Research Publications (Food Safety)

Abstract The importance of food quality and safety lies in ensuring the best product quality to meet consumer demands and public health. Advanced technologies play a crucial role in minimizing the risk of foodborne illnesses, contamination, drug residue, and other potential hazards in food. Significant materials and technological advancements have been made throughout the food supply chain.

Abstract Conventional food preservation methods such as heat treatment, irradiation, chemical treatment, refrigeration, and coating have various disadvantages, like loss of food quality, nutrition, and cost‐effectiveness. Accordingly, cold plasma is one of the new technologies for food processing and has played an important role in preventing food spoilage. Specifically, in‐package cold plasma has become a modern trend to decontaminate, process, and package food simultaneously.

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.

Abstract Food quality and safety are crucial public health concerns with global significance. In recent years, a series of fluorescence detection technologies have been widely used in the detection/monitoring of food quality and safety. Due to the advantages of wide detection range, high sensitivity, convenient and fast detection, and strong specificity, quantum dot (QD)‐based fluorescent nanosensors have emerged as preferred candidates for food quality and safety analysis.

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView. Cadmium (Cd)-contaminated rice is a human food safety problem that lacks a clear solution. A large amount of rice having an excessive Cd content is processed yearly, but it cannot be discarded and placed in landfills because it will cause secondary pollution. How do we best cope with this toxic rice?

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView. Due to its rich health benefits and unique cultural charm, tea drinking is increasingly popular with the public in modern society. The safety of tea is the top priority that affects the development of tea industry and the health of consumers. During the process of tea growth, pesticides are used to prevent the invasion of pests and diseases with maintaining high quality and stable yield.

Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, EarlyView. Pesticides play an important role in increasing the overall yield and productivity of agricultural foods by controlling pests, insects, and numerous plant-related diseases. However, the overuse of pesticides has resulted in pesticide contamination of food products and water bodies, as well as disruption of ecological and environmental systems.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous in the air, oils, water, and food products we encounter every day. Among these exposures, food consumption is a major route of PAH exposure for nonsmokers. The PAH dietary exposure levels vary among different countries; however, many studies have shown PAH exposure to be highly concerning to human health.

Application of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation for the degradation of chemical contaminants in food products has gained more and more interest in the past two decades. The majority of the research in this field was on mycotoxins, especially aflatoxins and patulin, with limited studies on pesticide residues and other chemical contaminants in food.

Acrylamide is the product of the Maillard reaction, which occurs when starchy, asparagine‐rich foods including potato or grain products and coffee are fried, baked, roasted, or heated. Studies in rodents provide evidence that acrylamide is carcinogenic and a male reproductive harmful agent when administered in exceedingly high levels.

Pesticide residues in food matrices, threatening the survival and development of humanity, is one of the critical challenges worldwide. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) possess excellent properties, which include excellent adsorption capacity, tailorable shape and size, hierarchical structure, numerous surface‐active sites, high specific surface areas, high chemical stabilities, and ease of modification and functionalization.

Cooking improves digestibility, palatability, and microbiological profile of meats, but can produce compounds with carcinogenic potential, such as heterocyclic amines (HAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It has been shown that the formation of these compounds in meats can be inhibited by spiced marinades, but there is a complexity to check and compare the results of isolated studies with so many variables involved.

The presence of chemical contaminant in alcoholic beverages is a widespread and notable problem with potential implications for human health. With the complexity and wide variation in the raw materials, production processes, and contact materials involved, there are a multitude of opportunities for a diverse host of undesirable compounds to make their way into the final product—some of which may currently remain unidentified and undetected.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are food contaminants whose presence in foodstuffs is especially alarming due to their carcinogenic character. These substances are highly lipophilic and thus, unsafe levels of these compounds have been found in edible fats and oils. Efficient methodologies to determine such molecules in lipidic matrixes are therefore essential.

Infant formulas are manufactured products to meet specific nutritional requirements for infants. However, infant formulas can contain harmful substances, such as chemical contaminants and residues, normally due to possible contamination of the raw material or from the production chain. Some studies have demonstrated that veterinary drugs, pesticides, mycotoxins, heavy metals, packaging materials, within other chemicals are found in infant formulas from different sources of contamination.

Seaweed is a source of protein that can help overcome the anticipated challenges of a growing world population and the current challenges for finding alternatives for animal proteins in the Western diet. Thus far, data on the safety of seaweed for feed and food purposes in the Western world are scattered.

Surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) provides a potential solution for rapid analysis of trace compounds such as residual pesticides, naturally occurred toxicants, banned or restricted drugs, and food additives in complex food matrices. In this review, the basic principles of SERS and general approaches to successfully apply SERS in food analysis are covered from an applications perspective.

Heme iron overload has been implicated as the main cause of the increased risk of cancer due to the consumption of red meat. However, fish and shellfish, teas, and spices contain up to five times more iron than red meat. There is insufficient evidence that iron intake in dietary red meat is the primary causal factor for colorectal cancer.

Abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial compound used extensively to produce synthetic polymers, such as epoxy resins, which are incorporated into the inner coating of metal cans, and also to manufacture polycarbonates with applications in bottles, including bottles of water. Several studies have reported on the transfer of this compound to food.

Monitoring of dairy products should preferably focus on the most relevant food safety hazards in the dairy supply chain. For this purpose, the possible presence of microbiological, chemical, and physical hazards as well as trends in the dairy supply chain that may affect their presence were assessed. A literature review was combined with available data from EFSA, RASFF, and the Dutch monitoring program on chemical hazards as well as expert information.