Research Publications (Food Safety)

Okadaic acid (OA) and its analogues cause diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) in humans, and risk assessments of these toxins require toxicity equivalency factors (TEFs), which represent the relative toxicities of analogues. However, no human death by DSP toxin has been reported, and its current TEF value is based on acute lethality. To properly reflect the symptoms of DSP, such as diarrhea without death, the chronic toxicity of DSP toxins at sublethal doses should be considered.

Preparation of traditionally fermented soybeans varies across ethnicities with distinct tastes, flavour, and nutritional values. The fermented soybean varieties Hawaijar, Bekang, and Akhone of north-east India are associated with diverse ethnic groups from Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland, respectively. These varieties differ in substrate and traditional practice that exerts differential bacterial-metabolite profile, which needs an in-depth analysis i.

Wadi El Natrun is an elongated narrow depression in the Western Desert of Egypt. The depression characterized by many ancient alkaline salt lakes. These lakes are filled with water in winter and dried up in summer. Recently, some lakes become permanently dried, while others become submerged throughout the year as El Bieda Lake. El Bieda Lake has undergone ecological changes due to the prolonged extraction of minerals and the continual discharging of freshwater.

Microbiology Resource Announcements, Ahead of Print.

Abstract The marine finfish and crustaceans contribute immensely to human nutrition. Harvesting marine food‐fish to meet the global demand has become a challenge due to reduction of the fishery areas and food safety hazards associated with increased pre‐harvest and post‐harvest contaminations. The causes of low fish availability and contaminations were reviewed following the published literature from 2000 to 2023.

Staphylococcus aureus is highly pathogenic and can cause disease in both humans and domestic animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the genomic epidemiology of S. aureus isolates from raw milk in Jiangsu Province, China, to identify predominant lineages and their associated genomic and phenotypic characteristics. In this study, we identified 117 S. aureus isolates collected from 1,062 samples in Jiangsu Province between 2021 and 2022.

by Yuji Yoshida, Masanori Atsukawa, Chisa Kondo, Michika Kitamura, Kaori Shioda-Koyano, Tadamichi Kawano, Hiroki Ono, Korenobu Hayama, Tomomi Okubo, Taeang Arai, Norio Itokawa, Katsuhiko Iwakiri Although eliminating HCV can prevent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), some patients develop HCC even after obtaining sustained virologic response (SVR). Previously, we developed a new formula to predict advanced liver fibrosis.

Background The Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK-STAT) system regulates several biological processes by affecting transcription of genes as a response to cytokines and growth factors.

There is little known about the growth and survival of naturally-occurring Vibrio parahaemolyticus in harvested raw shrimps. In this study, the fate of naturally-occurring V. parahaemolyticus in post-harvest raw shrimps was investigated from 4℃ to 30℃ using real-time PCR combined with propidium monoazide (PMA-qPCR). The Baranyi-model was used to fit the growth and survival data.

Yoghurt is one of the best sources of probiotics and its importance to the human gastrointestinal system provides a perfect food matrix for transporting probiotics to the body. Unfortunately, animal milk dominates the typical commercial yoghurt; hence, the need to produce probiotic yoghurt from plant milk. This paper has outlined a new yoghurt analogue, made from a mixture of plant-based materials and analyzed their probiotic potentials, microbial assay and Antibiotic susceptibility.

The green synthesis method was used to prepare SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) from Laurus nobilis L. aqueous extract. Gelatin-based films are a promising substitute for traditional plastics due to their eco-friendliness, low cost, and pliability. However, they have some drawbacks such as high water solubility, poor opacity, and permeability to vapor. The use of synthesized SnO2 NPs can help address these concerns.

Inhibitory mechanism of Cs‐g‐Ca against S.aureus Abstract This study aimed to explore the antibacterial activity and mechanism of chitosan‐caffeic acid graft (CS‐g‐CA) against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). The minimum inhibitory concentration of CS‐g‐CA against S. aureus was assessed.

Human norovirus (HNoVs) and Salmonella are both very important foodborne pathogens with mixed infection of HNoV and Salmonella reported clinically. With the use of model organism zebrafish (Danio rerio), it was observed that the sequential infection of HNoVs and Salmonella caused lower survival rates (12.5 ± 4.2 %) than the single-pathogen infection by Salmonella (31.6 ± 7.3 %, P < 0.05) or HNoVs (no mortality observed).

Rice is the major source of arsenic (As) intake in humans, as this staple crop readily accumulates As in the grain. Identifying the genes and molecular mechanisms underlying As accumulation and tolerance is a crucial step toward developing rice with reduced As levels. We identified 25 rice genes that improve As tolerance in yeast cells by expressing a complementary DNA (cDNA) library generated from As-treated rice roots.

A large proportion (69%) of the imported foods tested in this study were contaminated with one or several mycotoxins, including zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, and aflatoxins. Their high levels in rice, walnuts, pistachios, peanuts, and coffee beans underscore the need for robust surveillance and quality assurance systems across the food supply chains, from production to retail, to effectively protect the public from mycotoxin exposure.

Bacillus cereus is important foodborne pathogen that causes food poisoning and other non-gastrointestinal infections, which could cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Phages have antibacterial potential to control this pathogen, especially antibiotic resistant ones. In this study, a novel lytic Bacillus cereus phage, vB_BceS_LY1 (LY1), a new genus of the subfamily Gutmannvirinae under Caudoviricetes, was isolated from a sewage treatment plant in China.

Background Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) is a major cause of foodborne diseases accompanied by several clinical illnesses in humans. This research aimed to isolate, identify, and combat STEC using novel alternative treatments, researchers have lately investigated using plant extract to produce nanoparticles in an environmentally acceptable way.

Milk is an important source of food, and it is also a nutrient-rich medium, which can harbor multiple microorganisms. Staphylococcus aureus is an important foodborne pathogen in food-producing animals, and there have been many reports on its infection and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which has significant global public health concerns. This study was designed to isolate, characterize, and analyze the AMR pattern of S. aureus from milk samples collected in Chennai, India.

Neonatal calves have a limited capacity to initiate immune responses due to a relatively immature adaptive immune system, which renders them susceptible to many on-farm diseases. At birth, the mucosal surfaces of the intestine are rapidly colonized by microbes in a process that promotes mucosal immunity and primes the development of the adaptive immune system.

Dried fruits are popular and nutritious snacks consumed worldwide due to their long shelf life and concentrated nutrient content. However, fruits can be contaminated with various toxigenic fungal species during different stages, including cultivation, harvesting, processing, drying, and storage. Consequently, these products may contain high levels of mycotoxins. This risk is particularly pronounced in developed countries due to the impact of climate change.

Maize is frequently contaminated with multiple mycotoxins, especially those produced by Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium verticillioides. As mycotoxin contamination is a critical factor that destabilizes global food safety, the current review provides an updated overview of the (co-)occurrence of A. flavus and F. verticillioides and (co-)contamination of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and fumonisin B1 (FB1) in maize. Furthermore, it summarizes their interactions in maize.

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) perform a huge threat to food safety and public safety. In this study, an integrated non-targeted screening strategy was developed for the screening of PSTs and their analogues exploiting the fragmentation characteristics from ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS). First, an extensible in-house PSTs compound database was developed.

Introduction Recently, the research on pig intestinal microbiota has become a hot topic in the field of animal husbandry. There are few articles describing the dynamic changes of porcine fecal microbiota and metabolites at different time points from birth to market. 

Dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS) are rich in nutrients, and partially alternative feeding of DDGS effectively reduces cost of feed and improves animals’ growth. We used 16S rDNA gene sequencing and LC/MS-based metabolomics to explore the effect of feeding cattle with a basal diet (BD) and a Jiang-flavor DDGS diet (replaces 25% concentrate of the diet) on microbiome and metabolome of ruminal and cecal contents in Guanling yellow cattle.