Food Safety Problems Research Articles

Nanocatalyst-triggered cascade immunoassay: Multi-model immunochromatography assay for sensitive detection of Salmonella typhimurium

The Salmonella-caused food safety problem is a potentially serious threat to public health and economic development, which stresses an urgent need for effective strategies to control the spread of food-borne pathogenic bacteria. In this work, a nanocatalyst-triggered cascade immunoassay (NTCI) combined with colorimetric-catalytic-photothermal multi-model signals has been developed for the detection of Salmonella typhimurium (S. Typhimurium). PtNiCo@TA trimetallic nanoflower was employed as the signal label of the NTCI, due to its excellent peroxidase-mimicking properties, colorimetric performance, biocompatibility, and stability. Here, the multi-model NTCI consists of three parts: (i) colorimetric immunochromatography assay (ICA) with a double antibody sandwich system, (ii) catalytic amplification system triggered by 3, 3′, 5, 5′ -tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and (iii) photothermal analysis achieved by the near-infrared (NIR) laser-driven photothermal properties of oxidized TMB (oxTMB). Based on this multi-model cascade reaction, both specific qualitative and quantitative analyses of pathogenic bacteria are realized. The limit of detection (LOD) of multi-model NTCI is 500 cfu·mL−1, which is 20-fold more sensitive than that of the colorimetric analysis alone. Moreover, the NTCI system shows preeminent applicability and flexibility for S. Typhimurium detection in milk samples. Therefore, this work suggests an innovative direction for the design of nanocatalyst-triggered photothermal multi-model immunoassays in the detection of food-borne pathogens.

Aptamer Sensors for the Detection of Antibiotic Residues— A Mini-Review

Food security is a global issue, since it is closely related to human health. Antibiotics play a significant role in animal husbandry owing to their desirable broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. However, irrational use of antibiotics has caused serious environmental pollution and food safety problems; thus, the on-site detection of antibiotics is in high demand in environmental analysis and food safety assessment. Aptamer-based sensors are simple to use, accurate, inexpensive, selective, and are suitable for detecting antibiotics for environmental and food safety analysis. This review summarizes the recent advances in aptamer-based electrochemical, fluorescent, and colorimetric sensors for antibiotics detection. The review focuses on the detection principles of different aptamer sensors and recent achievements in developing electrochemical, fluorescent, and colorimetric aptamer sensors. The advantages and disadvantages of different sensors, current challenges, and future trends of aptamer-based sensors are also discussed.

Examination of Adulterants in Edibles

Abstract: Edible substance adulteration is a serious problem for modern food safety. The obvious cause of concern may be that adulterants have detrimental impacts on human health. One of the most tainted food products is edible oils. The perpetrators are using strategies that successfully hide the presence of the adulterants from existing methods for detecting oil adulteration and human organoleptic limits. This review includes a thorough account of the research done over the past three decades on the falsification assessment of edible oils using chemical, biosensors, chromatography, spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, non-thermal plasma, and dielectric spectroscopy, as well as a collection of patented methods for detecting oil adulteration. The detection methods examined have certain benefits and some drawbacks, although chemical testing are straightforward; nuclear magnetic resonance and biosensors, dielectric spectroscopy is quick, portable, and compatible with the internet, but the findings can vary depending on the electric current frequency and internal parameters (moisture, temperature, structural composition). Copies are extremely accurate but have prohibitive costs. For scientists or those interested in learning more about the latest methods for detecting adulterated edible oil, this review paper can be helpful.

NiCo2S4@ZnIn2S4-Assisted All-in-One Self-Powered electrochemical device for ultrasensitive detection and degradation of AFB1

Self-powered sensors are easy to be integrated and miniaturized without power supply, providing an attractive way to construct smart, portable and implantable device. However, it is challenging to realize practical application especially for food safety problems due to the low energy conversion efficiency and the degradation difficulty of toxins. Herein, a new all-in-one photocatalytic self-powered electrochemical device (SPED) was proposed for the first time to achieve sensitive detection and efficient degradation of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) by the integration of photocatalytic fuel cell with photocatalytic degradation. NiCo2S4@ZnIn2S4 (NCS@ZIS) heterojunction was used as photoanode material with a high photocurrent of 13.7 μA, improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency greatly. By combining with photocathode, the output power of the SPED was greatly boosted to 467.4 mV, which realized AFB1 detection ranging from 0.001 ng/mL to 1000 ng/mL with a low detection limit of 0.17 pg/mL. In addition, owing to the photocatalysis of NCS@ZIS heterojunction as well as the drive of voltage difference between anode and cathode, the SPED showed a high degradation efficiency up to 81.62 % within 120 min. The successful construction of the all-in-one SPED achieved ultrasensitive detection and degradation of AFB1, demonstrating a great promising application in food security and environmental monitoring areas.

The potency of bacteriophages isolated from chicken intestine and beef tribe to control biofilm-forming bacteria, Bacillus subtilis

Biofilm becomes one of the crucial food safety problems in the food industry as the formation of biofilm can be a source of contamination. To deal with the problem, an industry generally employs physical and chemical methods including sanitizers, disinfectants, and antimicrobials to remove biofilm. However, the use of these methods may bring about new problems, which are bacterial resistance in the biofilm and the risk for product contamination. New strategies to deal with bacterial biofilms are needed. Bacteriophages (phages), as a green alternative to chemical, have re-emerged as a promising approach to treat bacterial biofilm. In the present study, the potential of lytic phages which have antibiofilm activity on biofilm-forming bacteria (Bacillus subtilis), were isolated from chicken intestines and beef tripe obtained from Indonesian traditional markets using host cells obtained isolated from these samples. Phages isolation was conducted by using double layer agar technique. A lytic test of phages was administered on biofilm-forming bacteria. The difference of turbidity level between control (which were not infected by phages) and the test tubes containing host bacteria infected by phages was investigated. The infection time for the production of phages was determined based on the level of clarity of the media in the test tube with a longer lysate addition time. Three phages were isolated namely: ϕBS6, ϕBS8, and ϕUA7. It showed the ability to inhibit B. subtilis as biofilm-forming spoilage bacteria. The best inhibition results were obtained from ϕBS6. Infection with ϕBS6 in B. subtilis lead to 0.5 log cycle decreased in bacterial cells. This study showed that isolated phages might be used as a potential approach for handling the problem of biofilm formation by B. subtilis.

The biochemical characteristics of viable but nonculturable state Yersinia enterocolitica induced by lactic acid stress and its presence in food systems

The viable but nonculturable (VBNC) state is adopted by many foodborne pathogenic bacteria to survive in adverse conditions. This study found that lactic acid, a widely used food preservative, can induce Yersinia enterocolitica to enter a VBNC state. Y. enterocolitica treated with 2 mg/mL lactic acid completely lost culturability within 20 min, and 10.137 ± 1.693 % of the cells entered a VBNC state. VBNC state cells could be recovered (resuscitated) in tryptic soy broth (TSB), 5 % (v/v) Tween80−TSB, and 2 mg/mL sodium pyruvate-TSB. In the VBNC state of Y. enterocolitica induced by lactic acid, the intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration and various enzyme activities were decreased, and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was elevated, compared with uninduced cells. The VBNC state cells were significantly more resistant to heat and simulated gastric fluid than uninduced cells, but their ability to survive in a high−osmotic−pressure environment was significantly less than that of uninduced cells. The VBNC state cells induced by lactic acid changed from long rod-like to short rod-like, with small vacuoles at the cell edges; the genetic material was loosened and the density of cytoplasm was increased. The VBNC state cells had decreased ability to adhere to and invade Caco−2 (human colorectal adenocarcinoma) cells. The transcription levels of genes related to adhesion, invasion, motility, and resistance to adverse environmental stress were downregulated in VBNC state cells relative to uninduced cells. In meat-based broth, all nine tested strains of Y. enterocolitica entered the VBNC state after lactic acid treatment; among these strains, only VBNC state cells of Y. enterocolitica CMCC 52207 and Isolate 36 could not be recovered. Therefore, this study is a wake−up call for food safety problems caused by VBNC state pathogens induced by lactic acid.

Development of chitosan/poly (vinyl alcohol) active films reinforced with curcumin functionalized layered clay towards food packaging

Nowadays, biodegradable active packaging materials have drawn wide attention which can overcome the serious environmental and food safety problems caused by traditional synthetic materials. In this study, we have reported developing a two-component, chitosan (CS) and poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) based films reinforced with curcumin functionalized layered double hydroxides (LDHs@CUR) via solvent casting method. The results showed that CUR was successfully loaded on the LDHs surface, and the thickness of the functional layer was 5 nm. The infrared and thermal analysis revealed that there was a strong interaction between LDHs@CUR and CS/PVA matrix, which was responsible for the enhancement of water resistance and mechanical properties. When the amount of LDHs@CUR reached 7 wt%, UV barrier properties (at 280 nm) and antioxidant activity of LDHs@CUR/CS/PVA active films were improved by 80.6 % and 49.2 % compared with CS/PVA matrix, respectively. The tensile strength of LDHs@CUR/CS/PVA active films reached a maximum of 60.7 MPa, an increase of 43.8 % compared with CS/PVA matrix, which was attributed to the internal interface interaction and increased crystallinity. These results indicated that the benefits of incorporation for LDHs@CUR into the active CS/PVA matrix and the potential application used as active films/inner coatings to develop food packaging materials.

Consumers' Preferences for Apple Production Attributes: Results of a Choice Experiment.

Various food safety and environmental problems in China have raised consumer awareness of food safety issues and negative environmental impacts in various supply chains. This research assessed consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for food safety and ecosystem delivery attributes associated with apples, demonstrated through the application of different traceability systems. Research participants were recruited in Beijing (N = 384) and Shanghai (N = 320). Choice experiment methodology was applied. The data were analyzed using conditional logit, random parameter logit, and latent class models; the results indicated significant consumer preferences for traceability information, including in relation to lower pesticide usage and application of organic fertilizer during primary production. The results also indicated that participants in this research had a significant willingness-to-pay premium for apple products that had production information traceability, had reduced pesticide use, and were grown with organic fertilizers. The models demonstrated heterogeneous preferences among participants such that consumers could be divided into three classes: non-price-sensitive (53.5%), pesticide-sensitive (21.7%), and price-sensitive (24.8%).

Village Songs and the Building of Community Culture: A Talk

Village Songs and the Building of Community Culture: A Talk

An ensemble of AHP-EW and AE-RNN for food safety risk early warning.

Food safety problems are becoming increasingly severe in modern society, and establishing an accurate food safety risk warning and analysis model is of positive significance in avoiding food safety accidents. We propose an algorithmic framework that integrates the analytic hierarchy process based on the entropy weight (AHP-EW) and the autoencoder-recurrent neural network (AE-RNN). Specifically, the AHP-EW method is first used to obtain the weight percentages of each detection index. The comprehensive risk value of the product samples is obtained by weighted summation with the detection data, which is used as the expected output of the AE-RNN network. The AE-RNN network is constructed to predict the comprehensive risk value of unknown products. The detailed risk analysis and control measures are taken based on the risk value. We applied this method to the detection data of a dairy product brand in China for example validation. Compared with the performance of 3 models of the back propagation algorithm (BP), the long short-term memory network (LSTM), and the LSTM based on the attention mechanism (LSTM-Attention), the AE-RNN model has a shorter convergence time, predicts data more accurately. The root mean square error (RMSE) of experimental data is only 0.0018, proving that the model is feasible in practice and helps improve the food safety supervision system in China to avoid food safety incidents.

Data-Driven Analysis of Risk-Assessment Methods for Cold Food Chains.

The problem of cold-chain food safety is becoming increasingly prominent. Cold food chain risk assessment is an important way to ensure cold-chain food safety. Using CiteSpace, this study analyzes the knowledge map of research hotspots in the field of cold-chain food safety over the past 18 years, identifies the research keywords, presents the centrality statistics, and calculates the cluster values and average cluster contour values. Adopting a data-driven perspective, risk-assessment methods for cold food chains are summarized based on qualitative risk assessment, quantitative risk assessment, and comprehensive qualitative and quantitative risk assessment. The advantages and disadvantages of each are summarized. Finally, the problems and challenges in current cold food chain risk-assessment research are summarized in three aspects: the data credibility of cold food chain traceability systems, cold-chain food safety audit methods, and nontraditional cold food chain risk assessment. Suggestions are given for strengthening the cold food chain risk-assessment system to provide a decision-making reference to help regulatory authorities take risk prevention and control measures.

ARCHITECTONICS OF MARKETING RESEARCH TO SOLVE FOOD SAFETY PROBLEMS

The article is devoted to the development of successive stages of the concept of marketing research of the state's food supply system for solving food security problems, as well as the formation of the structure of marketing research in the field of analysis of food supply problems. The concept of food supply system research for solving food security solutions is proposed, which consists of six consecutive stages. The scheme of formation, analysis and evaluation of the information base is presented, which is a kind of architecture of the organization of marketing research in the field of food supply to solve food safety problems. The study presents the theoretical, methodological and practical tasks of researching the problems of the food supply system and the order of their presentation. The structure of the marketing research toolkit of the food supply system was systematized. Three categories of participants in the process of marketing research in the field of food supply are distinguished: users, users/executors, executors. It was concluded that the need for scientific (marketing) research of the food supply system to solve the problem of food security is determined by a social need that requires study and research and appears as a kind of social order. A theoretically oriented study of the field of food provision of the food security system, which is aimed at analyzing the current problem of modern society, is no less practical than applied marketing research in this field. Its results are the identification and assessment of the closeness of relationships, the determination of the direction of the development vectors of processes, the analysis of conditions that provoke or eliminate the dissonance of the interaction of elements and spheres of such a complex socio-economic entity as the food supply system. The practical component of such research is an in-depth understanding of the problems of the functioning of the food complex, the nature of the integration of these issues into the system of parameters of the quality of life of the population, parameters of the competitiveness of the regions and the country as a whole.

Enhancing quality of qualitative evidence in food safety and food security

Qualitative research studies make up only a small portion of all publications in the food disciplines. Despite this, these approaches have offered an in-depth understanding of several food safety and food security problems over the last few decades. However, there continues to be inadequate reporting of qualitative research specific to food contexts, which results in a lack of transparency, rigour, questioning the credibility of qualitative approaches, and challenges in its uptake and synthesis. Several reviews of qualitative evidence in food safety have found reporting to be lacking in the following areas: study title, philosophical orientation, study design, researcher reflexivity, ethical approval, and qualitative analysis. In this paper, we describe the primary hurdles new qualitative researchers face in conducting and reporting research, and present practical solutions to complex qualitative challenges. For permanent and widespread changes aimed at advancing qualitative evidence in the food disciplines, we call on food educators to integrate qualitative methods training in research-based programs; journals and reviewers to appraise qualitative studies using established reporting guidelines; and appeal to academic publishers to expand current word limits to facilitate reporting of all important aspects of qualitative research.

Food safety and food security through predictive microbiology tools: a short review

This article discusses the issues of food safety and food security as a matter of global health. Foodborne illness and deaths caused by pathogens in food continue to be a worldwide problem, with a reported 600 million cases per year, leading to around 420,000 deaths in 2010. Predictive microbiology can play a crucial role in ensuring safe food through mathematical modelling to estimate microbial growth and behaviour. Food security is described as the social and economical means of accessing safe and nutritious food that meets people's dietary preferences and requirements for an active and healthy life. The article also examines various factors that influence food security, including economic, environmental, technological, and geopolitical challenges globally. The concept of food safety is described as a science-based process or action that prevents food from containing substances that could harm human health. Food safety receives limited attention from policymakers and consumers in low- and middle-income countries, where food safety issues are most prevalent. The article also highlights the importance of detecting contaminants and pathogens in food to prevent foodborne illnesses and reduce food waste. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an institution belonging to World Health Organization (WHO) presented calls to action to solve some of the emerging problems in food safety, as it should be a concern of all people to be involved in the pursue of safer food. The guarantee of safe food pertaining to microbiological contamination, as there are different types of active microorganisms in foods, could be obtained using predictive microbiology tools, which study and analyse different microorganisms' behaviour through mathematical models. Studies published by several authors show the application of primary, secondary, or tertiary models of predictive microbiology used for different food products.

Research on Food Security System Based on Internet of Things Technology under the Background of Big Data

Food security is the main topic of social and economic construction in the new era, which directly affects the physical and mental health of urban residents. As the production, processing, sales and other links of food enterprises are the basic components of safety management, each link may cause food safety problems. Therefore, it is necessary to use modern technical means to collect and analyze the production data of each link, and pay attention to creating a safe and stable production environment, so as to ensure food safety and quality on the basis. On the basis of understanding the application advantages of Internet of Things technology in the era of big data, this paper takes the food tracking system as an example to deeply discuss the key technologies and main functions in order to provide technical support for solving food safety problems.

Assessment of the Microbiological Acceptability of White Cheese (Akkawi) in Lebanon and the Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles of Associated Escherichia coli

Dairy foods are a staple in Lebanon, a low- and middle-income country that has been experiencing serious challenges to food safety and antimicrobial stewardship among other issues. The microbiological acceptability of dairy products has been of increasing concern. This is partially due to the failing economy and prolonged power outages that affect the quality of raw material and disrupt the dairy cold chain, respectively. Therefore, we assessed the microbiological acceptability of Akkawi, a popular white-brined cheese in Lebanon. For this purpose, we quantified the densities of Escherichia coli (a fecal indicator) and Staphylococcus aureus in cheeses collected from Lebanese retail stores. Additionally, we evaluated the antibiotic resistance profiles of the E. coli isolated from the cheese. E. coli and S. aureus were detected in 40 (80%) and 16 (32%) of the 50 cheese samples, respectively. Notably, 40 (80%) and 16 (32%) of the samples exceeded the maximum permissible limit of E. coli and S. aureus, respectively. A high percentage of the 118 E. coli isolated from the cheeses showed resistance to clinically and agriculturally important antibiotics, while 89 (75%) isolates were classified as multidrug-resistant (MDR). Given that Akkawi can be consumed without cooking, our findings highlight serious food safety and antimicrobial resistance problems that require immediate interventions.

Whole-genome sequencing reveals putative underlying mechanisms of biocontrol capability of IBFCBF-5

As the world’s food safety and environmental safety problems become increasingly severe, the agricultural sectors of various countries are also paying closer attention to the use of biofertilizers and biocontrol agents. Rhizosphere bacteria are a significant source of commonly used biofertilizers and biocontrol agents. This study aims to describe the genome and genomic traits of a biocontrol agent in the genus Bacillus. In this paper, a strain of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens IBFCBF-5 was isolated and identified to have an inhibitory effect on several common oomycete and fungal pathogens Phytophthora capsica, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cucumerinum. The genome of strain IBFCB-5 was sequenced, and the assembled genome was 4,338,658 bp, with a G + C content of 46.05%. The IBFCBF-5 genome contains abundant GH, GT, CE, PL, AA, and CBM gene families, potentially degrading cellulose and hemicellulose, chitin, starch, xylan, peptidoglycan, etc. In addition, 14 lipopeptide and polypeptide antibiotic gene clusters were found in IBFCBF-5, including those coding for the synthesis of several known antifungal and antibacterial compounds Fengycin, Bacilysin, Bacillibactin, and Plantazolicin. Our results show that Bacillus amyloliquefaciens IBFCBF-5 has a broad-spectrum antifungal ability and that its genome contains many genes coding for enzymes involved in the synthesis of antimicrobial metabolites.

Carbonate-bound Pb percentage distribution in agricultural soil and its toxicity: Impact on plant growth, nutrient cycling, soil enzymes, and functional genes

Metals pollution of lead in agricultural soils is a serious problem for food safety. Therefore, we investigated the toxic effects of carbonate-bound fraction Pb on agricultural soil from various aspects. The results revealed that a higher carbonate-bound fraction of Pb had more toxic effects on wheat growth, as evidenced by higher malondialdehyde (3.17 μmol g−1 FW) and lower catalase levels (9.77 μg−1 FW min−1). In terms of nutrient cycling, soil nutrients including carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus would slow down transformation rates in high concentrations. Compared to carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus were more likely to be affected by the initial carbonate-bound fraction at the earlier stage. Increased Pb dosage may reduce the soil enzymes activity such as urease (119–50 U g−1) and phosphatase (3191–967 U g−1), as well as the functional genes of nitrogen degradation related nirK, nisS, and carbon related pmoA. Correlation analysis and structural equation modeling indicated that carbonate bound Pb could regulate nutrients cycle via functional genes inhibition, soil enzyme activity reduction and wheat growth suppression in agricultural soil. Our findings will help with polluted agricultural soil monitoring and regulation through microbial activity to ensure food safety.

Residue analysis and dietary risk assessment of thiamethoxam, flonicamid and their metabolites in cucumber under field conditions in China.

Thiamethoxam and flonicamid are two representative insecticides of neonicotinoids which are used to treat cucumber aphids, causing food safety and human health problems. A 60% thiamethoxam-flonicamid commercial mixture water dispersible granule (WDG) is being prepared for registering in China, so it is essential to investigate the residue levels of these neonicotinoids and their metabolites in cucumber and evaluate the dietary risks of these insecticides. We developed a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe (QuEChERS) method combined with high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) for the simultaneous determination of thiamethoxam and its metabolite clothianidin, flonicamid and its metabolites 4-trifluoromethylnicotinic acid (TFNA), 4-trifluoromethilnicotinamide (TFNA-AM), 4-(trifluoromethyl) nicotinol glycine (TFNG) in cucumber. Method validation indicated good selectivity, linearity (r ≥ 0.9996), accuracy (recoveries of 80-101%), precision (relative standard deviations (RSD) ≤ 9.1%), sensitivity (limits of detection (LOD), 0.28-1.44 × 10-3mg/L; limits of quantification (LOQ), 0.01mg/kg) and minor matrix effect (ME) ( ≤|± 5%|). In the terminal residue trials under good agricultural practice (GAP) conditions, the residue levels of six analytes in cucumber samples were ˂0.01-0.215mg/kg after application trice with an interval of 7days based on pre-harvest interval (PHI) of 3days under the high recommended dosage of 54g active ingredient/ha (g a.i./ha). Relevant toxicological, residual chemistry parameters and dietary consumption of the residents were applied to assess the potential risk of dietary exposure. The chronic and acute dietary exposure assessment risk quotient (RQ) values were less than 1. The above results indicated that the potential dietary intake risk of this formulation was negligible to consumers.

Aptamer Sensor Based on Hybrid Chain Reaction and CRISPR-Cas9 System for STX Detection

In recent years, pollution incidents caused by red tide occur frequently, and the red tide biotoxins brought by it make the food safety problem of seafood become a difficult problem to be solved urgently, which has caused great damage to the mariculture industry. Red tide toxin is also known as “shellfish toxin”. Saxitoxin (STX), is one of the strongest paralytic shellfish toxins and is also one of the most toxic marine toxins, which is extremely harmful. Aiming at the problems existing in the current research on the detection of red tide biotoxin in complex water bodies, this research developed an aptamer sensor based on hybrid chain reaction and a CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system to detect the toxins of the clam and analyzed the feasibility of this method for the detection of the toxins of the clam. The results showed that the linear range of this method is 5.0 fM to 50 pM, and the detection limit is 1.2 fM. Meanwhile, the recovery rate of this sensor for the detection of toxins is 102.4–104.1% when applied in shellfish extract, which shows significant specificity and the reliability of this detection method.