Research Publications (Food Safety)

Being frequently exposed to foreign nucleic acids, bacteria and archaea have developed an ingenious adaptive defense system, called CRISPR-Cas. The system is composed of the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) array, together with CRISPR (cas)-associated genes. This system consists of a complex machinery that integrates fragments of foreign nucleic acids from viruses and mobile genetic elements (MGEs), into CRISPR arrays.

There is limited examination about COVID-19-related food handling concerns and practices that cause chemical or microbial contamination and illness, particularly among those with food insecurity. We investigated consumer food handling concerns and practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether they differed by food insecurity status. An online survey was distributed among Chicago, Illinois residents between July 15-August 21, 2020 (N=437).

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. COVID-19 has brought speculations on potential transmission routes of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causal agent of the pandemic. It is reported that the main route of virus transmission to be person-to-person by respiratory droplets; however, people have raised concerns on the possible transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans via food and packaging and its potential effects on food safety.

A group of experts from all Canadian federal food safety partners was formed to monitor the potential issues relating to SARS-CoV-2 food contamination, to gather and consider all of the relevant evidence and to determine the impact for Canadian food safety.

Federally funded school meals can help alleviate food insecurity and meals are required to be modified when medically necessary (i.e., food allergies, special diets). The COVID-19 pandemic caused many schools across the USA to close, but schools quickly modified meal serving models. The purpose of this study was to understand how school nutrition professionals were ensuring food safety and providing special diets through these modified serving models.

Journal of Food Safety, EarlyView. Abstract

In light of extended stay-at-home periods during the COVID-19 pandemic, recent societal trends have revealed an increased use of online media to remain connected. Simultaneously, interests in at-home cooking and baking, particularly of ‘comfort foods’ have increased. Since flour is a crucial component in many of these products, we analyze how the U.S. public, in social and online media space, references “flour” and its use.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the US food supply and consumer behavior. Food production and processing are being disrupted as illnesses, proactive quarantines, and government-mandated movement restrictions cause labor shortages. In this environment, the food industry has been required to adopt new, additional practices to minimize the risk of COVID-19 cases and outbreaks among its workforce.

Food products contaminated by foodborne pathogens (bacteria, parasites, and viruses) cause foodborne diseases. Today, great efforts are being allocated to the development of novel and effective agents against food pathogenic microorganisms. These efforts even might have a possible future effect in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Nanotechnology introduces a novel food packaging technology that creates and uses nanomaterials with novel physiochemical and antimicrobial properties.

Author(s): Merlyn S. Thomas, Yaohua Feng

The first wave of COVID-19 (corona virus disease 2019) hits Sri Lanka in mid-March, which led to the lockdown of the country.1 This was thought to link to changes in food availability, modes of acquisition, and food safety which could lead to worsening malnutrition and related comorbidities in Sri Lanka.2

At present, SARS-CoV-2 has not been shown to be transmitted through food, even so the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how consumers view food and food safety. This study assessed consumer food safety practices during the COVID-19 pandemic using (1) surveys and (2) online focus group discussions. From April to August 2020, five waves of surveys were distributed to an online U.S. consumer panel and screened to include only primary food preparers and grocery shoppers.

Author(s): Jan Mei Soon, Iwan Vanany, Ikarastika Rahayu Abdul Wahab, Ruhil Hayati Hamdan, Mohd Hafiz Jamaludin

Author(s): Luisa Marti, Rosa Puertas, Jose M. García-Álvarez-Coque

Although SARS-CoV-2 is not a proven foodborne pathogen, the COVID-19 pandemic has put the food system on alert. Food safety is identified as an important pillar in mitigating the crisis. Therefore, understanding how popular media are used as a vital disseminator of food safety and health information for public use is more important than ever.

Author(s): Sangha Han, Pantu Kumar Roy, Iqbal Hossain, Kye-Hwan Byun, Changsun Choi, Sang-Do Ha

Impact of COVID‐19 on food safety and security of the food supply chain. Viral icons represent the aggregate accumulation of viral particles in discreet links in the supply chain. The red arrows indicate parts of the food supply chain experience food loss and waste, which ultimately impact food and economic security. Abstract The COVID‐19 pandemic has ushered in a new era of food safety. To date, there is no evidence to suggest that consuming food is associated with COVID‐19.

Author(s): Ilija Djekic, Aleksandra Nikolić, Mirza Uzunović, Aluwé Marijke, Aijun Liu, Jiqin Han, Mladen Brnčić, Nada Knežević, Photis Papademas, Katerina Lemoniati, Franziska Witte, Nino Terjung, Maria Papageorgiou, Kyriaki G. Zinoviadou, Antonella Dalle Zotte, Erika Pellattiero, Bartosz G. Sołowiej, Raquel P.F. Guiné, Paula Correia, Alexandrina Sirbu

Author(s): K.L. Hon, K.K.Y Leung, Julian Tang, Alexander K.C. Leung, Yuguo Li

The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic dictates that anti-contagion strategies should become matters of essential routine in everyday life. Fomite transference is one of the routes of transmission that has been considered for this virus. However, the risks associated with contaminated surfaces of food packaging kept in refrigerators have not yet been adequately assessed.

by Camila Coelho, Gloria Gallo, Claudia B. Campos, Leon Hardy, Martin Würtele

Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) is an emerging swine coronavirus that causes severe diarrhea, resulting in high mortality in neonatal piglets. Despite widespread outbreaks in many countries, no effective PDCoV vaccines are currently available. Here, we generated, for the first time, a full-length infectious cDNA clone of PDCoV.

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