This database provides information about the amount of water use in agriculture food systems covering all sectors from farming to food processing industries. The data are presented at the country level with sectoral disaggregation following the Nexus Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) sectoral specifications. The database also differentiates the type of water in each sector based on water sources. The green water refers to type of water originated from precipitation or rain, while the blue water refers to all water that comes from irrigation covering both surface and groundwater. Both types of water are consumed by plants or animals during the production process. The grey water on the other hand is the amount of water generated as an implication from production activities that cause the water polluted. Since it has loads of pollutants created from production activities, this type of water can be seen as a waste in the whole production system.

As part of a survey conducted by the Central Agricultural Office of Hungary, 67 food samples including beverages were taken from 57 food industrial and catering companies, 75% of them being small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, 40% of the SMEs were micro entities. Water used for food processing was simultaneously sampled. The arsenic (As) content of solid food stuff was determined by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry after dry ashing. Food stuff with high water content and water samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The As concentration exceeded 10μg/L in 74% of the water samples taken from SMEs. The As concentrations of samples with high water content and water used were linearly correlated. Estimated As intake from combined exposure to drinking water and food of the population was on average 40% of the daily lower limit of WHO on the benchmark dose for a 0.5% increased incidence of lung cancer (BMDL0.5) for As. Five settlements had higher As intake than the BMDL0.5. Three of these settlements are situated in Csongrád county and the distance between them is less than 55km. The maximum As intake might be 3.8μg/kg body weight.

A molecular dynamics (MD) modeling and simulations approach has been rationally built and developed to study porous food systems constructed with amylose and dextran chains. The findings from our MD studies indicate that the presence of food macromolecules decreases the energetics of the water–water interactions for the nearby water molecules in the pore space, but provides additional water–macromolecule interactions that can significantly outweigh the partial loss of water–water interactions to make the adjacent water molecules strongly bound to the food macromolecules so that the water activity and water removal rate are decreased as dehydration proceeds and, thus, the dehydration energy requirement would be increased. The effects of pore structures are greater in systems with higher densities of food macromolecules, smaller in size pores, and stronger water–macromolecule interactions. Dehydration of food materials can thus be reasonably expected to start from the largest pores and from the middle of the pores, and to have non-uniform water removal rates and non-planar water–vapor interfaces inside individual pores as well as across sections of the food materials. The food porous structures are found to have good pore connectivity for water molecules. As dehydration proceeds, water content and the support from water–water and water–macromolecule interactions both decrease, causing the food porous structures to adopt more compact conformations and their main body to decrease in size. Dehydration in general also reduces pore sizes and the number of pore openings, increases the water–macromolecule interactions, and leads to the reduction of the overall thermal conductivity of the system, so that more energy (heat), longer times, and/or greater temperature gradients are needed in order to further dehydrate the porous materials. Our thermodynamic analysis also shows that the average minimum entropy requirement for food dehydration is greater when the water–macromolecule interactions are stronger and the food macromolecular density is higher. The importance of the physicochemical affinity of food molecules for water and of the compatibility of the resultant porous structures with water configurational structures in determining food properties and food processing through the water–macromolecule interactions, is clearly and fundamentally verified by the results and discussion presented in this work.

The waste water from food processing contains dissolved salts and organic matter. The amount of each depends upon the product being processed and the procedure being used. The suitability for irrigation of food processing waste water from 20 plants processing nine food products was assessed from the standpoint of electrical conductivity (EC), chloride and sodium concentrations, sodium-adsorption-ratio (SAR), and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Waste water from plants processing green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), squash (Cucurbita pepo var. melopepo Alef.), tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), corn (Zea mays L.), steam peeled potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) and sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas Lam.), and poultry is suitable for irrigation under most conditions. Waste water from some pea (Pisum sativum L.) and lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus L.) processing plants may be suitable for irrigation, but is of questionable suitability from others. Waste water from lye-peel potato processing is not suitable for irrigation.

The emerging foodborne and waterborne pathogen, Arcobacter, has been linked to various gastrointestinal diseases. Currently, 19 species are established or proposed; consequently, there has been an increase in the number of publications regarding Arcobacter since it was first introduced in 1991. To better understand the potential public health risks posed by Arcobacter, this review summarizes the current knowledge concerning the global distribution and the prevalence of Arcobacter in food and water. Arcobacter spp. were identified in food animals, food‐processing environments and a variety of foods, including vegetables, poultry, beef, dairy products, seafood, pork, lamb and rabbit. A wide range of waterbodies has been reported to be contaminated with Arcobacter spp., such as wastewater, seawater, lake and river water, drinking water, groundwater and recreational water. In addition, Arcobacter has also been isolated from pets, domestic birds, wildlife, zoo and farm animals. It is expected that advancements in molecular techniques will facilitate better detection worldwide and aid in understanding the pathogenicity of Arcobacter. However, more extensive and rigorous surveillance systems are needed to better understand the occurrence of Arcobacter in food and water in various regions of the world, as well as uncover other potential public health risks, that is antibiotic resistance and disinfection efficiency, to reduce the possibility of foodborne and waterborne infections.

Green cleaner and disinfectant can provide a better environment and they can reduce cleaning cost by eliminating the cost of harsh cleaning chemicals, minimizing cleaning chemicals storage space, reducing cost for wastewater treatment and reducing logistics cost for chemical supply. This study explored the personal view of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) top to bottom workers towards the challenges during cleaning and disinfection process and their readiness in accepting a green cleaner and disinfectant. In this work, the advantages and disadvantages of electrolyzed water (EW) as green cleaner and disinfectant were discussed. A lab-scale batch ion-exchange membrane electrolysis unit was used to produce acidic electrolyzed water (AcEW) and alkaline electrolyzed water (AlEW). The stability of AcEW and AlEW was also studied based on its physical changes (pH, oxidative-reduction potential (ORP), chlorine content and hydrogen peroxide content) in 7 days of storage, whereby measurements were taken daily. The pH maintained for both AcEW and AlEW during the 7 days of storage. The ORP maintained at plateau for the first 5 days of AcEW storage. After 5 days, AcEW showed a decreasing trend. While ORP for AlEW increases drastically between day 1 and 2. Then, the ORP reaches a plateau after three days. The amount of free chlorine, total chlorine and hydrogen peroxide content was 10 mg/L, respectively, on the day of production. However, all the properties decreased gradually and there were no chlorine and hydrogen peroxide detected on the 7th day. The results from this study can be used as a guideline to store the EW and to understand the stability of the EW, which can benefit the SME food manufacturers.