluctuations followed a similar pattern in the two facilities. In total, 13 species belonging to five genera were identified. The highest cumulative captures were found for Reesa vespulae and Anthrenus verbasci found in both facilities, followed by Trogoderma glabrum, which occurred in high numbers in the food packaging facility. Our data indicate that R. vespulae (an invasive species) is attracted to UV light + yellow traps, and its high frequency and abundance suggest that since its first isolated detection in the Czech Republic in 1987, it has proven to be a significantly spreading pest species.

Analysis of spatiotemporal transit accessibility and transit inequity of essential services in low-density cities, a case study of Nashville, TN

Evaluating the accessibility and equity of transit services to essential services that fulfill people’s fundamental needs is critical, especially in lower-density areas with limited transit services. Although numerous studies have analyzed the inequity of transit accessibility in dense, urban areas with robust transit networks, few of them evaluated transit inequity across multiple essential service categories (e.g., food stores, healthcare facilities, schools, etc.). This paper fills this research gap by focusing on a low-density, automobile-oriented city (Nashville, TN) to evaluate spatial transit inequities across essential service deserts and sociodemographic groups. The results of the case study show that many areas with higher transit-dependent demand (i.e., populations with limited personal vehicles, those living in poverty, and minority populations) tend to experience more restricted transit access to food, healthcare, school, and childcare facilities; interestingly, this is not the case for transit access to green space (specifically, parks). This study further identified essential service deserts by Local Indicator of Spatial Association (LISA) clustering and analyzed the correlation among them. The correlation results suggest that food deserts, healthcare deserts, school deserts, and childcare deserts are highly correlated with each other, while they have a lower correlation with park deserts. The findings of spatial transit inequity and the identification of essential service deserts provide crucial policy implications that can be used by transit agencies and local planning departments to prioritize their resources and target interventions to improve transit equity. This study contributes to the existing literature by proposing a systematic process that utilizes publicly available datasets to measure spatiotemporal transit supply, identify essential service deserts, and explore the correlation among these areas in a low-density city.

A Review on Smart Canteen Management System

Abstract: The Smart Canteen App is a cutting-edge digital solution designed to revolutionize the traditional canteen experience in educational institutions, corporate offices, and other food service environments. This innovative mobile application leverages technology to streamline the entire process of ordering, payment, and food pickup, enhancing convenience and efficiency for both customers and canteen operators. By integrating modern technology, the Smart Canteen App offers an efficient, convenient, and user-centric dining experience, benefiting both customers and canteen operators. In today’s fast-moving world, there is a need of quick and efficient service in every sector of life for public in general. There are many employees and students use canteen and food facilities in their workplace and institutions on daily basis, there is a need to provide quick service at billing counters. This work is focused at developing an efficient smart canteen management system. As canteen in colleges get extremely crowded nowadays, so in this project, concentrate on fast service of food to the users to reduce paper work and save the time of the student by avoiding long queue and to keep things organized. This will satisfy all the customers need and overall sale of the canteen will increase. This application program reduces the manual work for managing the Canteen. Students can place their order through the emenu available on the mobile application which would be further transferred to the canteen. The student can therefore know their order details and the order progress through the mobile application. The canteen manages the students order and keeps updating the progress of the order through their web application. The admin manages the student and canteen through the web application. The app boasts an intuitive user interface that enables users to browse through menus, select food items, and customize their orders with ease. The app facilitates online ordering, enabling customers to place their orders remotely, reducing waiting times, and ensuring their meals are ready when they arrive. Users can customize their orders to accommodate dietary restrictions, allergies, and personal preferences, ensuring a personalized dining experience. Secure payment options are integrated into the app, allowing users to make cashless

Kemiskinan, Uang, dan Gaya Hidup Sosialisme Karya Sastra Keep The Aspidistra Flying Karya George Orwell

Poverty can be a big problem for the country. By not having property, human life becomes completely limited. The lack of shelter, food and clothing facilities means they cannot meet their living needs as they should. Poverty is the main problem in the novel Keep The Aspidistra Flying where the main character suffers from poverty since birth. In the story, even though Gordon Comstock, the main character in this novel, was born into a poor family, he really hates money and state capitalism. He prefers to live independently with simplicity and persistence. This novel research uses the Hermeneutics method. Hermeneutics is a method that regulates methods of interpretation, namely the interpretation of texts and other signs that can be considered texts. This problem of poverty must be resolved immediately, otherwise many bad impacts will arise, one of which is long-term poverty.

Aerosolized Insecticide Spray Distributions and Relationships to Efficacy against Stored Product Pests.

Aerosol insecticides are widely used in stored product insect management programs in food facilities. Previous research has shown spatial variation in aerosol efficacy within facilities, but information on how spatial patterns of aerosol droplet concentration, size distribution, dispersal, and deposition contribute to this variation in efficacy is limited. This study involved two aerosol application systems: a high-pressure cylinder containing TurboCide Py-75® with pyriproxyfen IGR (ChemTech Ltd., Des Moines, IA, USA) and a hand-held fogger containing Pyrocide 100® (MGK, Minneapolis, MN, USA) with Diacon II which contains methoprene IGR (Wellmark, Schaumburg, IL, USA). These systems were used at single or multiple application locations. The spray trials were conducted in a small-scale flour mill, Hall Ross Flour Mill (Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA). The droplet size distributions were monitored at multiple positions within the room using nine aerodynamic particle sizing (APS, TSI Incorp, Shoreview, MN, USA) instruments. The APS data collected over the treatment period were summarized into a mass concentration index (MCI), which ranged from 155 to 2549 mg/m3 for Turbocide and 235-5658 mg/m3 for Pyrocide. A second parameter called the Deposition Index (Dep.Idx) was derived to estimate potential insecticide depositions on the floor and has units of g/m2. The Dep.Idx was below 5.3 g/m2 for most Turbocide applications, while the Dep.Idx was below 8.4 g/m2 for most Pyrocide applications. The MCI and Dep.Idx values varied with APS position and spray application location, with proximity to the aerosol application location and degree of obstruction between the release point and APS position contributing to this variation. We assessed the relationship between aerosol droplet parameters and insect efficacy using Tribolium confusum Jacqueline DuVal, the confused flour beetle. The adults were treated directly, while the larvae were treated two weeks later during the residual test (previously published). For Turbocide, efficacy against adults increased with MCI and Dep.Idx values, but for residual efficacy of the IGR, efficacy was high at all aerosol droplet values, so no relationship was apparent. In contrast, the relationship between Pyrocide deposition and adult insect efficacy was highly variable. But with larval insect efficacy, residual larvae control was directly related to increases in Pyrocide MCI and Dep.Idx. Contour plots of Dep.Idx values were developed, which could be used to predict areas of the mill that are not receiving an adequate application rate, and this could be used to develop more effective application strategies for aerosol insecticides in food facilities.

Real-time stored product insect detection and identification using deep learning: System integration and extensibility to mobile platforms

Existing stored product insect monitoring methods are time-consuming, costly, and often require specialized equipment or training. This study proposed an integrated insect monitoring system that employs a simple RGB camera and data-driven deep-learning models to detect and identify stored product insect species in warehouses, food facilities, and retail environments. Top-down images of six common insect species were acquired with a setup simulating a conceptualized probe-type monitor under varying lighting and background conditions. These images were preprocessed and manually annotated, resulting in an insect dataset of 2630 images with 14,509 labeled insects. A state-of-the-art computer vision model from YOLO family was selected, and six YOLO variants (YOLOv5s/m/l and YOLOv5s/m/l) were trained and evaluated on the insect dataset. All trained YOLO models delivered an impressive performance in terms of high detection accuracy (above 76% for mAP@[0.50:0.95]) and fast inference time (12–36 ms range). Subsequently, the best-performing YOLOv8l model was integrated and deployed on a mobile device, achieving a good detection performance with average detection speeds of 16 and 29 fps on a desktop computer and smartphone, respectively. The study provided an end-to-end framework for automatic and real-time insect detection and identification in a stored product environment. The lightweight variant of YOLO can be deployed on low-cost edge hardware, mobile devices, or cloud computing. The proposed system is relatively fast, accurate, and inexpensive for insect monitoring and may prove an alternate solution to existing methods. The system would serve as a decision-making tool for stored product facilities managers and can be easily scaled and adapted in a variety of stored product environments.