Research Publications (Food Safety)

Wheat grains are susceptible to contamination with various natural mycotoxins including regulated and emerging mycotoxins.

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is a widespread infectious disease caused by Clostridium perfringens that inflicts major economic losses on the global poultry industry. Due to regulations on antibiotic use in poultry production, there is an urgent need for alternative strategies to mitigate the negative effects of NE.

Antimicrobials and heavy metals are commonly used in the animal feed industry. The role of in-feed antimicrobials on the evolution and persistence of resistance in enteric bacteria is not well described. Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS) is widely used for genetic characterizations of bacterial isolates, including antimicrobial resistance, heavy metal tolerance, virulence factors, and relatedness to other sequenced isolates.

The objective of this network meta-analysis was to determine the efficacy of different mycotoxin binders (MTB) to reduce aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk. A literature search was conducted to identify in vivo research papers from different databases.

Microplastics (MPs) and the heavy metal cadmium (Cd) have attracted global attention for their toxicological interactions in aquatic organisms.

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease caused by infection with the intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, posing significant economic losses to the livestock industry. As a major livestock province, little is known of the prevalence of T. gondii infection in sheep and cattle in Shanxi Province, North China.

by Justyna J. Jaskiewicz, Denise Ann E. Dayao, Donald Girouard, Derin Sevenler, Giovanni Widmer, Mehmet Toner, Saul Tzipori, Rebecca D. Sandlin Cryptosporidium hominis is a serious cause of childhood diarrhea in developing countries. The development of therapeutics is impeded by major technical roadblocks including lack of cryopreservation and simple culturing methods.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, pork remains the most consumed meat in the world. Consequently, it is very important to ensure that it is of the highest microbiological quality. Many of the pathogens that cause lymph node lesions in pigs are zoonotic agents, and the most commonly isolated bacteria are Mycobacterium spp., Streptococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus and Rhodococcus equi (synonymous with Prescottella equi).

It is significant to establish an accurate model to predict cadmium (Cd) criteria for safe wheat production. More importantly, for better evaluation of the risk of Cd pollution in high natural background areas, the soil extractable Cd criteria are needed.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are important in the phytoremediation of cadmium (Cd). Improving photosynthesis under Cd stress helps to increase crop yields. However, the molecular regulatory mechanisms of AMF on photosynthetic processes in wheat (Triticum aestivum) under Cd stress remain unclear.

by Nathan T. Taggart, Angela M. Crabtree, Jack W. Creagh, Rodolfo Bizarria Jr., Shunji Li, Ignacio de la Higuera, Jonathan E. Barnes, Mason A. Shipley, Josephine M. Boyer, Kenneth M. Stedman, F. Marty Ytreberg, Paul A. Rowley It has been 49 years since the last discovery of a new virus family in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A large-scale screen to determine the diversity of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses in S.

The classic immunoblot technique is an important tool for identification and characterization of target proteins. However, a standard protocol for this classic immunoblot assay involves many steps that may cause experimental variations in each step and make quantification of antibodies in sera difficult.

This study aims to biocontrol of Bacillus cereus by Lactobacillus planetarium in Kareish cheese and yogurts. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), antioxidant potentials, total flavonoids content (TFC) and total phenolic content (TPC) of L. planetarium were also estimated. Results showed that incidence of B. cereus in Kareish cheese and yogurt was 16 and 4%, respectively.

Fresh strawberry is a popular, frequently fruit consumed, which is largely appreciated for its organoleptic characteristics and health benefits. However, different outbreaks caused by food-borne pathogens have been attributed to strawberry consumption. The persistence of bacteria on fruits like strawberries could be related to their ability to adhere and form biofilms on the surface.

Background Listeria monocytogenes can survive in cold and wet environments, such as tree fruit packing facilities and it has been implicated in outbreaks and recalls of tree fruit products. However, little is known about microbiota that co-occurs with L. monocytogenes and its stability over seasons in tree fruit packing environments.

The objective of this paper was to study the phyto-inhibitory and antimicrobial activity of brown propolis collected from the counties of four regions in Romania. The main physico-chemical and functional properties of 16 samples of propolis from different landforms of geographical regions were determined.

The effects of milling, washing, and cooking on etofenprox, flubendiamide, and tebufenozide levels in brown and polished rice were investigated by HPLC using a UV detector.

Nowadays, pseudo-cereals’ consumption is increasing due to their health benefits as they possess an excellent nutrient profile. Whole pseudo-cereal grains are rich in a wide range of compounds, namely flavonoids, phenolic acids, fatty acids, and vitamins with known beneficial effects on human and animal health. Mycotoxins are common contaminants in cereals and by-products; however, the study of their natural occurrence in pseudo-cereals is currently scarce.

In the present study authors aimed at studying, for the first time, the control of Listeria monocytogenes in cheese by adding A511 bacteriophage into a whey protein isolate (WPI)-based coating. Antibacterial activity, bacteriophage stability as well as physicochemical properties of dip-coated cheese were evaluated. Results showed that bacteriophage remains stable in WPI-coating for a 16-d period.

Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium that is transmitted by tainted food, causes the infection listeriosis. In this study, quercetin was tested for its antibacterial properties and effectiveness as a food additive in preventing the growth of L. monocytogenes cocktail (ATCC19117, ATCC19113, and ATCC15313) biofilms on crabs and shrimps. Quercetin showed the least bactericidal activity and no discernible microbial growth at a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 250 µg/mL.

In this study, 206 breast fillets were purchased from grocery stores in the province of Quebec and evaluated for the presence of different quality defects. Of these fillets, 48.5% showed breast muscle myopathies (BMM), 19.4% showed pale, soft, and exudative (PSE), and 6.8% showed dark, firm, and dry (DFD) attributes.

The poultry industry has significant coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis (NE) challenges, leading to high mortality and unacceptable growth without antibiotic treatment.

Animal manures contain a large and diverse reservoir of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes that could potentially spillover into the general population through transfer of AMR to antibiotic-susceptible pathogens. The ability of poultry litter microbiota to transmit AMR was examined in this study.

Cadmium (Cd) is an important environmental pollutant, that causes liver damage and induces non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD is a fat accumulation disease and has significant effects on the body. Melatonin (Mel) is an endogenous protective molecule with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and anti-aging effects. However, whether Mel can alleviate Cd-induced NAFLD and its mechanism remains unclear.

by Iyacoob Khunsri, Pinidphon Prombutara, Htut Htut Htoo, Supitcha Wanvimonsuk, Thanadon Samernate, Chindanai Pornsing, Sirinit Tharntada, Phattarunda Jaree, Vorrapon Chaikeeratisak, Kunlaya Somboonwiwat, Poochit Nonejuie Propelled by global climate changes, the shrimp industry has been facing tremendous losses in production due to various disease outbreaks, particularly early mortality syndrome (EMS), a disease caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus AHPND.