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PubMed1985

The mycotoxicological chain and contamination of food by ochratoxin A in the nephropathic and non-nephropathic areas in Yugoslavia.

Research was carried out on the distribution of moulds on cereals in vegetation and in storerooms in the period from 1974 to 1981 and on ochratoxin (OA) in stored maize and wheat as well as residues of OA in the organs of swine in the nephropathic and non-nephropathic areas in the SR of Croatia, Yugoslavia. It was shown that moulds belonging to toxogenic species contaminate cereals in vegetation to an approximately equal degree in both areas (Penicillium 6.6-20.0%, Aspergillus 2.5-6.6% and Fusarium 80-100%). Stored cereals were contaminated by species of Penicillium 75-82.8%, Aspergillus 2.5-27.1% and Fusarium 57.1-82.5%, with a somewhat higher degree of contamination in the nephropathic area. Ochratoxin A occurs on cereals on the whole territory of the SR of Croatia, but average concentrations are higher in the nephropathic area (45% of the positive findings of OA were over 2 mg/kg). Residues of OA in the kidneys (16-77 micrograms/kg), liver (0-21 micrograms/kg) and blood (36-77 micrograms/l) were detected in 38 organs taken from swine in the nephropathic area, but this toxin was not found in the 6 samples taken from the non-nephropathic area. In the same organs histopathological changes were found in the kidneys (interstitial nephritis with parenchymal degeneration of the distal parts of the tubular epithel) and liver (interstitial hepatitis with fatty degeneration of the liver).

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2002

External and internal dose in subjects occupationally exposed to ochratoxin A.

OBJECTIVES: Ochratoxin A (OA) is a ubiquitous mycotoxin that can contaminate foods, drinks, and animal feeds worldwide. Humans and animals can therefore absorb this toxin via the gastrointestinal tract after ingestion of contaminated products. OA is known to exert toxic effects, particularly on the renal system, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified it as a "possible human carcinogen" (Group 2B). The measurement of OA serum levels is an effective method of evaluating internal doses. Inhalation of airborne OA can represent a source of additional exposure. We determined the levels of serum OA in workers exposed to airborne dust originating from the handling or processing of contaminated foods. METHODS: We carried out area and personal sampling for airborne OA determination in three industries where coffee, cocoa beans, and spices, foods highly susceptible to contamination, were being processed. OA levels in the serum of six healthy workers employed in these factories were measured in samples collected at the end of the work shift. RESULTS: Airborne OA measured in the three industries, both by personal and area sampling, ranged from < 0.003 to 8.15 ng/m(3), while the levels measured in the breathing zone of the six workers who agreed to biological monitoring varied from 0.006 to 0.087 ng/m(3). OA serum levels ranged from 0.94 to 3.28 ng/ml, the latter values rather largely exceeding those of the control group (0.03 to 0.95 ng/ml). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that occupational exposure to this mycotoxin may represent a health risk for workers, especially if preventive and protection measures are not adopted in the workplaces. Airborne exposure levels can result in an increase of OA levels in serum, and this finding suggest that environmental and biological monitoring should be undertaken in workplaces where OA-contaminated products are handled or processed.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Contaminants in food: analytical problems and achievements.

In evaluating the toxicological significance of such contaminants as trace metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, mycotoxins, pesticides and nitrosamines, analytical chemistry plays an important role. The detection and identification of these in various foods at the mg/kg or mug/kg levels has posed some difficult analytical problems. Considerable progress has been made in this field in the past decade, however, an opportunity is taken to review the achievements in terms of specificity and sensitivity for each class of contaminant.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1989

[Early detection of environmental chemicals in food by means of specific substance criteria].

In an approach to selecting potential food contaminants by means of specific substance criteria we came up with a list of 68 chemicals. Among them, we found chemicals which are already well known as food contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and chloroaromatic compounds. So far, other chemicals have not been mentioned as food contaminants. During a project called "Information System for Environmental Chemicals" we conducted, for these 68 chemicals, an intensive literature search in databases for their occurrence in food. The results are stored in our factual databank named "LEBKON" and are graphically described in profiles. For 44 of the chemicals, we found information for their detection in food or in drinking water. We plan to analyse the remaining substances for which no data have been found in the literature. We placed emphasis on the toxicological properties and the production volume of the substances in question. This approach should represent a contribution to the question of monitoring systems oriented by the consumer and monitoring systems oriented by cause.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Comparative studies of food product contamination with carcinogenic aromatic polycyclic hydrocarbons (APH) in the USSR and the GDR (defining the problem)].

The article is the first in a series of joint publications relating to work carried out in the USSR and GDR in studying possible carcinogenicity of alimentary products and pertinent preventive measures to exclude it. It contains brief information on the effect produced by carcinogenic additives in nutritional products upon the cancer involving the gastro-intestinal tract (in workers of meat packing plants and smokehouses). Under discussion is the relation between the disease-incidence and nutritional specificity. Major sources of possible carcinogenicity of alimentary products, such as additions of some dyestuffs, admixtures of some natural substances (cycsdine, thiourea, etc), contaminations of biological origin, with mycotoxins, carcinogens finding their way from the environment and, what is most important caused by specific technology of manufacturing the nutritional product (smoking, direct drying, frying, etc) are considered. The significance of carcinogenic PAH and benzpyrene, nitrose-amines and mycotoxins is discussed. The possibility and the need for determining carcinogenic compounds, of PAH above all, and their technical limitations in alimentary products with a view of preventing cancer of the gastro-intestinal tract are considered.

Benzopyrenes↗
PubMed2006

Estimation of microbial contamination of food from prevalence and concentration data: application to Listeria monocytogenes in fresh vegetables.

A normal distribution and a mixture model of two normal distributions in a Bayesian approach using prevalence and concentration data were used to establish the distribution of contamination of the food-borne pathogenic bacteria Listeria monocytogenes in unprocessed and minimally processed fresh vegetables. A total of 165 prevalence studies, including 15 studies with concentration data, were taken from the scientific literature and from technical reports and used for statistical analysis. The predicted mean of the normal distribution of the logarithms of viable L. monocytogenes per gram of fresh vegetables was -2.63 log viable L. monocytogenes organisms/g, and its standard deviation was 1.48 log viable L. monocytogenes organisms/g. These values were determined by considering one contaminated sample in prevalence studies in which samples are in fact negative. This deliberate overestimation is necessary to complete calculations. With the mixture model, the predicted mean of the distribution of the logarithm of viable L. monocytogenes per gram of fresh vegetables was -3.38 log viable L. monocytogenes organisms/g and its standard deviation was 1.46 log viable L. monocytogenes organisms/g. The probabilities of fresh unprocessed and minimally processed vegetables being contaminated with concentrations higher than 1, 2, and 3 log viable L. monocytogenes organisms/g were 1.44, 0.63, and 0.17%, respectively. Introducing a sensitivity rate of 80 or 95% in the mixture model had a small effect on the estimation of the contamination. In contrast, introducing a low sensitivity rate (40%) resulted in marked differences, especially for high percentiles. There was a significantly lower estimation of contamination in the papers and reports of 2000 to 2005 than in those of 1988 to 1999 and a lower estimation of contamination of leafy salads than that of sprouts and other vegetables. The interest of the mixture model for the estimation of microbial contamination is discussed.

Bayes Theorem↗
PubMed1985

[The global problem of foodborne infections and intoxications].

Contaminated food is the cause of serious health problems in both developed and developing countries. It is one of the main etiological factors of malnutrition in developing countries due to its role in the causation of diarrhoea. Frequently foodborne, diarrhoea kills about 5 million children per year in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Although the mortality rates of foodborne disease are negligible in industrialized countries, some experts believe that these diseases rank second only to respiratory diseases in morbidity. An Expert Committee convened by WHO and FAO in 1983 concluded that illness due to contaminated food is perhaps the most widespread health problem in the contemporary world and a significant cause of reduced economic productivity. In 1977, the World Health Assembly adopted "Health for All by the Year 2000" as the official goal of all Member States of the Organization. An international conference held in 1978 in Alma-Ata, USSR, defined how this goal could be achieved through Primary Health Care (PHC). One of the essential elements of PHC is the qualitative and quantitative improvement of food supply. Improvements in food quality refer not only to nutritional aspects but also to raised hygienic quality and only if attention is given to both these factors will the prevention of foodborne diseases be possible. Some of WHO's efforts to improve food safety as a means preventing foodborne diseases are discussed in this paper.

Developing Countries↗
PubMed2006

Ten-year surveillance of fungal contamination of food within a protected haematological unit.

Since 1992, we have established a protocol of food management (restrictive diet, food distribution protocol and fungal surveillance) for allogeneic stem-cell transplant (SCT) recipients hospitalised in protected ward. This study analyses the results of 10-year surveillance of fungal contamination of this diet. Among the 456 types of foods tested filamentous fungi were isolated in 37 of them (8.1%). Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated in one type of food only, while the majority of the food was contaminated to a lower extent.

Aspergillus↗
PubMed1996

The incidence and level of Listeria monocytogenes contamination of food sources at primary production and initial processing.

Listeria monocytogenes was isolated in low numbers from a variety of environmental samples associated with the primary production of food, including vegetation, faeces and meat. The organism was rarely detected on growing grass and vegetables prior to processing. The excretion of L. monocytogenes by farm animals was linked to their diet, with animals fed entirely on hay or manufactured diets not excreting detectable levels of Listeria (i.e. absence in 25 g). However, animals fed on silage, which is frequently contaminated with L. monocytogenes, commonly excreted the organism. Transport of live animals over long distances (> 100 km) significantly increased the level of excretion of Listeria, but the contamination of carcasses of sheep and cattle was not high. Pigs and poultry faeces were free of Listeria prior to slaughter and pig carcasses were not found to have Listeria present. Frozen and chilled chicken did show detectable levels reflecting the greater potential for contamination during poultry processing. Samples of minced beef were tested and 21 of 23 samples were positive for L. monocytogenes, demonstrating that processing significantly increases the level of contamination compared to whole carcasses. Multilocus enzyme electrophoresis of a representative selection of the isolates showed that there was a wide range of electrophoretic types present in the primary production environment, relatively few of which have been linked to cases of human listeriosis. However, these types do arise on farms and occasional contamination of food raw material by potentially virulent strains may be sufficient to allow adaptable strains to become established in the processing environment and thus be responsible for more widespread contamination of the food available to the consumer.

Abattoirs↗
PubMed1990

[Radioactivity and food].

Two topics relating to radioactivity and food are discussed: food irradiation for preservation purposes, and food contamination from radioactive substances. Food irradiation involves the use of electromagnetic energy (x and gamma rays) emitted by radioactive substances or produced by machine in order to destroy the insects and microorganisms present and prevent germination. The sanitary and economic advantages of treating food in this way are discussed. Numerous studies have confirmed that under strictly controlled conditions no undesirable changes take place in food that has been irradiated nor is radioactivity induced. Reference is made to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, which aroused public concern about irradiated food. The events surrounding the accident are reviewed, and its consequences with regard to contamination of different foods with radioactive substances, particularly iodine-131 and cesium-137, are described. Also discussed are the steps that have been taken by different international organizations to set limits on acceptable radioactivity in food.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Transformation of Escherichia coli K-12 with a high-copy plasmid encoding the green fluorescent protein reduces growth: implications for predictive microbiology.

The green fluorescent protein (GFP) of the jellyfish Aequorea victoria has been widely used as a biomarker and has potential for use in developing predictive models for growth of pathogens on naturally contaminated food. However, constitutive production of GFP can reduce growth of transformed strains. Consequently, a high-copy plasmid with gfp under the control of a tetracycline-inducible promoter (pTGP) was constructed. The plasmid was first introduced into a tetracycline-resistant strain of Escherichia coli K-12 to propagate it for subsequent transformation of tetracycline-resistant strains of Salmonella. In contrast to transformed E. coli K-12, which only fluoresced in response to tetracycline, transformed Salmonella fluoresced maximally without tetracycline induction of gfp. Although pTGP did not function as intended in Salmonella, growth of parent and GFP E. coli K-12 was compared to test the hypothesis that induction of GFP production reduced growth. Although GFP production was not induced during growth on sterile chicken in the absence of tetracycline, maximum specific growth rate (mumax) of GFP E. coli K-12 was reduced 40 to 50% (P < 0.05) at 10, 25, and 40 degrees C compared with the parent strain. When growth of parent and GFP strains of E. coli K-12 was compared in sterile broth at 40 degrees C, mumax and maximum population density of the GFP strain were reduced (P < 0.05) to the same extent (50 to 60%) in the absence and presence of tetracycline. These results indicated that transformation reduced growth of E. coli K-12 independent of gfp induction. Thus, use of a low-copy plasmid or insertion of gfp into the chromosome may be required to construct valid strains for development of predictive models for growth of pathogens on naturally contaminated food.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Health behavior, perceptions, practices, and decision making: sub-national and socio-demographic differentials in Bangladesh, 1995.

The study examines health behavior, perceptions, practices, and decision making using data from the 1995 Health and Demographic Survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Knowledge about causes of diarrhea and food contamination were higher than knowledge about causes of nightblindness and worm infestation but this knowledge is inadequate. The household's economic condition and the respondent's education were found to be positively associated with disease knowledge and food contamination; the same is also true for health behavior and practices. Sub-national variation in disease knowledge and food contamination exists but did not correspond always with the health behavior and practices. Decisions regarding treatment of disease were made by the husband and wife together in two-thirds of the cases, however, it was not uniform across socio-demographic and sub-national categories.

Bangladesh↗
PubMed1992

Radioactive contamination of food sampled in the areas of the USSR affected by the Chernobyl disaster.

In October 1990 a Netherlands humanitarian fact finding mission on aid to people affected by the Chernobyl disaster visited contaminated regions in Russia, Byelorussia and the Ukraine. The mission consisted of medical, socio-psychological and agricultural experts. The results of radioactivity measurements on food products sampled in the contaminated areas are reported here and the radiation burden for the Soviet citizens due to these products is discussed. The radiocaesium contamination measured in 19 food products ranged between 0 and 170 Bq kg-1 and 40K from 25 to 200 Bq kg-1 in the fresh product. Strontium-90, measured in a few samples, was found to be between 1.8 and 30 Bq kg-1. Mushrooms and reindeer moss were very highly contaminated: from 103,000 to 284,000 Bq kg-1 of radiocaesium in the fresh product. Strontium-90 in these samples was 7.8-1550 Bq kg-1. The contamination of all food products was far below the stated limits, except for mushrooms. Extrapolation of the results to the total food consumption gave the radioactive burden due to this food as an estimated 0.2 mSv per year. All of the food products investigated, except mushrooms, can be regarded as safe with respect to radioactive contamination. In addition to sampling agricultural produce, field exposure measurements were also carried out. The measured values, expressed in equivalent doses, ranged from 1.8 to 14 mSv per year at a height of 1 m, with a median value of about 4 mSv per year.

Accidents↗
PubMed1986

Food additives and contaminants. An update.

Food additives continue to be a source of benefits to the consuming public but there are also perceived risks. Concern for the latter in the last decade has produced a society afflicted with cancer phobia. The intentional additives including sugars, salt, corn syrup, and dextrose make up 90% of the direct additives. These, along with a limited number of familiar items make up a large proportion of the remainder of the additives. Such common ingredients as nitrates and nitrites, solanine, cyanogenetic compounds, arsenic, etc., are unavoidably consumed in the diet and with little if any evidence for public health consequences. Major concern on the part of the public in recent years has been focused on man-made chemicals which are intentionally added to foods to enhance flavors and acceptability, nutrient value, shelf life and increased availability. These include food colors, nonnutritive and low-nutrient sweeteners, (saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame); antioxidants; and nitrites. Contaminants, sometimes incorrectly included in lists of food additives, present the greatest potential threat to public health. Such contaminants as mycotoxins, nitrosamines, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, among others, provide a continuing challenge to our regulatory agencies and to public health authorities. Evidence to date indicate that these responsible for food safety are doing an admirable job, and as a society, our food supply has never been better, or safer, and, as a population, we have never been healthier. Aside from contaminants, major concerns relate to an excess of good food and to obesity. These comments should not be taken to infer that we should relax our concern and surveillance; instead more concern and surveillance should be exerted toward those uncontrolled substances such as natural plant products and alleged natural nutrients, roots, herbs, etc., which are given much credit for positive health effects, without meeting the high standards of our legitimate food industry.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Listeria monocytogenes: low levels equal low risk.

Because of the public health significance of L. monocytogenes, U.S. regulatory agencies established a policy whereby ready-to-eat foods contaminated with the organism at a detectable level are deemed adulterated. This "zero tolerance" policy, however, makes no distinction between foods contaminated at high and low levels. We have reported elsewhere that a survey of over 31,000 ready-to-eat retail food samples, representing eight product categories, showed an overall prevalence rate of 1.82% for these foods. In this study, we used the food survey data in combination with concurrent data regarding illness in the population consuming the foods, together with other variable factors, to derive a dose-response model. The confidence interval for prevalence was 1.68 to 1.97%. L. monocytogenes levels, which ranged from -2 to 6 log CFU/g, were adequately described by the distribution beta (0.29, 2.68, -1.69, 6.1). An exponential dose-response model was obtained, with an R value (essentially the probability of a single cell causing illness) of 1.76 x 10(-10) for the population at the highest risk. A microbial risk assessment based on the model shows that an alternative to the zero tolerance strategy has a greater risk reduction potential and suggests that a management strategy focusing on the concentration of L. monocytogenes rather than its presence alone may have a greater impact on the improvement of public health by facilitating the development of control measures to limit the maximum levels of L. monocytogenes in foods.

Colony Count, Microbial↗
PubMed1995

Coumaphos intoxications mimic food poisoning.

Reports of food poisoning caused by pesticide-contaminated food are rare in the medical literature. In this paper, we report six patients who suffered food poisoning in two separate episodes in which the pesticide coumaphos was apparently misused as a food flavoring. These six patients presented not only the general manifestations of gastroenteritis, but also some unusual extraintestinal symptoms. These included cholinergic overactivity (miosis, urinary incontinence and hypersalivation) that led us to suspect organophosphate intoxication. This diagnosis was confirmed by serial changes in RBC cholinesterase and pseudocholinesterase activity, and by the presence of coumaphos in the contaminated food. Of the six patients, one was dead on arrival. Another patient developed progressive respiratory failure and required mechanical ventilation. The mortality rate among our cases was 16.7%. Since the coumaphos was apparently added to food during cooking, its toxic effects do not appear to be mitigated by heating. When food poisoning cases present with both gastroenteritis and unusual autonomic symptoms, the autonomic syndromes will aid in the diagnosis and management of these critically ill patients.

Adult↗