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PubMed2005

Home transport and wastage: environmentally relevant household activities in the life cycle of food.

In environmental systems analysis of food production systems, the consumer phase (home transport, cooking, storing, and wastage) is an important contributor to the total life-cycle environmental impact. However, households are the least investigated part of the food chain. Information gathering about households involves difficulties; the number of households is large, and food-related activities are embedded in other household activities. In cooperation between researchers from environmental systems analysis and consumer research, Swedish households were surveyed by questionnaire, diary, and interviews. Data on home transport of food and wastage were collected. The average weekly driving distance was 28 to 63 km per household, depending on how trips made in conjunction with other errands are allocated. The wastage of prepared food ranged between 0 and 34% for different food categories, and wastage from storing between 0 and 164% (more food was discarded, e.g. by cleaning out a cupboard, than consumed). In both cases dairy products scored highest.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1999

[Micromycetes, mycotoxins and human health].

Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites produced by certain toxigenic microscopic fungi (moulds) in and on foods. Consequently mycotoxin-containing foods have been found all over the world: Africa, Asia, North and South America, Australia and Europe. The extent of the problem is greater in some parts of the world than in others because their climatic conditions are more favourable for mould growth and thus synthesis of mycotoxins. These toxins have been associated with various diseases-mycotoxicoses in humans throughout the world (ergotism, alimentary toxic aleukia, aflatoxicosis, balkan nephropathy, yellow rice disease, oesophageal cancer etc.). Mycotoxins can enter the food chain by one of two major routes: direct contamination resulting from the use of a food components contaminated with mycotoxins and indirect contamination resulting from the growth of toxigenic fungi of the food. Investigations of mycotoxins in foodstuffs, in human urine and human milk were incorporated into the system of Environmental Health Monitoring in the Czech Republic. The risk of acute toxic effects of mycotoxins was usually considered to be minimal in the Czech Republic. The risk of later toxic effects (particularly carcinogenic risk) after very low single or repeated mycotoxin concentrations in foodstuffs is very important.

Food Contamination↗
PubMed2005

Food toxicology--from forensic to policy tool: an evolution from reactive to proactive action.

Since the nineteenth century, food toxicology has evolved in several ways. The analytical power of the food toxicologist has been increased. The concept of adulterated food was modified significantly. Most commodities are now processed and addition of numerous non-nutrient additives is legalised. Other "alien" compounds get introduced in the food chain from background contamination or during processing and distribution. This makes the task of the food toxicologist more complex. From forensic science food toxicology developed to a policy aid.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Survey of organochlorine pesticide residues in milk in Hong Kong (1993-1995).

A survey was conducted from 1993 through 1995 to monitor organochlorine pesticides and their metabolite residues in milk available in local Hong Kong markets. Of 252 samples analyzed, including pasteurized milk, fresh milk, and raw milk, 42 contained organochloride pesticide residues at levels exceeding the Extraneous Maximum Residue Limits of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues. DDE and HCH isomer levels were substantially higher than those found in a 1984-1987 survey, probably because the source of cow's milk has shifted from local dairy industries to mainland China over the past decade. Although organochlorine pesticides such as DDT and HCH have been banned in China since 1983, residues of such compounds may still persist in the environment and cause contamination through the food chain.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Harmonization of international risk assessment protocol.

For over centuries developments in food production and new food safety management systems in most developed countries have been perceived by many to be efficient in the prevention of food-borne disease. Nevertheless a number of problems remain dominant, one of these being the high level of food-borne microbiological disease which seems, for some pathogens, to have increased over the last decades. The development of an interdisciplinary approach with direct interaction between surveillance and risk analysis systems is described as a potential basis for improved prevention of food-borne disease. Quantitative microbiological risk assessment is a relatively new scientific approach, able to link data from food within the entire food chain and the various data on human disease to provide a clear estimation of risk. Today food safety is one of the WHOs top eleven priorities; the Organization calls for more systematic and aggressive steps to be taken to reduce significantly the risk of microbiological food-borne diseases. Dealing with this challenge is one of the major challenges for the 21st century in regard to food safety, implying a significant re-direction of food microbiology efforts in many parts of the world.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

The role of nutrition in sickness and in health.

This article reviews the importance of food and water for survival and the wide ranges of nutrient intake capable of sustaining reproduction and growth. It also reviews the different types of adverse reactions to foods including hypersensitivity or allergic reactions, pharmacologic and metabolic adverse responses to foods, and natural and industrial toxins in the food chains. The article concludes with recommendations for dealing with patients who advocate the use of "natural" foods and products.

Drinking↗
PubMed2003

Nutrition ecology: the contribution of vegetarian diets.

Nutrition ecology is an interdisciplinary scientific discipline that encompasses the entire nutrition system, with special consideration of the effects of nutrition on health, the environment, society, and the economy. Nutrition ecology involves all components of the food chain, including production, harvesting, preservation, storage, transport, processing, packaging, trade, distribution, preparation, composition, and consumption of food, as well as disposal of waste materials. Nutrition ecology has numerous origins, some of which go back to antiquity. The introduction of industrialized agriculture and mass animal production gave rise to various negative influences on the environment and health. Food quality is determined in part by the quality of the environment. The environment, in turn, is influenced by food consumption habits. Research shows that vegetarian diets are well suited to protect the environment, to reduce pollution, and to minimize global climate changes. To maximize the ecologic and health benefits of vegetarian diets, food should be regionally produced, seasonally consumed, and organically grown. Vegetarian diets built on these conditions are scientifically based, socially acceptable, economically feasible, culturally desired, sufficiently practicable, and quite sustainable.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Fat and the law: who should take the blame?

The incidence of obesity in both adults and children is rising at a rapid rate in most developed countries, including in Australia. Some obese people are seeking to place the blame for their condition on the fast-food industry, as demonstrated by the recent litigation in the United States brought by two obese plaintiffs against McDonald's. This litigation was unsuccessful, and on existing Australian negligence principles any similar litigation commenced here is likely to suffer the same fate. Principles of personal responsibility, autonomy and free will should prevail to deny a negligence claim. The risk of obesity and concomitant health problems from eating fast food to excess is an obvious risk which the plaintiff should not have ignored and which he or she has voluntarily assumed. It is for the Australian Government, not the courts, to regulate the behaviour of the fast-food industry. The government should take action by requiring all major fast-food chains to label their products with nutritional information, and by imposing restrictions on the advertising of food to children.

Australia↗
PubMed1999

Polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated biphenyls, and dioxin reduction during processing/cooking food.

This chapter presents information on the levels of environmental contaminants found in recent market basket surveys as well as the effect of processing and cooking on the reduction of these contaminants. Although consumers have expressed concern over the level of environmental contaminants in the food supply, market basket surveys involving over 8,000 analyses of foods ready-to-eat, found measurable amounts (ppb levels) of PCBs in only 24 foods. Processing/cooking has been shown to reduce PCBs by 20-100%. Although PBBs got into the food chain as the result of one incredible accident and thus are not expected to be found in foods today, cooking/processing was also effective in reducing PBBs. Dioxins are the result of combustion processes and chemical manufacturing processes. TCDD levels found in Great Lakes fish were in the low part per trillion level. Again, cooking and processing resulted in substantially less TCDD in fish as eaten.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

A review of the significance of animal food products as potential pathways of human exposures to dioxins.

The polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (dioxins) are groups of compounds with similar chemical and toxicological properties. Carcinogenicity was considered the most serious toxic end point when setting previous regulatory policies, but recent concerns have focused on the possible endocrine-disrupting activities of the dioxins. Toxicity is related to the 2,3,7,8 pattern of chlorine substitution, a pattern that also leads to chemical and metabolic stability. Dioxins are practically insoluble in water and concentrate in lipids of biological systems, leading to low background concentrations in fat of the general human population. Major environmental sources of dioxins are emissions from industrial chlorination processes and combustion of materials containing chlorine. Inhalation and water have been ruled out as significant exposure pathways, which suggests that food is the primary source. Pathways of entry into food chains are atmospheric transport of emissions and their subsequent deposition on plants, soils, and water. The major food sources seem to be fat-containing animal products and some seafoods. This conclusion is based on evaluations of potential environmental pathways involving dioxins and related compounds. Generally, dioxins and other lipophilic compounds are not taken up and translocated by plants, so residues in foods and feeds derived from seeds should be negligible. Animals on high-roughage diets, or those that ingest contaminated soil, are the most likely to accumulate dioxin residues from the environment. The conclusion that animal products are a major source of human exposure requires verification by appropriate food sampling programs and animal metabolism studies. If it is desirable to reduce human exposure to dioxins via the food supply, reduction of sources would be a more effective strategy than changing agricultural practices and food consumption patterns.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2004

Mass spectrometric studies on the intrinsic stability of destruxin E from Metarhizium anisopliae.

Destruxins are of current interest as bioactive agents. They are cyclic hexadepsipeptides produced by fungi, the most common destruxins, A, B and E, differing in the structure of a side chain. Before they can be widely used, the potential risk of destruxins and their metabolites entering the human food chain must to be assessed; thus, knowledge of the structures of their degradation products is essential. Here we report a study aimed at identifying, by tandem mass spectrometry and accurate mass analysis, the products resulting from thermally and temporally induced degradation of destruxin E. The degradation products fell into two groups: those with relatively simple modifications of the side chain and those involving much more complex rearrangements. The structures of most of the degradation products were deduced from the MS data, with the major product being destruxin E diol: significantly, this compound had previously been reported to have only been produced as a metabolic product of enzyme action rather than as a simple degradation product as demonstrated here.

Ascomycota↗
PubMed2005

Role of two toxin-producing plankton and their effect on phytoplankton-zooplankton system--a mathematical study supported by experimental findings.

Plankton is the basis of the entire aquatic food chain. Phytoplankton, in particular, occupies the first trophic level. Plankton performs services for the Earth: it serves as food for marine life, gives off oxygen and also absorbs half of the carbon dioxide from the Earth's atmosphere. The dynamics of a rapid (or massive) increase or decrease of plankton populations is an important subject in marine plankton ecology and generally termed as a 'bloom'. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have adverse effects on human health, fishery, tourism, and the environment. In recent years, considerable scientific attention has been given to HABs. Toxic substances released by harmful plankton play an important role in this context. In this paper, a mathematical model consisting of two harmful phytoplankton and zooplankton system will be discussed. The analytical findings will be verified through our experimental observations which were carried out on the eastern part of Bay of Bengal for the last three years.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Toward a plant genomics initiative: thoughts on the value of cross-species and cross-genera comparisons in the grasses.

Comparative genomics offers unparalleled opportunities to integrate historically distinct disciplines, to link disparate biological kingdoms, and to bridge basic and applied science. Cross-species, cross-genera, and cross-kingdom comparisons are proving key to understanding how genes are structured, how gene structure relates to gene function, and how changes in DNA have given rise to the biological diversity on the planet. The application of genomics to the study of crop species offers special opportunities for innovative approaches for combining sequence information with the vast reservoirs of historical information associated with crops and their evolution. The grasses provide a particularly well developed system for the development of tools to facilitate comparative genetic interpretation among members of a diverse and evolutionarily successful family. Rice provides advantages for genomic sequencing because of its small genome and its diploid nature, whereas each of the other grasses provides complementary genetic information that will help extract meaning from the sequence data. Because of the importance of the cereals to the human food chain, developments in this area can lead directly to opportunities for improving the health and productivity of our food systems and for promoting the sustainable use of natural resources.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Food-based nutrition interventions at community level.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations promotes nutrition interventions considering food as the basis for action, given the strategic role of food and the agricultural sector to improve food security for the community; thus, a large number of people, especially the poor, who participate directly or indirectly in agricultural activities are able to obtain benefits from its multifunctional character. Food-based nutrition interventions have the purpose of improving food production and availability, processing and conservation, supply and commercialization, as well as access and food consumption. The basis of this focus is community and local government participation in the planning, execution, supervision and evaluation of specific interventions. Food-based nutrition interventions include the development of community gardens and farms in urban and rural areas; hydroponic gardens and other related initiatives in urban and periurban agriculture; as well as the promotion of traditional crops with nutritional value and the development of small agro-industries. Food-based nutrition interventions can be implemented to improve the food supply in street and itinerant markets, town squares and rural markets, and street food sales. In all food-based interventions, food safety and quality control must be taken into consideration throughout the food chain. The interventions on nutrition education increase the family's capacity to improve access to and consumption of food. Food-based dietary guidelines and nutrition education in schools are highlighted, as well as the utilization of school gardens.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2006

Occurrence of aflatoxin M1 in retail milk samples from Bogotá, Colombia.

A study was conducted to establish the occurrence and levels of contamination of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in retail milk from Bogotá, Colombia. A total of 241 samples were analysed during 2004 and 2005. Samples were cleaned up by an immunoaffinity column and AFM1 was quantified by liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. A total of 69.2 and 79.4% of the samples analysed during 2004 and 2005, respectively, were found to contain levels of AFM1 above 10 ng l(-1). Levels of contamination ranged from 10.7 to 213.0 ng l(-1) in 2004, and from 10.6 to 288.9 ng l(-1) in 2005. Despite the high incidence of AFM1 found in the milk samples analysed, all samples complied with current local regulations, which allow AFM1 content in milk up to 400 ng l(-1). However, due to the high incidence of AFM1 in milk found in the present study, it is recommended that a permanent surveillance programme be established for milk consumed in Bogotá in order to prevent milk lots containing levels above the regulatory level entering the food chain.

Aflatoxin M1↗
PubMed1987

The fatty acid composition of Northern-Canadian marine and terrestrial mammals.

The low mortality from cardiovascular disease in Greenland Eskimos has been attributed to their consumption of diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids are found in fish and marine mammal lipids. Whereas the fatty acid composition of several fish species has been documented, information is more limited on the mammals which feature significantly in the diets of many Arctic populations. This study investigated the fatty acid composition of commonly eaten marine mammals, as well as the polar bear and caribou. The tissue fatty acid composition was species-dependent, probably reflecting to some degree differences in feeding habits. The marine mammals and the amphibious polar bear, but not the caribou, contained substantial quantities of long chain omega-3 fatty acids. These studies further document the transfer of omega-3 fatty acids through the food chain to man and suggest that marine mammal and polar bear lipids are significant sources of omega-3 fatty acids.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Regulatory issues for plant-made pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

Recombinant plant systems potentially offer economic alternatives to produce large amounts of pharmaceutical proteins, including those used in subunit vaccines. Plant systems also provide a convenient oral delivery option, overcoming the cost and inconvenience of purification and injections. The production of pharmaceutical proteins in transgenic plants is tightly regulated, with the US Department of Agriculture focusing on containment of recombinant material and the US Food and Drug Administration focusing on the production system as it relates to manufacture of the drug or vaccine. Current regulations for the production of plant-made pharmaceuticals are to prevent recombinant proteins from entering the food chain or from persisting in the environment, and to guard against recombinant nucleic acid sequences entering genomes of food or feed crops, or wild species. Several alternative plant production systems are being developed. Each system has its strengths and weaknesses with regard to the economics of production, options for alternative routes of administration, authenticity of products and ease with which the production system can be contained. Risk assessments can be used as a means to quantify risks of inadvertent human or environmental exposure to plant-made pharmaceuticals. Several technologies are being tested that reduce the probability of plant-made pharmaceuticals, or genes encoding them, escaping production sites.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Results of the antimicrobial agent susceptibility study raised in a representative, cross-sectional monitoring study on a national basis.

The use of antimicrobial substances in human and veterinary medicine inevitably results in a selection pressure for drug resistance in exposed bacteria. Preventive measures, apt to avoid the consequent development of new resistances and selection for existing ones, respectively, have to be elaborated. Moreover, it has to be ensured that neither resistant bacteria nor resistance genes are spread to and consequently via the food chain. Respiratory diseases as well as mastitis in dairy cattle belong to the most frequently occurring diseases in food-producing animals. For the first time in Germany, a comprehensive, cross-sectional study into the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria associated with these disease patterns in food-producing animals was conducted by the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) in 2001. The selection of examined bacterial species comprised Pasteurella multocida and Mannheimia haemolytica associated with respiratory disease in pigs, and Escherichia coli, Streptococcus spp. and Staphylococcus spp. causing mastitis in dairy cattle. Bacterial strains were collected following a representative sampling scheme, taking into account the total number of animals in the individual German federal Länder. In an analogous study conducted in 2002/2003, this selection was extended by the indication respiratory disease in juvenile cattle, caused by P. multocida and M. haemolytica, respectively. In comparison with data from 2001, MIC values determined in 2002/2003 suggested significantly lower or higher degrees of drug susceptibility only for a few antimicrobial agents. Comparison was carried out on the basis of bacterial species and individual federal Länder, respectively. Overall, the data raised in both studies revealed substantially lower resistance rates than published for Germany so far. This is particularly true for results from those Länder, whose animal health services had implemented preventive strategies to control infectious diseases. No correlation could be established between differing animal population densities and differences in the prevalence of resistance in corresponding Lander. However, the geographical distribution of occurrence of resistance against beta-lactam antimicrobial agents suggests different therapeutic strategies employed in different sized animal flocks. In federal Länder marked by large-scale livestock farming, significantly higher resistance values could be measured for cephalosporins than for penicillins, whereas in Länder with rather traditional farming structures, resistance to penicillins was predominant. Assuming otherwise similar factors of influence on the emergence of resistance, this pattern suggests that cephalosporins are preferably used in large enterprises and penicillins in smaller farms, respectively. Currently, mechanisms effecting changes in antimicrobial resistance are being further investigated in a successive study.

Animals↗