Farmers Markets and Food‐Borne Illness*

Objectives: Kombucha tea is becoming an increasingly popular food item within the Vancouver area. The tea is prepared through fermentation at room temperature during which acidic by-products are produced lowering the overall pH of the tea. Though the pH eventually reaches levels below 4.6, many health authorities prevent the sale of kombucha in farmers markets due to potential food safety issues. The initial pH before fermentation is around 5.5 and is then left at room temperature to ferment. As a result, this process potentially could allow for food borne illness causing organisms to survive and proliferate within the sugared tea. This research project will investigate the relationship of pH and time during fermentation at both room and refrigeration temperatures. Fermentation within a refrigerator could provide a safer alternative fermentation method Methods: The pH was measured using a pH meter for 30 samples at both room and refrigeration temperatures providing a total of 60 samples. The pH was measured periodically every twelve hours for a total of 120 hours. The data was analyzed using a linear regression model to determine if the pH change over time was statistically significant. The time at which the pH dropped below 4.6 was also noted for food safety purposes Results: At room temperature the pH steadily decreased in a linear fashion throughout the entire sampling period, dropping below 4.6 within 12 hours. The pH decreased in a nearly identical fashion when fermented in a refrigerator for the first 72 hours of sampling. After the 72 hour mark the pH stabilized at approximately 3.75, whereas the pH at room temperature continued to decrease down to 3.10 after the full sampling period Conclusion: The results indicate that kombucha tea becomes a non-potentially hazardous food within the first 12 hours of fermentation. The pH dropped below 4.6 after 12 hours at which point no food borne illness causing bacteria are able to survive and proliferate within the tea. The observed decrease in pH during the first 72 hours within a refrigerator is unlikely to have resulted from the fermentation process and therefore is not a feasible practice. Fermentation at room temperature appears to be a relatively safe process if home brewers are able to measure the pH change and carry out the process in a sanitary manner

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Rallying the Troops to Fight Food-Borne Illness

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e543792006-001 ◽

1997 ◽

Author(s):

Audrey Hingley

Keyword(s):

Food Borne ◽

Food Borne Illness

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Food-borne Illness Surveillance and Etiology of Diarrhea in Bangladesh

10.2196/preprints.10605.a ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad Afzalur Rahman ◽

M Flora ◽

M Rahman ◽

M Billah

Keyword(s):

Food Borne ◽

Food Borne Illness

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In Silico Characterization of Toxin-Antitoxin Systems in Campylobacter Isolates Recovered from Food Sources and Sporadic Human Illness

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes12010072 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 72

Author(s):

Bishoy Wadie ◽

Mohamed A. Abdel-Fattah ◽

Alshymaa Yousef ◽

Shaimaa F. Mouftah ◽

Mohamed Elhadidy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Conditions ◽

In Silico ◽

Antimicrobial Agents ◽

Food Sources ◽

Model Organisms ◽

Food Borne ◽

Food Borne Illness ◽

Human Illness ◽

Clonal Population Structure ◽

In Silico Characterization

Campylobacter spp. represents the most common cause of gastroenteritis worldwide with the potential to cause serious sequelae. The ability of Campylobacter to survive stressful environmental conditions has been directly linked with food-borne illness. Toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules play an important role as defense systems against antimicrobial agents and are considered an invaluable strategy harnessed by bacterial pathogens to survive in stressful environments. Although TA modules have been extensively studied in model organisms such as Escherichia coli K12, the TA landscape in Campylobacter remains largely unexplored. Therefore, in this study, a comprehensive in silico screen of 111 Campylobacter (90 C.jejuni and 21 C.coli) isolates recovered from different food and clinical sources was performed. We identified 10 type II TA systems belonging to four TA families predicted in Campylobacter genomes. Furthermore, there was a significant association between the clonal population structure and distribution of TA modules; more specifically, most (12/13) of the Campylobacter isolates belonging to ST-21 isolates possess HicB-HicA TA modules. Finally, we observed a high degree of shared synteny among isolates bearing certain TA systems or even coexisting pairs of TA systems. Collectively, these findings provide useful insights about the distribution of TA modules in a heterogeneous pool of Campylobacter isolates from different sources, thus developing a better understanding regarding the mechanisms by which these pathogens survive stressful environmental conditions, which will further aid in the future designing of more targeted antimicrobials.

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Food-Borne Illness: High Stakes Health Threat for Older Adults

Journal of Nutrition for the Elderly ◽

10.1080/01639360903014848 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 108-111 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Valentina M. Remig

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

High Stakes ◽

Health Threat ◽

Food Borne ◽

Food Borne Illness

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Proteome-Wide Mapping and Reverse Vaccinology Approaches to Design a Multi-Epitope Vaccine against Clostridium perfringens

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines9101079 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 1079

Author(s):

Fahad M. Aldakheel ◽

Amna Abrar ◽

Samman Munir ◽

Sehar Aslam ◽

Khaled S. Allemailem ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Molecular Docking ◽

In Silico ◽

Epitope Vaccine ◽

Ifn Gamma ◽

Cellular Immune Responses ◽

Medical Control ◽

Food Borne ◽

Food Borne Illness ◽

Cellular Immune ◽

The Brain

C. perfringens is a highly versatile bacteria of livestock and humans, causing enteritis (a common food-borne illness in humans), enterotoxaemia (in which toxins are formed in the intestine which damage and destroy organs, i.e., the brain), and gangrene (wound infection). There is no particular cure for the toxins of C. perfringens. Supportive care (medical control of pain, intravenous fluids) is the standard treatment. Therefore, a multiple-epitope vaccine (MEV) should be designed to battle against C. perfringens infection. Furthermore, the main objective of this in silico investigation is to design an MEV that targets C. perfringens. For this purpose, we selected the top three proteins that were highly antigenic using immuno-informatics approaches, including molecular docking. B-cells, IFN-gamma, and T cells for target proteins were predicted and the most conserved epitopes were selected for further investigation. For the development of the final MEV, epitopes of LBL5, CTL17, and HTL13 were linked to GPGPG, AAY, and KK linkers. The vaccine N-end was joined to an adjuvant through an EAAK linker to improve immunogenicity. After the attachment of linkers and adjuvants, the final construct was 415 amino acids. B-cell and IFN-gamma epitopes demonstrate that the model structure is enhanced for humoral and cellular immune responses. To validate the immunogenicity and safety of the final construct, various physicochemical properties, and other properties such as antigenicity and non-allergens, were evaluated. Furthermore, molecular docking was carried out for verification of vaccine compatibility with the receptor, evaluated in silico. Also, in silico cloning was employed for the verification of the proper expression and credibility of the construct.

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Evaluating the risk of contracting salmonellosis from egg yolk "parmesan" based on water activity

BCIT Environmental Public Health Journal ◽

10.47339/ephj.2020.25 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Dianna Vuu ◽

BCIT School of Health Sciences, Environmental Health ◽

Helen Heacock

Keyword(s):

Water Activity ◽

Intrinsic Factor ◽

Egg Yolk ◽

Minimum Amount ◽

P Value ◽

Food Borne ◽

Food Borne Illness ◽

Egg Yolks ◽

Time Required ◽

Treatment Step

Background: Egg yolk parmesan recipes have been gaining popularity since 2015. Most recipes include a heat treatment step which would kill egg-associated pathogens such as salmonella, however a significant number of recipes do not; resulting in a higher risk of salmonella growth and thus higher potential to cause food borne illness. Methods: Salt-curing affects an intrinsic factor called water activity (Aw). At 0.93 Aw or below salmonella is unable to grow. This study measured the minimum amount of time required for the salt curing process to inhibit the growth of salmonella. To achieve this batches of egg yolk parmesan were made using varying curing durations and then the water activity of the finished product was measured. A one sample t-test statistical analysis was conducted to determine if, with 99% confidence, the water activity of yolks cured for the chosen duration can reliably reduce water activity below 0.93. Results: The minimum amount of time required for the water activity to decrease below 0.93 was 24 hours. Results were as follows: N = 39; the p-value is 0.0000000 and the power is 1.0000000. Conclusion: This is strong evidence to suggest that large grade A chicken egg yolks cured in a 74% kosher salt and 26% white granulated sugar mixture for 24 hours at refrigeration temperature will have a water activity below 0.93. Therefore, it can be concluded that curing for 24 hours will inhibit potential salmonella growth.

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