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PubMed1997

Monitoring and assessment of dietary exposure to chemical contaminants.

The results of the Global Environment Monitoring System/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Programme (GEMS/Food) and other monitoring programmes for priority contaminants in the diet, including lead, cadmium, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticide residues and aflatoxin, are presented. These results are assessed with respect to established acceptable or tolerable intakes for these contaminants. While the assessments generally confirm the effectiveness of government efforts to prevent or reduce food contamination in industrialized countries, better exposure estimates for infants and children and other vulnerable groups should be calculated. In developing countries, little reliable information is available on the occurrence of food contamination. Without such information, the health of hundreds of millions of people may be threatened. For these countries, and especially those that employ older agricultural and industrial technologies, basic food contamination monitoring and assessment programmes should be established for at least those contaminants of priority concern. These programmes form an essential basis for developing effective intervention strategies and for efficient management of health and environment resources. In all countries, accidental and sporadic contamination is an ever present danger and continual vigilance is necessary to protect public health. All countries should identify institutions with the analytical capability to support epidemiological investigations of outbreaks of disease that may be associated with consumption of chemically contaminated food. All countries should participate in GEMS/Food to promote health-oriented, population-based monitoring at the national level.

Diet Surveys↗
PubMed2000

[Prevention of Listeria infections].

Listeriosis is a rare but very serious foodborne disease. The non-contamination of food products is the best prevention of listeriosis. In spite of notable efforts to improve the microbiologic quality of food products through surveillance and control of food contaminations, the prevention has still to be based upon the information of consumers. This information can take different forms. When a food product is found to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, if the withdrawal of this product does not occur as early as to prevent its commercialisation, a consumers alert is necessary to avoid any subsequent human case and to allow a rapid medical care of exposed persons in case of occurrence of symptoms of the disease. A specific information from health professionals to persons with risk factors of contracting listeriosis is a point of debate. Immunocompromised persons, for instance do not represent an easily defined group. On the other hand, pregnant women that are specially at risk of developing listeriosis, with potentially life threatening consequences for their foetus, represent a well identified population. They are medically monitored, and, because they feel concerned, most of them accept, during their pregnancy, to follow some simple rules that, sometimes, change their habits. At present, information is given to pregnant women by different ways: documents, leaflets, posters. The health authorities have decided to reinforce this information. They are also working on a special advisory meeting, specially targeted at foodborne diseases (including listeriosis), that could take place, for pregnant women, during the first months of their pregnancy.

Disease Notification↗
PubMed2006

Mycotoxin contamination of food in Europe: early detection and prevention strategies.

This paper reviews the early detection and prevention strategies which have been employed in Europe for the control of mycotoxin contamination of food in the context of a hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) framework. The critical control points (CCPs) in the whole food chain where mycotoxins such as trichothecenes and ochratoxins are important have been identified. Ecological studies on the effect of environmental factors which are marginal for growth and mycotoxin production have been identified for Fusarium culmorum and F. graminearum (deoxynivlenol production), and for Penicillium verrucosum and Aspergillus ochraceus (ochratoxin production) in relation to cereal production and for A. carbonarius in relation to grapes and wine production (ochratoxin formation). To minimise the entry of these mycotoxins into the food chain, effective and rapid diagnostic tools are required to monitor the CCPs effectively. To this end the potential use of molecular imprinted polymers, lateral flow devices and molecular-based techniques for the rapid detection and quantification of the mycotoxigenic moulds or their toxins have also been developed.

Aspergillus ochraceus↗
PubMed2004

Norovirus cross-contamination during food handling and interruption of virus transfer by hand antisepsis: experiments with feline calicivirus as a surrogate.

While there is good epidemiological evidence for foods as vehicles for norovirus transmission, the precise means of spread and its control remain unknown. The feline calicivirus was used as a surrogate for noroviruses to study infectious virus transfer between hands and selected types of foods and environmental surfaces. Assessment of the potential of selected topicals in interrupting such virus transfer was also made. Ten microliters of inoculum of feline calicivirus deposited onto each fingerpad of adult subjects was allowed to air dry and the contaminated area on individual fingerpads was pressed (10 s at a pressure of 0.2 to 0.4 kg/cm2) onto 1-cm-diameter disks of ham, lettuce, or brushed stainless steel. The virus remaining on the donor and that transferred to the recipient surfaces was eluted and plaque assayed. Virus transfer to clean hands from experimentally contaminated disks of ham, lettuce, and stainless steel was also tested. Nearly 46 +/- 20.3, 18 +/- 5.7, and 13 +/- 3.6% of infectious virus was transferred from contaminated fingerpads to ham, lettuce, and metal disks, respectively. In contrast, approximately 6 +/- 1.8, 14 +/- 3.5, and 7 +/- 1.9% virus transfer occurred, respectively, from ham, lettuce, and metal disks to hands. One-way analysis of variance test showed that pretreatment (washing) of the fingerpads either with water or with both topical agent and water significantly (P < 0.05) reduced virus transfer to < or = 0.9%, as compared with < or = 2.3 and < or = 3.4% transfer following treatments with either 75% (vol/vol) ethanol or a commercial hand gel containing 62% ethanol, respectively. Despite wide variations in virus transfer among the targeted items used, intervention agents tested reduced virus transfer significantly (P < 0.05) when compared with that without such treatments (71 +/- 8.9%). These findings should help in a better assessment of the potential for cross-contamination of foods during handling and also assist in developing more effective approaches to foodborne spread of norovirus infections.

Disinfection↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Characterization of high molecular weight cadmium species in contaminated vegetable food.

Spinach and radish grown from seeds were each contaminated with 4 different amounts of cadmium. After a cell breakdown of the eatable parts and centrifugation of the resulting homogenates all supernatants (cytosols) were separated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The size-range of the GPC method used was about 20-8000 kDa for globular proteins. The high molecular weight (HMW-Cd-SP, 150-700 kDa) and the low molecular weight Cd species (LMW-Cd-SP, < 150 kDa) in all plant cytosols eluted at about the same retention volume by GPC. The most important Cd binding form in the cytosols of all plants was found to be HMW-Cd-SP. The Cd elution maxima were detected in the range of about 200 kDa. The Cd determinations were performed with ET-AAS by means of matrix modifier. By incubating chosen cytosols with a proteinase before the GPC it was verified that the HMW-Cd-SP in both vegetables are Cd proteins. The molar proportions protein/Cd were about 2-6 in the respective GPC fractions of the HMW-Cd-SP of the highest contaminated plants. The GPC fractions of the HMW-Cd-SP of spinach and radish were further separated by a preparative, native and continuous polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) method. At pH 8 the species were negatively charged, had only a small UV-absorption at 280 nm and showed a very similar elution behavior in all analyzed cytosols. Therefore, we suppose that the HMW-Cd-SP of these two different vegetable foodstuffs have a very similar chemical structure.

Brassica↗
PubMed2001

Contamination of food with mycotoxins and human health.

Mycotoxins are natural contaminants of cereals and other commodities throughout the world. They are produced by various strains of moulds, particularly in tropical countries. Due to significant trade of cereals, humans in temperate countries can also be exposed to mycotoxins. The most common route of exposure to mycotoxins is ingestion, but it may also involve dermal, respiratory, and parenteral routes, the last being associated with drug abuse. Apart from acute and chronic toxic effects on human health called mycotoxicosis, some mycotoxins are proved or suspected human carcinogens. This paper describes various human diseases caused by ergot, afflatoxin, ochratoxin A, 3-nitropropionic acid, trichothecene, zearalenone, and fumonisin. It also gives a quick review of human carcinogenicity evaluations of the international Agency for Research on Cancer and of regulatory limits of mycotoxin concentrations in various commodities.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Contribution of children's activities to lead contamination of food.

This study evaluates the relationship of children's hygiene habits and food-handling behaviors on lead levels on hands and handled foods for toddlers living in lead-contaminated homes. Forty-eight inner city toddlers previously identified as having elevated blood lead levels participated in three consecutive days of designated food-handling activities. During the visits, duplicate diets were obtained, the child handled a banana, a hot dog, and had his/her hands wiped with a moist towelette. In addition, wipe samples were collected from the kitchen floor, and food items were deposited on and subsequently collected from the kitchen floor. All samples were analyzed for lead. The child's caregiver completed a questionnaire, which addressed the child's hygiene and eating behaviors. It was demonstrated that children's contact with residential dust containing lead can transfer lead to food. Both lead in the home and on the children's hands contribute to the contamination of food, and hence potential dietary exposure. Mean lead in handled bananas was 26 microg/kg and on hot dogs 65 microg/kg, and mean lead values on cheese and apple slices that had been on the floor were 119 and 215 microg/kg. In addition, the child's hygiene habits as reported by the parent indicate that lack of basic hygiene patterns within a high lead environment can contribute to children's dietary exposure to lead.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2001

Contamination of food and agro products in the Republic of Macedonia.

The Republic of Macedonia has 662,000 ha of cultivated land with well-organised agricultural production. It is a well known producer of agricultural products. From 1991 to 1999, authorized laboratories conducted systematic control of about 6,500 food samples in 1991 to 36,000 by 1999 which included a whole range of hygienic quality parameters including microbiological and chemical. Microbiological contamination of food was reported to have caused disease outbreaks in 1,578 people in 1995, which dropped to 126 people in 1999. The decreasing trend of samples unfit for human consumption was observed for all food groups. As for the chemical parameters, an increasing trend of contaminated samples was noted only for additives, with peaks reaching 6.9% in 1998 and 4.9% in 1999 of the total number of analysed samples.

Food Contamination↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Regulatory considerations of aflatoxin contamination of food in Mexico.

Aflatoxins are potent mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds produced by some strains of Aspergillus flavus, A. nomius, and A. parasiticus that are commonly present in the environment. Human populations, particularly those whose basic diet includes grains, are in risk to exposure to aflatoxins. It is thus necessary to monitor and control the contamination of food and feed by aflatoxins in both domestic and international trade. As large amounts of corn are imported into Mexico from the United States, this paper stresses the need to develop legislation and enforce standards to ensure trade of corn with the minimal amount of aflatoxin.

Aflatoxins↗
PubMed2004

Characterization of recombinant antibodies developed for capturing enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7.

Escherichia coli O157:H7, an emerging cause of food-borne disease with the occurrence of an estimated 20,000 illnesses and 250 deaths each year in the United States, has now been reported from several countries worldwide. Infections with this bacteria, which follows the ingestion of contaminated food by humans, causes bloody diarrhea, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and renal disease, that can have serious health implications. The source of food contamination is usually associated with animals, mainly cattle. Many cattle become infected early in life when they are exposed to an environment that is contaminated by other animals shedding the organisms in their feces. Detection of E. coli O157:H7 in feces or contaminated food samples requires tests with high sensitivity, which is increased by the use of monoclonal antibodies. However, the production of concentrated monoclonal antibodies in ascites raises animal welfare concerns, and can be expensive. In this study, single chain of variable fragment (scFv) molecules were developed from hybridoma clones that produce immunoglobulins specific for the LPS and flagella antigen of E. coli O157:H7 using phage display technology. The reactivity of the soluble scFv for their respective antigens was preserved in ELISA and by partial inhibition of bacterial agglutination with polyclonal antiserum. Furthermore, the scFv were able to capture E. coli O157:H7 bacteria demonstrating their potential use in diagnostic assays.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Application of hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP) to organic chemical contaminants in food.

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a systematic approach to the identification, assessment, and control of hazards that was developed as an effective alternative to conventional end-point analysis to control food safety. It has been described as the most effective means of controlling foodborne diseases, and its application to the control of microbiological hazards has been accepted internationally. By contrast, relatively little has been reported relating to the potential use of HACCP, or HACCP-like procedures, to control chemical contaminants of food. This article presents an overview of the implementation of HACCP and discusses its application to the control of organic chemical contaminants in the food chain. Although this is likely to result in many of the advantages previously identified for microbiological HACCP, that is, more effective, efficient, and economical hazard management, a number of areas are identified that require further research and development. These include: (1) a need to refine the methods of chemical contaminant identification and risk assessment employed, (2) develop more cost-effective monitoring and control methods for routine chemical contaminant surveillance of food, and (3) improve the effectiveness of process optimization for the control of chemical contaminants in food.

Consumer Product Safety↗
PubMed2000

Risk factors in causing outbreaks of food-borne illness originating in schoollunch facilities in Japan.

We reviewed records of all outbreaks of food-borne illnesses due to schoollunch in Japan from 1987 through 1996 to determine the risk factors causing these outbreaks. Major hazards in 269 outbreaks were Salmonella spp., Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Foods including uncooked or partially cooked items, salad or egg products presented a high risk in 62 outbreaks with confirmed food sources. Contaminated food items were involved in 29 incidents (46.8%); storage of foods for an extended period before serving in 29 incidents (46.8%), inadequate cooking and cross contamination in 21 incidents (33.9%) each; infected employees in nine incidents (14.5%).

Campylobacter Infections↗
PubMed2004

Overview of Listeria monocytogenes contamination in Japan.

Listeriosis is a relatively rare foodborne illness but can be life threatening with high fatality rates. In Japan, the incidence of listeriosis has been very low for the past 40 years compared with that of Western Europe and North America. We hypothesized that less Listeria monocytogenes contamination in Japanese foods would be related to the lower incidence in Japan. For this purpose, we collected data of Japanese foods contaminated with L. monocytogenes, mainly from Japanese-written reports, and reviewed them. From this review, we found that the proportion of L. monocytogenes, Listeria spp. isolation from foods in Japan is similar to those reported from other countries and that other factors might be responsible for the lower occurrence of listeriosis.

Food Contamination↗
PubMed2005

Evolution of Listeria populations in food samples undergoing enrichment culturing.

The isolation of Listeria monocytogenes from food is carried out using a double enrichment. It is believed that the double enrichment can allow the overgrowth of Listeria innocua in samples where both species are present. In this study, we have evaluated the impact of overgrowth between Listeria species and strains during each step of the enrichment process. The effect of factors minimizing interactions between strains or phage inhibitory effects has also been estimated. In an artificially contaminated food undergoing enrichment, overgrowth could result from competitive interactions between Listeria spp. resulting from the production of bacteriocins and bacteriophage at high initial contamination levels (>10(4) cfu/g), but not at lower levels (50-100 cfu/g) as generally found in contaminated foods. At high levels of inoculation, the competitive effect could be reduced by solidification of the selective broths, to limit the diffusion of the inhibitors. Overgrowth resulting from differences in growth rate occurred independent of the initial contamination level. However, in naturally contaminated foods undergoing enrichment, there were no absolute correlations between growth rates or inhibitory profiles in terms of strain evolution during enrichment. In fact, Listeria strains which were predominant in the original sample in most cases remained the dominant strains at the end of the enrichment, although the relative proportion of any given strain could change significantly over the enrichment process. Additional factors which have yet to be identified impact on the evolution of Listeria in the two-step enrichment process. Analysis of strain evolution in eight naturally contaminated foods has indicated that the second enrichment step in Fraser broth can be reduced from 48 to 24 h without impacting on the recovery of L. monocytogenes. Our limited survey of naturally contaminated foods also demonstrated that maximum recovery of L. monocytogenes and other Listeria strains was found following 24 h incubation in 1/2 Fraser Broth. This finding suggests that it may be possible to shorten the current two-step isolation method further without reducing method sensitivity.

Bacteriocins↗
PubMed2000

An outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni infections associated with food handler contamination: the use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

In 1998, an outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni infections occurred in Kansas among persons attending a school luncheon; community cases were also reported. In a cohort study of luncheon attendees, 27 (17%) of 161 persons reported illness. Consuming gravy (relative risk [RR], 4.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-11.7) or pineapple (RR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.0-5.7) was associated with illness. Both foods were prepared in a kitchen that served 6 other schools where no illness was reported. A cafeteria worker at the luncheon had a diarrheal illness and was the likely source of the outbreak. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns of the isolates from the food handler and those of 8 lunch attendees were indistinguishable. Isolates from 4 community patients differed. This was the first use of PFGE in a Campylobacter outbreak in the United States; its use was critical in determining that community cases were not linked.

Adolescent↗