International Food Industry Research Articles

Nondestructive testing of runny salted egg yolk based on improved ConvNeXt-T.

Salted egg yolks from salted duck eggs are widely utilized in the domestic and international food industry as both raw materials and ingredients. When salted egg yolks are not fully cured and matured, they exist in a fluid state, with a mixture of solid and liquid internally. Due to this composition, they are susceptible to deterioration during storage and usage, necessitating their detection and classification. In this study, a dataset specifically for salted egg yolks was established, and the ConvNeXt-T model, employed as the benchmark model, underwent two notable improvements. First, a lightweight location-aware circular convolution (ParC) was introduced, utilizing a ParC-block to replace a portion of the original ConvNeXt-T block. This enhancement aimed to overcome the limitations of convolution in extracting global feature information while integrating the global sensing capability of vision transformer and the localization capability of convolution. Additionally, the activation function was modified through substitution. These improvements resulted in the final model. Experimental results indicate that the enhanced model exhibits faster convergence on the custom salted egg yolk dataset compared to the baseline model. Furthermore, a significant reduction of model parameters by a factor of 4 led to a 2.167 percentage point improvement in the accuracy of the test set. The ParC-ConvNeXt-SMU-T model achieved an accuracy of 96.833% with 26.8 million parameters. Notably, the improved model demonstrates exceptional effectiveness in recognizing salted egg yolks. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study can be widely applied in the process of salted egg yolk production and quality inspection, which can improve the actual sorting efficiency of salted egg yolks and reduce the labor cost at the same time. It can also be used for nondestructive testing of salted egg yolks by governmental enterprises and other regulatory authorities.

Food industry donations to patient advocacy organisations focussed on non-communicable diseases.

This study used publicly available Form 990 tax documents to quantify food industry donations to patient advocacy organisations (PAO) dedicated to supporting patients with non-communicable diseases. Observational, cross-sectional assessment of significant national and international food industry donations to US-based non-communicable disease-focussed PAO between 2000 and 2018. Researchers recorded and categorised the: (1) frequency and value of donations; (2) reason for donation; (3) name and type of PAO recipient and (4) non-communicable disease focus of the PAO. Form 990 tax documents. Nine food and beverage companies that donated to non-communicable disease-focussed PAO. Adjusting for inflation, nine food and beverage companies collectively donated $10 672 093 (n 2709) to the PAO between 2001 and 2018. The largest category of donations was ‘matching gifts’ (67·9 %, median amount = $115·16), followed by ‘general operations support’ (25·8 %, median amount = $107·79). Organisations focussing on cancer received the largest number and amount of donations ($6 265 861, n 1968). Eight of the nine companies made their largest monetary value of donation to PAO focussed on cancer. Publicly available tax data provide robust information on food industry donation practices. Our findings document the food industry’s role in supporting patient advocacy organisations and raise questions regarding conflicts of interest. Increased awareness of food industry donation practices involving PAO may generate pressure for policies mandating transparency or encourage donors and recipients to voluntarily disclose donations. If public disclosure becomes widespread, constituents, advocates, researchers and policymakers can better supervise and address potential conflicts of interest.

Effect of growing environments on the minerals and proximate composition of urdbeans (Vigna mungo L. Hepper)

Urdbean (Vigna mungo L. Hepper) is an abundantly grown and profusely consumed south-Asian pulse crop. It has enormous scope in the international food industry, being a high-value and low-carbon footprint source of several nutrients and micronutrients. The present study was conducted in a set of urdbean genotypes of diverse origins - to validate high sources for iron and zinc concentrations in urdbean based on replicated field trials, to determine the effect of growing environment on these traits, to quantify phytic acid concentration, to quantify fats, carbohydrate, dietary fiber, protein content and to generate Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy profile of these urdbean genotypes. Analysis of variance showed that genotypic effects were significant (p < 0.05) at all locations for iron and zinc concentrations. The mean value of Fe and Zn concentrations were 97.1 mg/kg and 14 mg/kg, respectively, over the locations. Fe and Zn concentration ranged between 86.7 (LBG-787) to 116 (WBU-108) mg/kg and 11.2 (VBN-7) to 18.2 (IPU99–79) mg/kg, respectively. Moisture, protein, fat, ash, total fiber, and total carbohydrate contents were 11.5, 25.3, 1.1, 2.95, 13.9, 57.5%, respectively. The phytic acid content was stable over the locations, ranging from 13.7 mg/g to 14 mg/g for the 20 tested urdbean genotypes. In this study, genotype, PLU 429, which had Fe concentration ranging between 81.6 and 93.5 mg/kg, is a superior genotype with the lowest PA content (10 mg/g) over the three test locations. Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy profiling detected three urdbean- specific sharp peaks between 4000 and 3500 wave numbers. Among these, two peaks (3724, 3625 wave numbers) were due to free O-H stretching of alcohols. In GGEBiplot analysis, the most stable urdbean genotypes with high Fe concentration were PU-30 (102 mg/kg) and Shekhar 2 (105 mg/kg), and for Zinc concentration, WBU137–2 (15.2 mg/kg) and UH85–5 (15.4 mg/kg) were having high concentration as well as comparatively higher stability. In conclusion, urdbeans were identified as stable sources of high iron and zinc concentrations, and a lower anti-nutrient concentration may help breed for nutrient-dense urdbean cultivar.

Microfluidic droplet application for bacterial surveillance in fresh-cut produce wash waters.

Foodborne contamination and associated illness in the United States is responsible for an estimated 48 million cases per year. Increased food demand, global commerce of perishable foods, and the growing threat of antibiotic resistance are driving factors elevating concern for food safety. Foodborne illness is often associated with fresh-cut, ready-to-eat produce commodities due to the perishable nature of the product and relatively minimal processing from farm to the consumer. The research presented here optimizes and evaluates the utility of microfluidic droplets, also termed ultra-miniaturized bioreactors, for rapid detection of viable Salmonella enterica ser. Typhimurium in a shredded lettuce wash water acquired from a major Mid-Atlantic produce processing facility (denoted as Producer) in the U.S. Using a fluorescently-labeled anti-S. Typhimurium antibody and relative fluorescence intensities, paired with in-droplet incubation, S. Typhimurium was detected and identified with 100% specificity in less than 5 h. In initial optimization experiments using S. Typhimurium-spiked sterile water, the relative fluorescence intensity of S. Typhimurium was approximately two times that of the observed relative intensities of five non-S. Typhimurium negative controls at 4-h incubation in droplets containing Rappaport-Vasiliadis (RV) broth at 37°C: relative fluorescence intensity for S. Typhimurium = 2.36 (95% CI: 2.15-2.58), Enterobacter aerogens 1.12 (95% CI: 1.09-1.16), Escherichia coli 700609 = 1.13 (95% CI: 1.09-1.17), E. coli 13706 1.13 (95% CI: 1.07-1.19), E. coli 700891 1.05 (95% CI: 1.03-1.07) and Citrobacter freundii 1.04 (95% CI: 1.03-1.05). S. Typhimurium- and E. aerogens-spiked shredded lettuce wash waters acquired from the Producer were then incubated 4 h in-droplet at 37°C with RV broth. The observed relative fluorescence of S. Typhimurium was significantly higher than that of E. aerogens, 1.56 (95% CI: 1.42-1.71) and 1.10 (95% CI: 1.08-1.12), respectively. While further optimization focusing on compatible concentration methodologies for highly-dilute produce water samples is needed, this application of droplet microfluidics shows great promise in dramatically shortening the time necessary-from days to hours-to confirm viable bacterial contamination in ready-to-eat produce wash waters used throughout the domestic and international food industry.

Süper Besin: Chia Tohumu (Salvia Hispanica L.)

Son yıllarda oldukça dikkat çeken bir tohum olan Chia tohumu (Salvia hispanica, L.), sağlık etkileri bilimsel çalışmalarca kanıtlanmış işlevsel besin bileşenlerinden diyet posası, n-3 yağ asidi, protein ve antioksidanları yüksek miktarda içeren bir besindir. Chia tohumu (100 g) 16 - 20 g protein, 30 - 38 g yağ, 18 - 20 g n-3 yağ asidi, 34 - 40 g toplam diyet posası içerir. Son yıllarda sağlıklı besin tüketimindeki eğilimler diyet posası ilaveli, n-3 yağ asitleri ve antioksidan içeriği zenginleştirilmiş ürünler yönündedir. Chia tohumu son yıllarda Dünya’da yaygın olarak görülen kanser, diyabet, obezite, kardiyovasküler hastalıkların önlenmesinde etkili olabilecek işlevsel besin bileşenlerini içermesi nedeniyle “süper besin” olarak da tanımlanmaktadır. Sağlık ve beslenme etkilerinin yanı sıra, Chia tohumu, su ile buluştuğunda kabuğunun etrafında müsilaj oluşturma ve yağ/su emülsiyonlarını stabilize etme özelliklerini taşır. Bu özellikleri ile besin endüstrisinde birçok alanda kullanılma potansiyeli yüksek bir hammadde olarak değerlendirilebilir. Bu derlemede, Chia tohumunun beslenme yönünden etkileri, işlevsel bileşenleri ve ulusal ve uluslararası besin endüstrisinde kullanım alanları ile ilgili çalışmalar derlenmiştir.

The complexity of the international food industry

The international food industry is a complex and intertwined system of actions and re-actions covering many areas. Multiple concepts presented by scholarly literature are examined emphasising the vastness and complexity of international trade activities conducted by multiple nations with multiple resources. Research and discussions concerning the international food industry include religions, health, nutritional, moral, political and economic characteristics when examining the complexity of the international food industry. Variations in how different countries, different cultures and religious beliefs, different health and safety standards, and different business practices interact with each other in the international food industry are analysed. How international food industries are influenced by complex issues of cultural and religious processing requirements, food safety, food crimes, and governmental economic negotiations are examined through qualitative and empirical analysis. Game Theory and internal controls used in fraud detection is examined for further research supporting strategic moves of international trade participants.

The complexity of the international food industry

The complexity of the international food industry

Mapping the state of play on the global food landscape

The global food landscape is changing rapidly. In 2007–08 food prices soared and remained volatile in the following years, effectively leading to a world food crisis that drove tens of millions of people into poverty and hunger. A phenomenal increase in large-scale farmland acquisitions in developing countries by a range of investors is leaving land rights in question for many small-scale producers while land grabbing is also occurring in the global North. There is also growing corporate concentration in the international food industry, from agricultural input firms to trading firms to production and processing and food retail. A changing global climate with associated unpredictable weather and crop yields complicates this picture, as does a steady increase in the application of agricultural biotechnology worldwide. To counter these global forces, communities around the world are imagining and building alternative locally-based and interconnected food systems grounded in the idea of food sovereignty to ensure food security, ecological sustainability and social justice.

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Searching for a European policy for food and nutrition

National and international nutrition policies are not new. In the UK in the 1940s war years, John (later Lord) Boyd Orr, then Director of the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen, led and advised Churchill's Scientific Committee on Food Policy. Boyd Orr helped to formulate a system of food rationing designed to maximize the possibility of good nutrition in the British population in difficult circumstances. After the War, he tried to develop nutrition policy within a much wider frame after he was appointed as the first Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. However, his vision of the establishment of a World Food Board was rejected in 1947, and was forgotten by the early 1950s; at this time, the people of Europe were fed largely on the produce of the agricultural land surrounding main towns and cities. There were almost no national or international food industries. Meanwhile, in much of the middle of Europe, in the 1940s and even into the early 1950s, there was severe famine and even starvation in many areas as a consequence of the World War. Anecdotal …

Salmonellae in food stuffs of plant origin and their implications on human health

Salmonella enterica is one of the most common causes of food-borne infection in human beings. Cases of Salmonella infection have been decreasing in Europe in the last ten years, yet, Salmonella infections are still the main cause of acute diarrhea syndrome. Globalization has caused the international food industry to increase the production of collective nutrition produce and products. This has intensified the need for authorized and accredited laboratories to monitor microbiological food safety. All parameters indicate the necessity of a multi-sector approach to this problem. Food safety supervision involves the analysis and identification of risk management, as well as the monitoring, evaluating, and regulating of crop irrigation. We can be more certain with a multi-sector approach that the number of Salmonella infections caused by plant-originated food stuffs will not increase in the future.

Internet and international food industry trade

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an adaptedz gravity model to measure the impact of the number of the internet users on food industry trade between developed Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries using both panel and cross‐sectional data.Design/methodology/approachThe impact of the internet users on food industry export growth and levels, and on food industry trade reorientation, and whether the internet has altered the effect of distance on food industry trade, are analyzed using adapted gravity model.FindingsThe positive, significant and over time increasing effect of the internet on food industry exports confirm that the internet reduces market‐specific entry costs for food industry exports. The significant positive effect pertained to the internet is found in the importing countries. The significant positive effects on food industry exports are found for the country's economic size and bilateral common features and proximities. The internet mitigates the countries proximities, but increased the distance between the countries.Originality/valueThe empirical contribution to the research of new connections made with the key elements of trade theory with focus on the effect of the internet on food industry trade.

Information Policy and Genetically Modified Food: Weighing the Benefits and Costs

The labeling of genetically modified foods (GMFs) is the topic of a debate that could dramatically alter the structure of the U.S. and international food industry. The current lack of harmonization of policy across countries makes GMF labeling an international trade issue. The U.S. and Canada do not require GMFs to be labeled unless the GMF is significantly different than the conventional food or the GMF presents a health concern. However, many other countries are requiring GMFs to be labeled. This paper discusses empirical work on the sources and magnitude of benefits and costs from labeling programs, with particular emphasis on the impact of the design of the labeling program on benefits and costs.

Internet and international food industry trade

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an adaptedz gravity model to measure the impact of the number of the internet users on food industry trade between developed Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries using both panel and cross‐sectional data.

Trust as a valuable strategic variable in the food industry

Although it is often suggested that trust is an important construct in relationship marketing, there is only little empirical evidence of how, if at all, trust may be used as a valuable strategic variable. In the 1990s, the international food industry faced a number of serious challenges, most notoriously the mad cow disease. The present multiple case study, which is qualitative in nature, explores how the Danish‐British bacon supply chain has dealt with the challenges by means of implementing different types of trust. The study confirms that there are different types of trust that marketers can embrace and shows that when one type of trust is not available marketers can draw on other types. The case study also maps different patterns of implementing trust‐based marketing approaches.

Information Policy and Genetically Modified Food: Weighing the Benefits and Costs

The labeling of genetically modified foods (GMFs) is the topic of a debate that could dramatically alter the structure of the U.S. and international food industry. The current lack of harmonization of policy across countries makes GMF labeling an international trade issue. The U.S. and Canada do not require GMFs to be labeled unless the GMF is significantly different than the conventional food or the GMF presents a health concern. However, many other countries are requiring GMFs to be labeled. This paper discusses empirical work on the sources and magnitude of benefits and costs from labeling programs, with particular emphasis on the impact of the design of the labeling program on benefits and costs.