Many modern cities have strongly invested in the sustainability of their urban water management system. Nordic cities like Stockholm or Copenhagen are amongst pioneers in investments towards integrated urban water management. However, cities can never be fully self-sufficient due to their dependency on external (water) resources. In this paper, we quantify this water dependency with respect to food consumption in nine cities located in the five Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland), by means of the water footprint concept. Detailed urban water footprint assessments are scarce in the literature. By analysing national nutrition surveys, we find that urban food intake behaviour differs from national food intake behaviour. In large Nordic cities people eat generally less potatoes, milk products (without cheese), meat and animal fats and they drink less coffee than outside city borders. On the other hand, they generally eat more vegetables and vegetable oils and they drink more tea and alcoholic beverages. This leads consistently – for the six large Nordic cities Stockholm, Malmö, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo and Reykjavik – to slightly smaller food related urban water footprints (−2 to −6%) than national average values. We also analyse the water footprint for different diets based upon Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR) for these cities. We assessed three healthy diet scenarios: 1) including meat (HEALTHY-MEAT), 2) pesco-vegetarian (HEALTHY-PESCO-VEG) and 3) vegetarian (HEALTHY-VEG). This shows that Nordic urban dwellers 1) eat too many animal products (red meat, milk and milk products) and sugar and drink too much alcohol and 2) they eat not enough vegetables, fruit and products from the group pulses, nuts and oilcrops. Their overall energy and protein intake is too high. A shift to a healthy diet with recommended energy and protein intake reduces the urban WF related to food consumption substantially. A shift to HEALTHY-MEAT results in a reduction of −9 to −24%, for HEALTHY-PESCO-VEG the reduction is −29 to −37%, for HEALTHY-VEG the reduction is −36 to −44%. In other words, Nordic urban dwellers can save a lot of water by shifting to a healthy diet.

Cross-cultural differences exist in the typical temperature of water served with meals. North American people typically drink iced water/beverages while eating, whereas European or Asian people show a preference for room temperature water or hot water/tea, respectively. It has been reported that food perception and acceptance are influenced by oral temperature, as well as by serving temperature of food. Based on the fact that the iced or hot water served with meals can alter the oral temperature, the present study aimed to determine whether the temperature of served water can affect the sensory perception and acceptance of food subsequently consumed. Following a mouth rinse with water served at 4, 20, and 50°C for 5s, two different types of food, dark chocolate and cheddar cheese, were evaluated in terms of sensory intensity and overall liking. For the dark chocolate, the intensity ratings for sweetness, chocolate flavor, and creaminess were significantly lower when following water at 4°C than when following water at either 20 or 50°C. However, the modulatory effect of water temperature on sensory perception was not obtained with cheddar cheese. In addition, the temperature of served water altered the acceptance for the foods subsequently presented. Specifically, the overall liking for the dark chocolate was significantly lower when following water at 4°C than when following water at either 20 or 50°C. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates new empirical evidence that the consumption of iced water can decrease perceived intensities of sweetness, chocolate flavor, and creaminess for subsequently consumed chocolate. Our findings may provide one of plausible answers to the question of why North American people, who are more used to drinking iced water, show a strong preference for more highly sweetened foods.

This study aimed to determine the quality of drinking water supplied in different types of food stalls in Jashore Municipality, Bangladesh. A total of 35 water samples were collected from different tea stalls, street side fast food stalls, normal restaurants and well-furnished restaurants. The water quality was evaluated by determining the distinct physical, chemical and biological parameters. The results revealed that the water used in the food stalls and restaurants for drinking purpose was in desired quality in terms of turbidity, electrical conductivity, pH, total dissolved solids, nitrate (NO₃⁻), sulfate (SO₄²⁻), phosphate (PO₄³⁻), chloride (Cl⁻), sodium (Na) and potassium (K) concentrations. The values were within the permissible limit proposed by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and the World Health Organization. Concentrations of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) found in several samples were higher than the World Health Organization standard. Iron (Fe) concentrations were higher than the permissible limit of the World Health Organization. Only 46% exceeded the permissible limit of Bangladesh Bureau Statistics. The threatening result was that the samples were contaminated by fecal coliform, indicating that the people of Jashore Municipality may have a greater chance of being affected by pathogenic bacteria. The drinking water provided in the street side fast food stalls was biologically contaminated. The findings demonstrate that the drinking water used in food stalls and restaurants of Jashore Municipality did not meet up the potable drinking water quality standards and therefore was detrimental to public health.

Mentha spicata L. disappears in winter. The lack of fresh mint during the cold season can be a limiting factor for the preparation of mint tea. A fresh taste source that can be kept during winter is mint essential oil. As the oil is not soluble in water, a food-approved, water-soluble essential oil microemulsion was studied, investigating different surfactants, in particular Tween® 60. The challenge was to dissolve an extremely hydrophobic essential oil in a homogeneous, stable, transparent, and spontaneously forming solution of exclusively edible additives without adulterating the original fresh taste of the mint. Making use of the microemulsions’ water and oil pseudo-phases, hydrophilic sweeteners and hydrophobic dyes could be incorporated to imitate mint leaf infusions aromatically and visually. The resulting formulation was a concentrate, consisting of ∼ 90% green components, which could be diluted with water or tea to obtain a beverage with a pleasant minty taste.

Recently, food-grade Pickering particles, particularly plant proteins, have attracted tremendous attention because they are biobased, environmentally-friendly and edible. To explore the potential of tea water-insoluble protein (TWIP) nanoparticles from tea residues for stabilizing Pickering emulsions, the average hydrodynamic diameter (DH), zeta potential and morphologic profiles of TWIP nanoparticles were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The results indicated that TWIP nanoparticles were irregular colloidal particles with a DH greater than 300 nm and a negative charge of more than −30 mV at ionic strengths of 0–400 mM and a fixed TWIP nanoparticle concentration (2.0%). Furthermore, the effect of the TWIP nanoparticle concentration (0.5–4.0%, w/v) and oil-water ratio (2:8–6:4) on the characteristics of the Pickering emulsions stabilized via TWIP nanoparticles was investigated. Increasing the TWIP nanoparticle concentration generated a firm and thick TWIP nanoparticle-based interfacial layer, as verified by Cryo-scanning electron microscopy imaging, and decreased the droplet size of Pickering emulsions at an oil-water ratio of 4:6. Additionally, an increase of the oil-water ratio to 6:4 favored the formation of emulsions with extraordinary creaming stability at the fixed TWIP nanoparticle concentration of 2.0%. The present study is the first to suggest TWIP nanoparticles as a type of food-grade Pickering particle.

A new electrochemical adsorptive stripping voltammetry method was developed for the determination of trace amounts of copper in food and water samples. The study of electrochemical behavior of Cu ion indicated that Cu(II) and Schiff base formed a complex in H3BO4-NaOH buffer solution (pH = 7.25). An accumulation potential of -100 mV (vs Ag/AgCl) was applied while the solution was stirred for 60 s. The response curve was recorded by scanning the potential, and the peak current of -0.31 V (vs Ag/AgCl) was recorded. The peak current and concentration of copper accorded with linear relationship in the range of 0.04-120 ng mL(-1). The relative standard deviation (for 12 ng mL(-1) of copper) was 1.73 %, and the detection limit was 0.007 ng mL(-1). The possible interference of some common ions was studied. The proposed method was applied to the determination of copper in water, rice, wheat, tea, milk, and tomato with satisfactory results.

Selenium is a trace element essential for the proper functioning of human body. Since it can only be obtained through our diet, knowing its concentrations in different food products is of particular importance. The measurement of selenium content in complex food matrices has traditionally been a challenge due to the very low concentrations involved. Some of the difficulties may arise from the abundance of various compounds, which are additionally present in examined material at different concentration levels. The solution to this problem is the efficient separation/preconcentration of selenium from the analyzed matrix, followed by its reliable quantification. This review offers an insight into cloud point extraction, a separation technique that is often used in conjunction with spectrometric analysis. The method allows for collecting information on selenium levels in waters of different complexity (drinking water, river and lake waters), beverages (wine, juices), and a broad range of food (cereals, legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables, tea, mushrooms, nuts, etc.).

The aim of this systematic review study was to investigate the causal relationship between environmental factors and gastric cancer (GC) in Iran. In a narrow definition, the environment includes water, soil, air, and food. This definition was the main criterion for the inclusion of articles in this study. In addition, exposure to radiation and geographical conditions were considered as less investigated environmental factors in the literatures. International (PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Cochran) and national (Scientific Information Database) databases were searched for articles on GC and environmental risk factors in Iran. Twenty-six articles were found to meet the inclusion criteria after title, abstract, and full text review. Risk factors identified for GC include consumption of red meat; high fat, fried, and salted meat; smoked, salted, and fried foods; some dairy products; roasted and fried seeds; strong and hot tea; and un-piped and unchlorinated drinking water, as well as exposure to radiation, loess sediment, soft and grassy soil, soil containing low concentration of molybdenum, and proximity to volcanos. Fresh fruits and vegetable, fresh fish, and honey consumption were recognized as protective agents. Given the risk factors identified, strategies to prevent GC would be educating people to choose a healthy diet and to cook and store food properly, providing access to safe drinking water, taking into account topographical and geographical conditions in choosing a right location to build residential areas, and regulating the use of radiation-emitting devices.