scholarly journals The concerning food safety issue of pyrrolizidine alkaloids: An overview

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Casado ◽  
Sonia Morante-Zarcero ◽  
Isabel Sierra
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids ◽  
Safety Issue

scholarly journals Occurrence of Chemical Contaminants in Peruvian Produce: A Food-Safety Perspective

Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1461
Author(s):  
Oscar A. Galagarza ◽  
Alejandra Ramirez-Hernandez ◽  
Haley F. Oliver ◽  
Mariel V. Álvarez Rodríguez ◽  
María del Carmen Valdez Ortiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Mining Activities ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
Chemical Contaminants ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
Andean Country

The presence of chemical contaminants in agricultural products is a continued food-safety challenge in Peru. This country has robust agriculture potential, but its output of fruits and vegetables is severely impacted by massive mining activities, as well as poor farming practices, including the use of polluted irrigation water, misuse of pesticides, and inadequate postharvest conditions. This review examines the current scientific knowledge on the levels of pesticide residues, heavy metals, and mycotoxins on crops produced in Peru. The available data shows that several crop varieties are contaminated with these classes of chemical contaminants, and at levels that exceed the national and international permissible limits. The abundance of chemical contaminants in produce indicates a relevant food-safety issue, which increases the risks of chronic human diseases, like cancer—a leading cause of death in Peru. Finally, this review presents recommendations to address these contamination problems in produce grown in the Andean country.

Risk Ranking: Investigating Expert and Public Differences in Evaluating Food Safety Hazards

2010 ◽  
Vol 73 (10) ◽  
pp. 1875-1885 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEVIN WEBSTER ◽  
CINDY JARDINE ◽  
SEAN B. CASH ◽  
LYNN M. MCMULLEN
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Personal Control ◽  
Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathy ◽  
Shellfish Poisoning ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Risk Ranking

The allocation of resources with respect to food safety issues requires that decision makers prioritize these issues, which may conflict with the public's opinions on these matters. The purpose of this study was to compare how Canadian expert and lay respondents rank different food hazards, with a view to better understanding their underlying rationales for making decisions on food safety. A Carnegie Mellon risk ranking model was adapted for use by individuals with different backgrounds to rank six food safety issues: bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, botulism, paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), and acrylamide. Focus groups were conducted using public (n = 29) and expert (n = 21) participants. Key themes were identified from the focus groups as reasons why issues were rated high or low. The most common themes for high rankings were prevalence (of an agent) and/or severity (of a disease) and knowledge and control of a food safety issue. For the lowest rankings, common themes included low prevalence and severity and personal control over an issue. Explanations for why choices were made included availability, affect, numeracy, and optimistic bias. The majority of the rationales used by all participants were similar with the exception of the high ranking given to acrylamide by the public participants. The effect of attribute framing seemed to be the most influential in a participant's choices. Understanding that comparable reasoning is used in food safety decisions by both experts and the public has important implications for developing productive risk communication dialogues about issues and priorities.

scholarly journals Antibiotic sensitivity and resistant pattern of bacteria isolated from table eggs of commercial layers considering food safety issue

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahfuzul Islam ◽  
Mirza Synthia Sabrin ◽  
Md Hazzaz Bin Kabir ◽  
Md Aftabuzzaman
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Antibiotic Sensitivity ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Resistant Bacteria ◽  
Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus ◽  
Biochemical Tests ◽  
Salmonella Spp ◽  
Pseudomonas Spp ◽  
Coagulase Positive Staphylococcus

The present study was carried out during the period of June 2016 to June 2017 to evaluate the antibiotic sensitivity and resistant pattern of bacteria isolated from table eggs of commercial layers considering food safety issue. A total of 200 egg samples (100 for egg shell surface and 100 for egg content) were collected from different retail markets of Dhaka city in sterile polythene bags in a view to prevent extraneous contamination and transported to the laboratory immediate after collection using icebox. The samples were inoculated onto nutrient broth and nutrient agar plates aerobically at 37°Cfor isolation. The isolated organisms were identified based on staining, motility, colony morphology and biochemical tests. The isolated bacteria were also subjected to characterize their antibiotic sensitivity. About 74% egg samples (148 out of 200 samples) were positive for microbial contamination. Among them 100 (100 %) samples had their shells contaminated with microbes of different genera; however, only 48 (48%) growths were observed from the egg contents. The major contaminants are Escherichia coli (34.64%), Coagulase positive Staphylococcus (24.29%), Salmonella spp. (20.71%) followed by Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (10%), Pseudomonas spp. (6.43%) and Bacillus spp. (3.93%). The isolated bacteria E. coli, Coagulase positive Staphylococcus, Salmonella spp. and Pseudomonas spp. showed their greatest sensitivity against ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone and azithromycin whereas resistant against tetracycline, amoxicillin and ampicillin. There is potential for these antibiotic-resistant bacteria to be transferred to humans through contaminated eggs and are of public health concern from food safety point of view. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. December 2018, 4(4): 323-329

Is Acrylamide really a food safety issue?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Dal Castel Krein ◽  
Rafaela Julyana Barboza Devos ◽  
Luciane Maria Colla ◽  
Christian Oliveira Reinehr
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Healthy Food ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Safety Problem

Purpose Acrylamide is a compound found in several food products. Due to the toxicity of this compound, research also seeks strategies to modify industrial and homemade processes, impacting on the reduction of the compound. This paper aims to discuss the aspects surrounding the presence of acrylamide in foods. Design/methodology/approach Published literature on the presence of acrylamide in foods and on its effects has been reviewed. This paper explores the importance of this compound, summarizes the knowledge of its formation and gathers data on its incidence in food and the possibilities of mitigation. Special attention is given to an evaluation of the toxicological tests applied, to analyze whether acrylamide can be considered as a food safety problem. Findings Human exposure to food with high levels of acrylamide varies in their levels regarding the consumption of food in the diet and not only by the level of the compound present in them. Although the compound is well defined as toxic to humans, the association between its intake and most common cancers may not be directly related. Originality/value Depending on the approach of the researchers, contradictory results are obtained, showing the importance of this topic to the development of healthy food products. Further research is still needed to validate the potential effects of acrylamide on human health.

Nitrite-cured meat. A food safety issue in perspective

Meat Science ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-386
Author(s):  
Peter Zeuthen
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Cured Meat

Food safety and the consumer – perils of poor risk communication

2000 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Powell
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Risk Communication ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Agricultural Biotechnology ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Surveillance Systems

The potential for stigmatisation of food is enormous. Well-publicised outbreaks of foodborne pathogens and the furore over agricultural biotechnology are but two current examples of the interactions between science, policy and public perception. Current risk management research indicates that it is essential for risk managers to show that they are reducing, mitigating or minimising a particular risk. Those responsible must be able to effectively communicate their efforts and must be able to prove they are actually reducing levels of risk.The components for managing the stigma associated with any food safety issue involve the following factors:• effective and rapid surveillance systems;• effective communication about the nature of risk;• a credible, open and responsive regulatory system;• demonstrable efforts to reduce levels of uncertainty and risk; and,• evidence that actions match words.Appropriate risk management strategies, such as on-farm food safety programs, are essential to demonstrate to consumers and others in the farm-to-fork supply chain that producers and regulators are cognisant of their concerns about food safety. Key words: Agricultural biotechnology, microbial food safety, genetically engineered food, risk perception, risk communication, risk management

scholarly journals Staphylococcus aureus Growth Boundaries: Moving towards Mechanistic Predictive Models Based on Solute-Specific Effects

2002 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 1864-1871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia M. Stewart ◽  
Martin B. Cole ◽  
J. David Legan ◽  
Louise Slade ◽  
Mark H. Vandeven ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Toxin Production ◽  
Survival Models ◽  
Potassium Sorbate ◽  
Growth Responses ◽  
Growth Interface ◽  
Ph Values

ABSTRACT The formulation of shelf-stable intermediate-moisture products is a critical food safety issue. Therefore, knowing the precise boundary for the growth-no-growth interface of Staphylococcus aureus is necessary for food safety risk assessment. This study was designed to examine the effects of various humectants and to produce growth boundary models as tools for risk assessment. The molecular mobility and the effects of various physical properties of humectants, such as their glass transition temperatures, their membrane permeability, and their ionic and nonionic properties, on S. aureus growth were investigated. The effects of relative humidity (RH; 84 to 95%, adjusted by sucrose plus fructose, glycerol, or NaCl), initial pH (4.5 to 7.0, adjusted by HCl), and potassium sorbate concentration (0 or 1,000 ppm) on the growth of S. aureus were determined. Growth was monitored by turbidity over a 24-week period. Toxin production was determined by enterotoxin assay. The 1,792 data points generated were analyzed by LIFEREG procedures (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, N.C.), which showed that all parameters studied significantly affected the growth responses of S. aureus. Differences were observed in the growth-no-growth boundary when different humectants were used to achieve the desired RH values in both the absence and the presence of potassium sorbate. Sucrose plus fructose was most inhibitory at neutral pH values, while NaCl was most inhibitory at low pH values. The addition of potassium sorbate greatly increased the no-growth regions, particularly when pH was <6.0. Published kinetic growth and survival models were compared with boundary models developed in this work. The effects of solutes and differences in modeling approaches are discussed.

scholarly journals Consumers' Awareness and Trust Toward Food Safety News on Social Media in Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAN MEI SOON
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Safety Information ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Content Creation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Willingness To Purchase ◽  
Total Agreement

ABSTRACT Social media offers numerous advantages for personal users and organizations to communicate, socialize, and market their products. When used correctly, social media is an effective tool to communicate and to share food safety news and good practices. However, there have been reports of fake food safety news shared via social media, fueling panic and resulting in a loss of revenue. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the consumers' awareness, trust, and usage of social media in communicating food safety news in Malaysia. A questionnaire divided into five sections—(i) demographics, (ii) reaction to food safety news, (iii) consumers' awareness, (iv) social media truth and level of trust, and (v) social media uses and content creation—was created and shared online. A total of 341 questionnaires were returned of which 339 surveys were valid. This study revealed that less than one-third of the study group (27.1%) knew which of the food safety news were fake. Most respondents (67.8%) were less likely to purchase the affected foods if the foods were featured in social media as problematic, although no differences were made between true and fake news and how that would influence respondents' willingness to purchase affected foods. Overall, 62% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed about the usage of social media and its ability to prevent food poisoning cases, while more than 50% of the respondents were in total agreement that social media allow consumers to act more responsibly by sharing food safety news. Respondents tended to trust information shared by scientists (67.5%) and family members and friends (33%). Respondents would most often share the news after verifying its authenticity (46%). If respondents experienced a personal food safety issue (e.g., discovered a fly in their meal), they seldom or never took photos to post online (56.1%). It is possible that the respondents preferred to inform the food handlers and/or shop owners about the affected products rather than post the photos online. It is suggested that targeted food safety information and media literacy be provided to improve consumers' awareness and to positively influence self-verification of the food safety information before sharing. This study provides crucial insights for a range of stakeholders, particularly public authorities, food bloggers, and the public, in using social media effectively to build consumers' awareness and trust in food safety information. HIGHLIGHTS

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