AIM: To improve the efficacy of intercalating dyes to distinguishing between infectious and inactivated hepatitis A virus (HAV) in food. METHODS AND RESULTS: Different intercalating dyes were evaluated for the discrimination between infectious and thermally inactivated HAV suspensions combining with the RT‐qPCR proposed in the ISO 15216. Among them, PMAxx was the best dye in removing the RT‐qPCR signal from inactivated HAV. Applied to lettuce and spinach, PMAxx–Triton pretreatment resulted in complete removal of the RT‐qPCR signal from inactivated HAV. Likewise, this study demonstrates that this pretreatment is suitable for the discrimination of inactivated HAV in shellfish without further sample dilution. In mussels and oysters, the developed viability RT‐qPCR method reduced the signal of inactivated HAV between 1·7 and 2·2 logs at high inoculation level, and signal was completely removed at low inoculation level. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the use of PMAxx is an important improvement to assess HAV infectivity by RT‐qPCR. It was shown that PMAxx–Triton pretreatment is suitable for the analysis of infectious HAV in complex food samples such as vegetables and shellfish. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The PMAxx–Triton pretreatment can be easily incorporated to the ISO norm for infectious virus detection.

Abstract The goal of this research is to better address the problems related to the widespread presence of pesticides in the environment. Despite the unquestionable utility of the pesticides against various pests in the agricultural field, most pesticides and the corresponding pesticide residues are toxic to the environment and hazardous to human health. The recent literature on organophosphate compounds emphasises a clear correlation between their use and the occurrence of disorders in the nervous system, especially in children. The conventional systems for the detection and analysis of these compounds are expensive, time‐consuming and require highly specialised operators; moreover, no online automated screening systems are yet available, that would allow the identification and quantification of the presence of these chemicals in samples from industrial sectors such as the food industry. Esterase‐based biosensors represent a viable alternative to this problem. In this fellowship programme, we aim to develop a robust and sensitive methodology that enables the screening of toxic compounds using a streamlined process, using an automated robotic system to achieve a continuous monitoring for risk assessment of pesticides.

The landscape of commercial poultry production is changing due to increasing trends in consumer preference for organic sources of poultry products. This is in part due to perceptions regarding food safety and environmental issues, along with concerns for livestock animal welfare. Consequently, alternative poultry production systems such as small-scale farming and mobile poultry processing units (MPPUs) have achieved a certain level of popularity. However, these alternative production systems, like conventional poultry processing systems, face food safety concerns, due to potential of Campylobacter and Salmonella prevalence. Unlike stationary processing systems, MPPUs may have limited access to sanitation products as they often attempt to comply with organic processing regulations. They may also have limited access to a consistent, high quality water supply which may pose additional food safety and microbial contamination concerns. Due to these food safety concerns and potential limitations on traditional sanitizers, botanicals, organic acids, dry acids, bacteriocins, and phages may offer alternative potential solutions to ensure poultry product safety. The objective of this review is to discuss food safety concerns within alternative poultry processing systems, particularly MPPUs, and describe potential sanitizer strategies.

International audience | In a context of flourishing eco-labelling programs and environment policy for food products, LCA application to agricultural systems faces the challenges of being operational, accurate and exhaustive. This is particularly challenging for the newly developing LCA and ISO-compliant water footprinting, with many LCIA methods only recently developed, but no dedicated inventory method. To support the inventory of elementary water flows, LCA practitioners have a variety of tools available, ranging from databases (e.g. World Food LCA Database) to complex agro-hydrological models. To allow all LCA practitioners to fulfil their diverse agri-food LCA objectives, a review of available inventory tools for field water flows and recommendations are needed. The selection of the appropriate method and tool for the inventory of field water flows in agri-food LCA studies depends on the objectives of the LCA study, data and resources available (time and skills). We analysed water inventory and agri-food LCA databases by evaluating the models on which they rely and their input data. Then, we explored the use of agro-hydrological models for LCA aiming at discriminating between different cropping system practices (LCA-based eco-design). Water inventory and agri-food LCA databases provide estimates of theoretical water consumed by a crop and rely on data and methods that have limitations, making them suitable only for background agricultural LCAs. In addition, databases do not support the application of water availability footprint indicators (assessing quantitative water use and water quality alteration). For the LCA-based eco-design of cropping systems, the inventory of water flows should be based on a model simulating evapotranspiration, deep percolation and runoff accounting for crop specificities, pedo-climatic conditions and agricultural management. In particular, the model should account for possible water, salinity and nutrient stresses; assess evaporation and transpiration separately; and estimate runoff and drainage according to the system specificities. Yield should not be estimated with a model but with primary data. Recommended and default data sources are provided for each input parameter. The FAO AquaCrop model represents a good trade-off between accuracy, simplicity and robustness for LCA-based eco-design of cropping systems. However, this model is not yet applicable for perennial crops. Beyond a single model selection, this is a modelling approach that we characterised in this work.

Communication Team ICARDA. (29/6/2013). International Conference on Policies for Water and Food Security in Dry Areas: Highlights from Day 2, in "News and Views", pp.1-2 | Day 2 of the conference saw a series of policy interactions and debates that brought new perspectives on the conference themes of: water-food-employment policies and coping with water scarcity. These ï¬ndings will feed into the synthesis process on the ï¬nal day of the meeting

After a hiatus through the 1990s and the early part of this century, rising energy demand, new private sector financing options and countries pursuing food security, modernization and economic growth have spurred a new era of large dam development. Currently an estimated 3700 dams are planned or under construction globally (Zarfl et al., [2015] 77, 161–170). Many of the challenges faced in the context of the water-energy-food nexus are brought into sharp focus by large dam construction. Dams can safeguard food production, provide an important source of income and relatively cheap electricity, and can have direct and indirect benefits for poor people. Too often, however, they have created significant and poorly mitigated environmental and social costs (WCD, [2000] London: Earthscan Publications Ltd). Adverse impacts on ecosystem services caused by dam construction can have profound implications for the health, resilience and livelihoods of the poor. This article explores the challenges facing decision makers with regards to building resilience and navigating risk within the water-energy-food nexus and dams. It draws from two progressive case studies, one in Africa and one in Asia, to highlight lessons learned from nexus approaches including the need for meaningful participation, transparency in decision making, and valuing ecosystem services. The case studies examined contain relevant lessons for global agreements including the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement because unlike the Millennium Development Goals, they are expected to address interlinkages and tradeoffs across the nexus. The implications of the increasing trend of public private partnerships to finance, build, and operate hydropower dams is discussed. The article concludes by demonstrating that although mitigating impacts across the nexus and social-ecological resilience presents challenges and requires overcoming complexity, the need to tackle these is greater than ever.

Aim: To improve the efficacy of intercalating dyes to distinguishing between infectious and inactivated hepatitis A virus (HAV) in food. Methods and Results: Different intercalating dyes were evaluated for the discrimination between infectious and thermally inactivated HAV suspensions combining with the RT-qPCR proposed in the ISO 15216. Among them, PMAxx was the best dye in removing the RT-qPCR signal from inactivated HAV. Applied to lettuce and spinach, PMAxx-Triton pretreatment resulted in complete removal of the RT-qPCR signal from inactivated HAV. Likewise, this study demonstrates that this pretreatment is suitable for the discrimination of inactivated HAV in shellfish without further sample dilution. In mussels and oysters, the developed viability RT-qPCR method reduced the signal of inactivated HAV between 1 7 and 2 2 logs at high inoculation level, and signal was completely removed at low inoculation level. Conclusions: This study showed that the use of PMAxx is an important improvement to assess HAV infectivity by RT-qPCR. It was shown that PMAxx-Triton pretreatment is suitable for the analysis of infectious HAV in complex food samples such as vegetables and shellfish. Significance and Impact of the Study: The PMAxx-Triton pretreatment can be easily incorporated to the ISO norm for infectious virus detection.

Engineered water nanostructures (EWNS) synthesized utilizing electrospray and ionization of water, have been, recently, shown to be an effective, green, antimicrobial platform for surface and air disinfection, where reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated and encapsulated within the particles during synthesis, were found to be the main inactivation mechanism. Herein, the antimicrobial potency of the EWNS was further enhanced by integrating electrolysis, electrospray and ionization of de-ionized water in the EWNS synthesis process. Detailed physicochemical characterization of these enhanced EWNS (eEWNS) was performed using state-of-the-art analytical methods and has shown that, while both size and charge remain similar to the EWNS (mean diameter of 13 nm and charge of 13 electrons), they possess a three times higher ROS content. The increase of the ROS content as a result of the addition of the electrolysis step before electrospray and ionization led to an increased antimicrobial ability as verified by E. coli inactivation studies using stainless steel coupons. It was shown that a 45-min exposure to eEWNS resulted in a 4-log reduction as opposed to a 1.9-log reduction when exposed to EWNS. In addition, the eEWNS were assessed for their potency to inactivate natural microbiota (total viable and yeast and mold counts), as well as, inoculated E. coli on the surface of fresh organic blackberries. The results showed a 97% (1.5-log) inactivation of the total viable count, a 99% (2-log) reduction in the yeast and mold count and a 2.5-log reduction of the inoculated E. coli after 45 min of exposure, without any visual changes to the fruit. This enhanced antimicrobial activity further underpins the EWNS platform as an effective, dry and chemical free approach suitable for a variety of food safety applications and could be ideal for delicate fresh produce that cannot withstand the classical, wet disinfection treatments.