Foodstuffs Of Animal Origin Research Articles

Verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli in foodstuffs of animal origin.

While much research effort has been targeted at the verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) serotype O157:H7, it is becoming more evident that other VTEC serotypes can also be associated with human foodborne disease. An increasing number of these non-O157 serotypes have been isolated from food sources and from humans suffering from haemolytic-uraemic syndrome and diarrhoea. The aim of our work was to investigate the prevalence of VTEC O157 and non-O157 in foodstuffs of animal origin using two rapid enzymatic procedures. Various types of food samples, 352 in total, were tested: 233 with the Premier EHEC, a screening test which directly detects the presence of verocytotoxin, regardless of serotype, while 119 of these with the Vidas ECO, which is a specific screening test for E. coli O157:H7, together with the Premier EHEC. Two samples were positive for VTEC, one of serogroup O126 and the other was non-serotypable. Another sample was positive in the test specific for E. coli O157:H7, but was not confirmed by culture. This study suggests that VTEC strains are not prevalent in Italy, and that the isolation of serogroup O157 is relatively infrequent. This leads us to conclude that there is little chance of exposure to pathogen for the average consumer in Italy.

A further exploration of disgust in eating disorders

AbstractObjective:Disgust is an emotion that is intimately linked to food and eating and it has been proposed that disgust may therefore be an important emotion in eating disorders. However, empirical evidence has been mixed.Method:Two hundred and eight participants with a history of eating disorders completed measures of current and past eating disorder symptoms and a disgust questionnaire measuring disgust sensitivity in five domains (foodstuffs of animal origin, human body and body products, invertebrate animals, gastroenteric products, sexual practices).Results:Despite some differences with previous results, both current and remitted eating disorder volunteers reported higher levels of disgust towards foodstuffs of animal origin and to the human body and its products. In addition, those in remission from an eating disorder had lower levels of disgust towards the human body and its products than did those who were still ill but these groups did not differ in their disgust towards foodstuffs of animal origin.Conclusion:It is concluded that eating disorders are not associated with an increased global disgust sensitivity but that this is specific to areas that concern food and the body. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

The selenium content of selected food from the Slovak Republic

The selenium concentrations in various food commodities such as meat, fish, milk and milk products, cereal products, fruits, vegetables and beverages have been determined by using the continuous hydride generating method. The highest selenium content was found in the foodstuffs of animal origin in chicken meat and eggs, due to selenium addition to the feeds, and fish. The lowest selenium levels were found in fruit and vegetables. The selenium levels, on the wet weight basis, found in the Bratislava area, Slovakia, are comparable to that of West Germany.

Current Problems in Zoonosis Research

New developments in the field of Zoonosis research are discussed. They include: 1. New emerging viral zoonosis 2. Multicausal zoonoses 3. Genetic aspects of the origin of new zoonoses 4. Transmission of zoonoses to man through foodstuffs of animal origin 5. The environment and zoonoses. Continuous zoonosis research with new molecular biological techniques is a necessity. In the final analysis, there are no true limits in the field of infectiology. Such research requires cooperation between ecologists, zoologists, botanists, molecular biologists, physicians and veterinarians.

Determination of Residues of Chemotherapeutic and Antiparasitic Drugs in Food Stuffs of Animal Origin with Liquid Chromatography and UV/VIS Diode-Array Detection

Abstract An HPLC method is described which enables the qualitative and quantitative analysis of residues of pharmacologically active substances in food stuffs of animal origin. Egg samples were spiked with the therapeutic drugs sulfapyridine and its N-acetyl metabolite, with ethopabat, chloramphenicol, meticlorpindol, metronidazol, ipronidazol, furazolidone and nicarbazin and with pyrazon and benzothiazuron as internal standards in the range of 0.02 to 0.1 mg/kg. The drugs were extracted with acetonitrile and purified by liquid-liquid partition steps. They were separated on a reversed phase column and detected with a multi-signal UV/Vis diode-array detector at 3 different wavelengths: 275, 315 and 360 nm. The peak's identity was confirmed by comparing retention times and UV spectra with those of standards. Peaks were checked for homogenity by comparing spectra at the peak's upslope, apex and downslope. The detection limit was in the range of 0.001 to 0.05 mg/kg.

The determination of the coccidiostat nicarbazin in animal tissue and eggs. I. Determination by pulse polarography and high pressure fluid chromatography with electrochemical detection

The determination of nicarbazin residues in foodstuffs of animal origin by two different methods, polarography, HPLC with electrochemical detection, is described. By applying pulse polarography at the dropping mercury electrode to acetonitrile extracts of animal tissues and eggs, a detection limit of 50 micrograms/kg and mean recoveries of 79% were obtained. The same extracts were used for the HPLC determination with electrochemical detection. This led to a detection limit of 1 microgram/kg. Additional rapid confirmation can be obtained from HPLC using an internal standard (nifursol) and comparing peak area proportions of both substances at varied polarization voltages. The quantitative determination of nicarbazin in chicken eggs by both polarography and HPLC was found to be in good agreement.

Background to the Study

ALMOST 60 years have elapsed since Correa in Yucatań, México, described a pathological condition called culebrilla which was present mainly in toddlers and was associated with a deficient intake of foodstuffs of animal origin. Since that time reports from South America, India, Africa south of the Sahara, the Balkan Peninsula, China, Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Central America had by 1952 shown the widespread occurrence of the syndrome. The prevalence surveys of Brock and Autret in Africa, Autret and Behar in Central America, and Waterlow and Vergara in Brazil, have made the size of the problem apparent and have fully confirmed previous impressions of high frequency which had been based upon cases admitted to general and to pediatric hospitals. As a consequence, since 1955 protein-calorie malnutrition has come to be recognized as a condition having worldwide importance for the people's health. Although its incidence and causal background may vary, the syndrome is associated with the same basic characteristics of clinical and biochemical pathology in all countries, and has regional variations of only secondary importance. The literature has grown steadily and many reviews of protein-calorie malnutrition have appeared over the last two decades. Of particular value for providing a detailed picture have been those of Waterlow, West Indies 1948, Meneghello, Chile 1949, Brock and Autret, Africa 1952, Oomen, Indonesia 1953, Gopalan and Ramalingaswami, India 1955, Gomez, et al. Mexico, 1953, Trowell, Devies, and Dean 1954, Behar et al. 1953, Ramos and Cravioto 1953, Waterlow, Cravioto and Stephen 1960, and Viteri, et al. 1964.

Environmental contamination with radioruthenium, 1961-1965.

The results of measurements of medium-lived 103Ru and 106Ru in air-borne particles, fall-out, surface soil, river water, sea-water, foodstuffs, complete diet and human muscle and lungs during 1961-1965 are summarized. Main passage route of 103Ru was found through the fresh leafy vegetables, while 106Ru was supplied by different way, i. e., 77% by plant materials raised on land, 6% by foodstuffs of animal origin and the remainder by seaweed ; the concentration was the highest in the last item. Estimation of lung and body burdens was performed on the basis of observed data for inhalation and ingestion and compared with the result of measurements on human materials obtained from cadavers. The mobility of fall-out ruthenium in the sequence between precipitation and run-off from rivers seemed a little larger than strontium and much larger than cesium, reaching 14% of fresh fall-out to be delivered to the sea. Average concentration factor from sea-water to sea food as a whole was found to be 70 or equivalent daily intake of sea-water to be 7 kg. On this basis, the maximum permissible concentration of 106Ru in sea-water was suggested as 3 × 10-6μCi/ml.

GRASS AS HUMAN FOOD

IN normal agricultural economy the main role of the farm animal is to convert coarse vegetable foodstuffs into palatable and readily digested meat and dairy products. In war–time the value of this function must be reviewed in relation to the exigencies of the shipping situation, and the gain in quality in foodstuffs of animal origin must be balanced against the great loss in quantity which must inevitably occur during the conversion. Some peace–time practices, such as the liberal use of wheat in feeding poultry, are obviously out of place during war–time. It is difficult, however, to forecast what degree of success could be attained in a frontal attack on the position of the farm animal, in which the aim would be to make part of the vast food resources of green pasture directly available for human consumption.