Water and food are major environmental transmission routes for Cryptosporidium, but our ability to identify the spectrum of oocyst contributions in current performance-based methods is limited. Determining risks in water and foodstuffs, and the importance of zoonotic transmission, requires the use of molecular methods, which add value to performance-based morphologic methods. Multi-locus approaches increase the accuracy of identification, as many signatures detected in water originate from species/genotypes that are not infectious to humans. Method optimisation is necessary for detecting small numbers of oocysts in environmental samples consistently, and further work is required to (i) optimise IMS recovery efficiency, (ii) quality assure performance-based methods, (iii) maximise DNA extraction and purification, (iv) adopt standardised and validated loci and primers, (v) determine the species and subspecies range in samples containing mixtures, and standardising storage and transport matrices for validating genetic loci, primer sets and DNA sequences.

Arsenic is a toxic metalloid of global concern. It usually originates geogenically but can be intensified by human activities such as applications of pesticides and wood preservatives, mining and smelting operations, and coal combustion. Arsenic-contaminated food is a widespread problem worldwide. Data derived from population-based studies, clinical case series, and case reports relating to ingestion of inorganic arsenic in drinking water, medications, or contaminated food or beverages show the capacity of arsenate and arsenite to adversely affect multiple organ systems. Chronic arsenic poisoning can cause serious health effects including cancers, melanosis (hyperpigmentation or dark spots, and hypopigmentation or white spots), hyperkeratosis (hardened skin), restrictive lung disease, peripheral vascular disease (blackfoot disease), gangrene, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and ischemic heart disease.

Surveys of food intake in humans, following measurements of energy expenditures in free-living persons, obtained by the doubly-labeled water technique, have been severely questioned in recent years. The present article reviews studies performed in both adults and children, comparing energy intake and expenditures in the same individuals. In adults, reported intake is often insufficient to cover minimal energy needs. The typical level of "under-reporting" is about 20%, and it is even higher in obese subjects. Intake data obtained from children are more valid than data from adults. Different survey methods yield differing degrees of agreement between intake and expenditure measurements using the doubly labeled water technique: frequency questionnaires tend to induce over-reporting, whereas the classical 24 hours recall is very susceptible to large under-reporting. Even obese adults can provide accurate reports of their daily food intake if properly trained and motivated. The interpretation of data obtained with the doubly labeled water method should integrate the considerable day-to-day variations observed in human food intake. | Pesquisas de ingestão alimentar em seres humanos, seguindo medidas de gastos de energia, obtidas pela técnica da água duplamente marcada, têm sido amplamente questionadas nos últimos anos. Este artigo faz uma revisão de estudos realizados em adultos e crianças, comparando consumo e gastos de energia nos mesmos indivíduos. Em adultos, o consumo relatado é freqüentemente insuficiente para cobrir as necessidades mínimas de energia. O nível típico de sub notificação é de cerca de 20% e chega a percentuais maiores em indivíduos obesos. Dados de consumo obtidos de crianças são mais válidos que dados de adultos. Métodos diferentes de pesquisa produzem graus diferenciados de conformidade entre medidas de consumo e gasto usando a técnica da água duplamente marcada: questionários de freqüência tendem a induzir super estimados, enquanto o clássico recordatório de 24 horas é muito suscetível a grandes sub notificação. Até mesmo adultos obesos podem fornecer relatos precisos de seus consumos alimentares diários se apropriadamente treinados e motivados. A interpretação dos dados obtidos com o método da água duplamente marcada deveria integrar as consideráveis variações do dia-a-dia observadas na ingestão alimentar dos seres humanos.

Inorganic arsenic (iAs) in drinking water and food items has been associated with lung and bladder cancers in several countries including Pakistan. In present study water, food items were collected from Arsenic (As) endemic areas (southern part of Pakistan) during 2008–2012, to evaluate its impact on the health of local population. Exposure of As was checked by analyzing biological samples (blood and scalp hairs) of male lung and bladder cancer patients (smokers and non-smokers). For comparative purpose the healthy subjects of same age group and residential area as exposed referents (EXR) and from non-contaminated area (Hyderabad, Pakistan) as non-exposed referents (NER) were also selected. As concentration in drinking water, food and biological samples were analyzed using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The validation of technique was done by the analysis of certified reference material (CRM) of blood and hair samples. The As contents in drinking water and food were found 3–15-folds elevated than permissible limits, where as in biological samples; EXR have 2–3-folds higher than NER and cancer patients have 5–9-folds higher than NER. The significant difference was observed in smokers (P < 0.01). The outcomes of the study revealed that As levels were elevated in blood and scalp hair samples of both types of cancer subjects as compared to referents (P < 0.001). It was observed that the lung cancer patients (LCP) have 20–35% higher levels of As in both biological samples as compared to bladder cancer patients (BCP) due to smoking habit. This study has proved the correlation among As contaminated water, food and cigarette smoking between different types of cancer risks.

This study attempts to quantify climate-induced increases in morbidity rates associated with food- and water-borne illnesses in the context of an urban coastal city, taking Beirut-Lebanon as a study area. A Poisson generalized linear model was developed to assess the impacts of temperature on the morbidity rate. The model was used with four climatic scenarios to simulate a broad spectrum of driving forces and potential social, economic and technologic evolutions. The correlation established in this study exhibits a decrease in the number of illnesses with increasing temperature until reaching a threshold of 19.2°C, beyond which the number of morbidity cases increases with temperature. By 2050, the results show a substantial increase in food- and water-borne related morbidity of 16 to 28% that can reach up to 42% by the end of the century under A1FI (fossil fuel intensive development) or can be reversed to ~0% under B1 (lowest emissions trajectory), highlighting the need for early mitigation and adaptation measures.

OBJECTIVE: High water consumption has been proposed as an aid to weight control and as a means of reducing the energy density of the diet. This study examines the relationship between water consumption and other drinking and eating patterns. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999 to 2001, with responses from 4755 individuals [>/=]18 years of age, provides the data for this cross-sectional analysis. A cluster analysis was performed using z-scores of specific food and beverage consumption to examine patterns. A multinomial logit analysis was used to examine sociodemographic characteristics of each dietary pattern and to examine the effects of water consumption on the likelihood of consuming a non-dairy caloric beverage. All results were weighted to be nationally representative and controlled for design effects. RESULTS: Within the sample, 87% consumed water, with an average daily consumption of 51.9 oz (1.53 liters) per consumer. Water consumers drank fewer soft/fruit drinks and consumed 194 fewer calories per day. Water consumers (potentially a self-selected sample) consumed more fruits, vegetables, and low- and medium-fat dairy products. Four distinct unhealthy dietary patterns were found that included little or no water consumption. Older and more educated persons used healthier food patterns. Mexican dietary patterns were much healthier than dietary patterns of blacks. DISCUSSION: Water consumption potentially is a dietary component to be promoted, but much more must be understood about its role in a healthy diet. Because high water consumption is linked with healthier eating patterns--patterns more likely to be followed by higher-educated, older adults--the target of water promotion and healthy diet options should focus on younger and less educated adults.

A molecular epidemiology study of Salmonella serotype Enteritidis was carried out by ribotyping performed with a mixture of PstI and SphI (PS ribotyping), and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) typing conducted with the OPB17 primer. A series, including 38 food and 25 water strains, which were epidemiologically unrelated and collected in Spain over 1985-1996, was differentiated into 20 PS ribotypes [discrimination index (DI) = 0.67], RAPD types (DI = 0.28), and by combining both methods into 23 genomic groups (DI = 0.76). With ribotyping data from the strains tested in this and in a previous work, including clinical and reference strains, a similarity dendrogram was traced and the subsequent branches and groupings were correlated with RAPD types, phage types and sources of origin. At a similarity level of 55%, a major cluster (grouping five subclusters and three single branches) and two minor clusters were revealed. Results supported the fact that organisms representing, at least, 40 genomic groups are currently circulating in Spain, but that only the organisms of five groups predominate and these fall into a single subcluster or lineage. Organisms of these five groups could be considered endemic, associated with food-borne human infections and, for epidemiological purposes, can be differentiated by phage typing. The most frequent phage types can be subdivided into genomic groups. Organisms of the prevalent genomic groups and several less frequent ones were mainly associated with poultry transmission and gastroenteritis as the major clinical forms, while organisms of another two frequent, groups were mainly associated with extra-intestinal infections, and organisms of four infrequent groups were only collected from sewage or environmental waters.

BACKGROUND: Poor quality irrigation water is a major cause of disease transmission for urban inhabitants consuming fresh produce in many developing countries. Irradiation of food is an alternative approach to reducing health risks for consumers, but its implementation depends heavily on consumer acceptance.RESULTS: In this pilot study, we show that most respondents consider the water quality of Mexico City to be poor and a health risk, and would be willing to pay for irradiated food as a means of pasteurizing fresh iceberg lettuce.CONCLUSION: Irradiated food could, potentially, be accepted in developing countries that have problems with water quality. Such acceptance would presumably be due to the perception that such a novel technology would (1) alleviate water impairment, and (2) lead to economic improvement. It is then possible that the public considers that water quality is a more pressing concern than any potential side effects of food irradiation.

Strains of Salmonella spp. with resistance to antimicrobial drugs are now widespread in both developed and developing countries. In developed countries it is now increasingly accepted that for the most part such strains are zoonotic in origin and acquire their resistance in the food-animal host before onward transmission to humans through the food chain. Of particular importance since the early 1990s has been a multiresistant strain of Salmonella typhimurium definitive phage type (DT) 104, displaying resistance to up to six commonly used antimicrobials, with about 15% of isolates also exhibiting decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. Mutations in the gyrA gene in such isolates have been characterised by a PCR LightCycler-based gyrA mutation assay, and at least four different mutations have been identified. Multiple resistance (to four or more antimicrobials) is also common in the poultry-associated pathogens Salmonella virchow and Salmonella hadar, with an increasing number of strains of these serotypes exhibiting decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. Multiple resistance is also being found in other serotypes in several other European countries, and has been associated with treatment failures. For Salmonella typhi, multiple drug resistance is now the norm in strains originating in the Indian subcontinent and south-east Asia. Such multiresistant strains have been responsible for several epidemics and some of these have been associated with contaminated water supplies. Furthermore, an increasing number of multiresistant strains of S. typhi are now exhibiting decreased susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, with concomitant treatment failures. In developed countries antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic salmonellas has been attributed to the injudicious use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals. It is hoped that the application of Codes of Practice for the use of such agents, which have been prepared by the pharmaceutical industry in response to widespread international concern about the development of drug resistance in bacterial pathogens, will now result in a widespread reduction in the incidence of drug-resistant salmonellas in food production animals and humans on an international scale.