There are many food and nutrition issues that grab news headlines and public interest. Of these, there is one issue that consumers often take for granted, but food scientists and food technologists can never take for granted: food safety. It is an issue that is always of foremost concern for food scientists/technologists. A lack of understanding or improper food safety controls can result in immediate and, sometimes, fatal consequences for food consumers. On March 9, 2017, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that six people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria have been reported from four states since September 1, 2016. All six people were hospitalized, and two people from Connecticut and Vermont died. One illness was reported in a newborn. According to the CDC report, health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are collaborating to investigate this multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections (listeriosis). Listeria can cause a serious, life-threatening illness. Public health investigators are using the PulseNet system to identify illnesses that may be part of this outbreak. PulseNet is the national subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by CDC. DNA “fingerprinting” is performed on Listeria bacteria isolated from ill people by using techniques called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). CDC PulseNet manages a national database of these DNA fingerprints to identify possible outbreaks. WGS gives a more detailed DNA fingerprint than PFGE. WGS was performed on clinical isolates from all six ill people and showed that the isolates are closely related genetically. This close genetic relationship provides additional evidence that people in this outbreak became ill from a common source. Listeria specimens from ill people were collected from September 1, 2016 to January 22, 2017. Ill people ranged in age from less than one year to 89 years, with a median age of 55. Five of six ill people are female. All six (100%) ill people reported being hospitalized, and two people from Connecticut and Vermont died. One of the illnesses was reported in a newborn. Epidemiologic and laboratory evidence indicates that soft raw milk cheese made by Vulto Creamery of Walton, New York, is the likely source of this outbreak. State and local health departments interviewed ill people or their family members about the foods they may have eaten or other exposures in the month before their illness started. Six (100%) of six people reported eating a soft cheese. The ill resident of Florida reported traveling to New York State and eating soft cheese there before becoming ill. Available information indicates that cheese made by Vulto Creamery was for sale at stores where at least five of the ill people purchased cheese before becoming ill. The Connecticut Dept. of Public Health collected leftover cheeses from the deceased person's home in Connecticut. The outbreak strain of Listeria was identified in a leftover cheese that the family identified as Ouleout cheese from Vulto Creamery. The New York Division of Milk Control and Dairy Services collected three intact wheels of Ouleout cheese from Vulto Creamery during a joint inspection with FDA. The outbreak strain of Listeria was identified in samples taken from the three wheels of cheese. On March 7, 2017, Vulto Creamery recalled all lots of Ouleout, Miranda, Heinennellie, and Willowemoc soft wash-rind raw milk cheeses. The soft raw milk cheeses were distributed nationwide, with most being sold at retail locations in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states; California; Chicago; Portland, Oreg.; and Washington, D.C. CDC and state and local public health partners are continuing laboratory surveillance through PulseNet to identify additional ill people and to interview them. The investigation is ongoing. [Reference, accessed March 12, 2017: https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/soft-cheese-03-17/index.html] Soft raw milk cheeses with low acidity and low salt content can harbor food pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes. Although soft raw milk cheeses can be sold, consumers should be aware that there is a risk to consuming them. This advice is particularly important for consumers at higher risk for listeriosis, including pregnant women, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems. Yogurt made from unpasteurized milk, pudding made from unpasteurized milk, and ice cream or frozen yogurt made from unpasteurized milk can also be unsafe to eat. For more about the dangers of raw milk, read https://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm079516.htm Not understanding potential food risks can have tragic consequences. Highlights from this month's Journal of Food Science include food product development for older adults, vitamin flavor in milk, a lexicon for quinoa, the toxicology of mixing alcohol and energy drinks, and more. This review article discusses the health challenges associated with declining food intake in older adults and explores ways food product development can assist with preserving functional ability and prolonging quality of healthy life. The authors review research that suggests older adults have specific nutritional needs, including providing adequate nutrients to preserve and promote functional ability such as immunity, bone health, and cognitive function. In addition, energy expenditure frequently exceeds energy intake, thereby leading to weight loss, muscle wasting, and increased weakness. This results in a decrease in muscle mass and metabolic rate, and impacts appetite, physical activity, ability to carry out daily functions, and health status. The authors state that there is a need to target new food product development with specific functional health benefits to address the food-related needs of older consumers. When developing foods for older adults, consideration should be given to the increased requirements for specific macro- and micronutrients, especially protein, calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B. Also, to compensate for the diminished appetite and reduced intake, foods should be energy dense, nutritionally adequate, and, most importantly, palatable. 848–855 Many degradation components of vitamins A and D have flavor and fragrance applications, but there is little published research on their possible flavor contributions to fluid milk. Vitamin concentrates can impact flavor and flavor stability of fluid milk, and this review explores the proposed mechanisms of off-flavor development and changes in flavor stability of fluid milk. Vitamin concentrates with vitamins A and D are used for fortification of fluid milk, but they may also be a source of off-flavor in vitamin fortified milk due to their heat, oxygen, and the light sensitivity. It is very important for the dairy industry to understand how vitamin concentrates can impact flavor and flavor stability of fluid milk. In this review, the history, regulations, processing, and storage stability of vitamins in fluid milk are addressed along with some hypotheses for the role of vitamin A and D fortification on flavor and stability of fluid milk. The hypotheses of this review are: vitamin concentrates can contribute flavor to fluid milk, and vitamin concentrates can increase light oxidized off flavors in fluid milk and/or contribute off flavor to fluid milk. 856–864 Product description is an important issue for companies because it is a recommended step before commercialization. The most widely used descriptive sensory test is conventional profiling. Recently, however, some alternative descriptive sensory tests have been developed in order to avoid the use of trained panels and save time. Among these techniques, free sorting is increasingly used in association with a verbalization task. This sensory task offers a large range of options in product choice and in the selection of sensorial characteristics that assessors must evaluate. This paper presents a new variant of the free sorting method developed to analyze the relationship between dried sourdough and corresponding dried sourdough-bread odors. To analyze them at the same time, the researchers introduce a new variant of the free sorting method, which adds an association task between dried sourdough and bread after those of free sorting and verbalization. This separation makes it possible to change the product between tasks. Results of the study enabled an association between different kinds of products and thus underlined the relationship between them. As the methodology contains a verbalization task, it provides product descriptions. Compared with the standard free sorting method, free sorting with an association task gives the distance between dried sourdoughs, between breads, and between dried sourdoughs and breads. The separation of product assessment through sorting and association avoids the separation of products according to their category (dried sourdough or bread). 985–992 The rising popularity of quinoa has inspired researchers in the United States to breed varieties that are compatible with local weather, photoperiod, and soil conditions, which greatly differ from quinoa's original land, the Andean mountain region. A group of researchers from Washington State Univ. in the U.S. have developed a quinoa lexicon along with consumer acceptance of different quinoa varieties to provide critical information for both quinoa breeding programs and food industry researchers. The developed lexicon could be used to distinguish among quinoa varieties, showing significant differences in aromas, taste/flavors, and texture attributes. Specifically, quinoa variety effects were observed for the aromas of caramel, nutty, buttery, grassy, earthy, and woody; taste/flavor of sweet, bitter, grain-like, nutty, earthy, and toasty; and firm, cohesive, pasty, adhesive, crunchy, chewy, astringent, and moist textures. The lexicon of cooked quinoa can be used by breeders to screen quinoa varieties and will also be useful in the food industry to evaluate the sensory properties of quinoa from multiple farms, harvest years, and processing procedures. This has the potential of directing quinoa toward different applications based on its properties. The consumer acceptance results, along with the specific consumer segments that were identified, will allow for targeted marketing of quinoa. 993–1005 Energy drink consumption among young adults, especially combined with alcoholic beverages, has increased over the last decade. There is not enough research in the literature to determine the total effects of co-administrated alcoholic beverage and energy drink. This study aimed to provide awareness of the deleterious effects from the consumption of energy drinks and alcohol both together and separately. Results of this study are expected to be a reference for public service broadcasting and for manufacturers of energy drinks in terms of producing a deterrent packaging in case of incorrect self-consumption or mixture preparation. The researchers investigated the effects of energy drinks and the mixture of these drinks with ethanol on oxidative stress parameters including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and lipid peroxidation parameter malondialdehyde (MDA) in rat livers and brains. Histopathological evaluations were also examined in this study. They found that energy drink exposure led to a dose-dependent increase in liver MDA compared to the control, indicating oxidative damage. Histopathological findings also revealed that energy drinks alone may generate liver damage. Ethanol exposure increased MDA level and SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px activity in both the brain and the liver. The combination of ethanol and energy drinks produced greater damage indicated by further increases in SOD and GSH-Px activity in the brain. Similar results for MDA were observed in both the liver and brain as well. The findings suggest that energy drink consumption alone or combination with ethanol may represent a significant public health concern. 1037–1043 Rosemary extract has a potent antioxidant activity and is widely used in the food industry. In this study, the lifespan prolonging and antioxidant activity of rosemary extract was evaluated by high-fat-induced oxidative damage in Drosophila melanogaster. The results revealed that the lifespan and climbing ability of fruit flies was enhanced significantly by feeding rosemary extract. Feeding with rosemary extract significantly increased the enzyme activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase, and significantly decreased the level of malonaldehyde. The gene expression of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 was enhanced and that for methuselah was significantly reduced. The comet assay showed that high-fat diet-induced DNA lesion was significantly reduced in larvae treated with the rosemary extract. Overall, the results suggest that feeding with rosemary extract is effective to extend lifespan in fruit flies by strengthening of the resistance to high-fat-induced oxidative stress and by stimulating, at least in part, the endogenous antioxidant response. 1006–1011