Research Publications (Food Safety)

Due to the rich source of compounds, milk and dairy products are an excellent environment for the growth of many groups of microorganisms, including Staphylococcus aureus. The presence of pathogens in raw materials can threaten the dairy industry around the world.

The excessive and unreasonable use of fungicides can inevitably lead to increased residues in food and ultimately cause harm to human health. To detect the residues of 8 fungicides in agro-products from 2018-2021 in Hebei province China, the method with modified QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) by Ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectroscopy (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed.

Arsenic (As) accumulation in rice grain and subsequent transmission into the food chain is a major global concern. Numerous attempts to minimize As accumulation in rice have been researched till date. The current investigation evaluates the relative susceptibility of different growth stages of rice plant to As stress in terms of As accumulation in grain at maturity using sixty treatment combinations.

A novel charge neutralization strategy with positively charged SYBR Green I was used for the convenient detection of fumonisin B1. In the absence of the fumonisin B1, the aggregation of gold nanoparticles would appear in less than 2 min. In the presence of the fumonisin B1, the positive charge of SYBR Green I was neutralized by the negatively charged fumonisin B1. As a result, the aggregation of gold nanoparticles could not be achieved.

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence, molecular characteristics and antimicrobial susceptibility of S. aureus in raw eggs during production and sales in Yangling, Shaanxi Province, China, and assess whether enterotoxin-A-carrying strains could grow and produce enterotoxin A (SEA) in egg contents at 3 different temperatures (10, 25, and 37 °C) and culture times (1, 3, 5, and 7 days).

Introduction Black Tibetan sheep is one of the primitive sheep breeds in China that is famous for its great eating quality and nutrient value but with little attention to the relationship between feeding regimes and rumen metabolome along with its impact on the muscle metabolism and meat quality. Methods This study applies metabolomics-based analyses of muscles and 16S rDNA-based sequencing of rumen fluid to examine how feeding regimes influence the compositi

Phytoextraction is an efficient strategy for remediating heavy metal-contaminated soil. Chelators can improve the bioavailability of heavy metals and increase phytoextraction efficiency. However, traditional chelators have gradually been replaced due to secondary pollution.

The estrogenic mycotoxin zearalenone (ZEN) is a common contaminant of animal feed. Effective strategies for the inactivation of ZEN in feed are required. The ZEN-degrading enzyme zearalenone hydrolase ZenA (EC 3.1.1.-, commercial name ZENzyme®, BIOMIN Holding GmbH, Getzersdorf, Austria) converts ZEN to hydrolyzed ZEN (HZEN), thereby enabling a strong reduction in estrogenicity.

The bacterial storage compound poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a potential bio-control agent in aquaculture. It has been reported that PHB benefit to the survival and growth, and improve their immunity of aquatic animals. However, the cellular and molecular regulation mechanisms of PHB in immunity process remain unclear. This study investigated the immune mechanism of hemocytes regulated by Halomonas-PHB (PHB-HM) and PHB monomer 3-HB.

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of chitosan on the antibacterial efficacy of 405 nm LED illumination against Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes on fresh-cut melons. The antibacterial efficacy of LED illumination (a total dose of 1.3 kJ/cm2) with or without chitosan (0.5 and 1.0 %) against these three pathogens was determined at 4 and 10 °C, respectively.

Since 2019, EU limits apply to cadmium (Cd) concentrations in cacao-derived food products. The dietary risk assessment leading to that regulation used consumption surveys aggregated to a limited number of chocolate product categories and did not consider differences in Cd bioaccessibility. Here, the cacao-related dietary Cd exposure in the Belgian population was estimated with higher resolution and accounting for bioaccessibility.

Cadmium (Cd) is a persistent heavy metal that poses environmental and public health concerns. This study aimed to identify the potential biomarkers responsible for Cd tolerance and accumulation by investigating the response of the content of essential metal elements, transporter gene expression, and root exudates to Cd stress in broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum).

While developing vaccines targeting surface transferrin receptor proteins in Gram-negative pathogens of humans and food production animals, the common features derived from their evolutionary origins has provided us with insights on how improvements could be implemented in the various stages of research and vaccine development.

Contamination by pathogenic bacteria is the major cause of foodborne diseases, which is an international public health issue. Probiotics added to fermented milk can fight against these pathogens. This research aimed to evaluate, by mathematical models, the behaviour of Lactobacillus acidophilus against pathogenic strains inoculated in goat milk yogurt. The Baranyi and Roberts’ model was adjusted to data and statistically evaluated.

Honey’s antibacterial activity has been recently linked to the inhibitory effects of honey microbiota against a range of foodborne and human pathogens. In the current study, the microbial community structure of honey samples exerting pronounced antimicrobial activity was examined. The honey samples were obtained from different geographical locations in Greece and had diverse pollen origin (fir, cotton, fir–oak, and Arbutus unedo honeys).

Zoonoses and Public Health, EarlyView. As part of the measures to reduce the prevalence of Salmonella in poultry in the UK, National Control Programmes (NCPs) have been implemented.

Journal of Fish Diseases, EarlyView. Yersiniosis of cultured Atlantic salmon is a recurrent fish health management challenge in many continents. The causative organism, Yersinia ruckeri, can reside latently in the gut and lead to acute infection and disease during hatchery and sea-transfer stages. One potential prevention approach is the administration of probiotic bacteria to suppress gut colonization of Y. ruckeri.

Cronobacter sakazakii (C. sakazakii), a food-borne pathogen, can infect neonates, elderly and immunocompromised populations with a high infection and mortality rate. However, the specific molecular mechanism of its motility, biofilm formation, cell adhesion, and desiccation resistance remains unclear, and flagellum hook associated protein (FlgK), a main component of the flagellar complex, may be an important determinant of its virulence and desiccation resistance.

Large areas of farmland soil in southern China are deficient in potassium (K) and are contaminated with cadmium (Cd). Previously, we suggested that the K supplementation could reduce Cd accumulation in sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam). In the present study, we investigated the underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms.

Solanum nigrum L. (S. nigrum) and microbial agents are often used for the remediation of cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soil; however, no studies to date have examined the efficacy of using various microbial agents for enhancing the remediation efficiency of Cd-contaminated soil by S. nigrum.

Clostridium botulinum is the main causative agent of botulism, a neurological disease encountered in humans as well as animals. Nine types of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) have been described so far. Amongst these “toxinotypes,” the A, the B and E are the most frequently encountered in humans while the C, D, C/D and D/C are mostly affecting domestic and wild birds as well as cattle. In France for instance, many cases and outbreaks are reported in these animal species every year.

Campylobacter is regarded as the leading cause of zoonotic diseases and Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) is one of the predominant pathogenic species. To track C. jejuni infections, various genotyping methods have been used. In this study, amplified intergenic locus polymorphism (AILP) was used to type C. jejuni for the first time.

The performance of dishwashers in removing live viruses is an important informative value in practical applications. Since foodborne viruses are present in contaminated food surfaces and water environments. Insufficient washing of dishes typically makes a carrier of foodborne viruses. Dishwashers have shown excellent performance in removing bacterial pathogens, but very limited reports related to eliminate foodborne viruses on contaminated dish surfaces.

Microbiology Resource Announcements, Ahead of Print. Vibrio natriegens strain PWH3a, isolated from the Texas Gulf Coast, is used as a model organism in marine microbiology. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of strain PWH3a, which has two circular chromosomes, 4,650 coding sequences, 34 rRNA, 4 noncoding RNA (ncRNA), 131 tRNA genes, and one Mu-like prophage sequence.

Microbiology Resource Announcements, Ahead of Print. We report the circularized complete genome sequences, containing a circular chromosome and two circular plasmids, of strains SalSpp05 (4.9 Mbp) and SalSpp10 (4.8 Mbp), which were isolated from chicken carcass rinse water samples; the sequences were obtained by combining Oxford Nanopore Technologies long-read data and Illumina short-read data. Whole-genome alignments indicated that both strains belong to Salmonella enterica.