Research Publications (Food Safety)

Salmonella enterica  has been increasingly implicated in foodborne outbreaks involving low moisture foods (LMF) during the recent decade. This study aimed to investigate the potential for persistence of  Salmonella enterica  in a range of low moisture foods (LMF) during storage at 3 temperatures.

Cheese made with unpasteurised milk has been associated with outbreaks of illness. However, there are limited data on the prevalence of shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) in these products, and a lack of clarity over the significance of E. coli as general indicators of hygiene in raw milk cheeses. The aim of this study was to provide further data to address both of these issues as well as assessing the overall microbiological quality of raw milk cheeses available to consumers in England.

Salmonella , a major foodborne pathogen, causes severe gastrointestinal disease in people and animals worldwide. Plasmid-borne mcr-1 , which confers colistin resistance in Salmonella, has significant epidemiological interest for public health safety.

As incidence of foodborne infection is more prevalent among cancer patients, and the domestic kitchen reported to be a contributor to foodborne infection; there is a need to ensure appropriate domestic food safety practices to safeguard this ‘at-risk’ population.

Production of value-added foods is of growing interest to small-scale produce growers. However, previous studies reported that they lack sufficient food safety awareness and have limited knowledge of applicable food safety regulations. Targeted food safety education can help to address these challenges.

The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of the milling degree (MD) of Oryza sativa L. (Korean rice) on the heating rate, pathogen inactivation (Salmonella Typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus), and color change resulting from radio-frequency (RF) heating. Rice samples inoculated with pathogens were placed in a polypropylene jar and subjected to RF heating for 0-75 s.

Salmonella contamination in a dry processing facility frequently requires removal methods that are non-aqueous. Removal of pathogens from food processing systems with a purge of uncontaminated dry food materials has been proposed, however, little is known with the respect to efficacy. In this study, survival of Salmonella on inert contact surfaces and transfer of Salmonella from inert contact surfaces to low-moisture foods was evaluated.

Cold smoked salmon is a ready-to-eat seafood product of high commercial importance. The processing and storage steps facilitate the introduction, growth and persistence of foodborne pathogens and spoilage bacteria. The growth of commensal bacteria during storage and once the product is opened also influence the quality and safety of cold smoked salmon.

Combined steam-ultrasound process was investigated for decontamination of freshly slaughtered broilers. Combined steam-ultrasound was delivered simultaneously through specially designed nozzles. The nozzles were installed inside of a constructed machine that allowed for continuous processing.

Black yeasts can survive extreme conditions in food production owing to their polyextremotolerant character. However, significant strain-to-strain variation in black yeast thermoresistance has been observed. In this study, we assessed the variability in tolerance to nonthermal interventions among a collection of food-related black yeast strains. Variation in tolerance to UV light treatment, high pressure processing, sanitizers, and osmotic pressure was observed within each species.

This manuscript reviews 18 years of voluntary recalls for commercially sold tuna in the United States. This recall information is a valuable indicator of the failure to implement procedures for food safety. The voluntary recalls involve fresh, frozen, processed, hermetically sealed and retorted in a shelf stable pack (i.e., canned tuna), and formulated into other tuna products.

Escherichia albertii  is an emerging foodborne pathogen. Owing to its distribution in river water,  it is important to determine the presence of  E. albertii  in aquaculture-related foods. In this study, we investigated the distribution of  E. albertii  in retail oyster samples.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), used as a surfactant in consumer and industrial products, is frequently found in biosolids from wastewater treatment plants. When present in biosolids applied to croplands, PFOA has potential to contaminate feed and fodder used by livestock, but the extent of PFOA transfer from soil to plants is not well characterized. A single dose of [ 14 C]-PFOA was applied to unplanted soil or soil containing growing alfalfa.

Many food safety issues have occurred in Taiwan during the past decade. Therefore, in 2016, the Taiwan government proposed the “Five rings of food safety” policy to comprehensively protect consumer food supply. Among these policies, the “4-labels-1-Q” approach was adopted to ensure the selection of “retrospective foods” with traceable labels.

Salmonella spp. is one of the primary pathogens that cause foodborne diseases worldwide. In the present study, we deeply characterized Salmonella spp. originated from foods related to human salmonellosis outbreaks in Minas Gerais – Brazil, from 2003 to 2017. In this regard, the serotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility, virulence genes and genetic polymorphism determined by rep-PCR were performed in 70 Salmonella spp. isolates. Thirteen serotypes of Salmonella spp. were identified, and S.

The presence of pesticide residues in fruit has been of extensive concern worldwide. In this paper, pesticide residues in litchi samples in China and their dietary exposure risks were evaluated. Fifty-seven pesticides in 150 litchi samples were measured by GC and UPLC/MS-MS. Seventeen different pesticides were detected and 70.7% of samples contained one or more pesticide residues.

The aim of this study was to assess the presence and antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the molecularly serogrouped Listeria monocytogenes isolates in different animal origin food products, collected from a county situated in the historical region of Transylvania, Central Romania. A total of 7.7% (17/221) of the screened samples were positive for L.

Recent apple-related recall and outbreak events have exposed a need for better food safety controls along the supply chain. Following harvest apples can be stored under a controlled atmosphere for up to one year after harvest before packing and distribution, making the crop susceptible to many opportunities for contamination that increase the quantity of postharvest losses. Botrytis cinerea (BC) and Penicillium expansum (PE) cause significant rot-associated losses to the apple industry.

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.

Animals (grazing, working, or intrusion) in produce production areas may present a potential contamination source of foodborne pathogens on produce. Cattle grazing on native pecan production orchards, a common practice in the Southern United States, provides a great opportunity to study the impact of grazing practice and waiting periods on contamination rates of foodborne pathogens of tree nuts. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of Salmonella spp.

Several outbreaks of shigatoxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in the past decade linked to flour and flour-associated products have raised concerns that the consumption of raw flour represents a public health risk as a vehicle for foodborne pathogens. The extent to which consumers know and understand they should not consume raw flour is unclear. In the fall of 2019, the U.S.

A mixed culture of different isolates of Salmonella serovar I 4,[5], 12:i:- was compared to a mixed culture of reference Salmonella serovars as well as non-pathogenic Escherichia coli surrogates.. The two groups of Salmonella were compared for their resistance to commonly used pork carcass interventions, survival in ground pork and thermal resistance in ground pork.

The process of washing tomatoes in dump (flume) tanks has been identified as a potential source of cross-contamination.

The present study was conducted to reveal the concentrations and patterns of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in seven species of freshwater aquatic products ( procambarus clarkii, ctenopharyngodon idellus, parabramis pekinensis, hypophthalmichthys molitrix, cyprinus carpioio, aristichthys nobilis, carassius auratus ) collected from freshwater aquaculture farms around Changsha, China.

The increasing demand for slipper oyster ( Crassostrea iredalei ) has propelled farmers to expand oyster cultivation areas in the Philippines, chiefly for local consumption and feasibly for export overseas. Being filter feeders, oysters can accumulate pathogens from their surrounding waters, which can cause foodborne diseases once consumed. Monitoring oyster farming areas for microbiological quality and levels of heavy metals is therefore crucial.