Water is life and is one of the major inputs for agriculture. Earth has a finite supply of fresh water and therefore, demands that every drop of annual rainfall should be conserved and judiciously utilized for production and postproduction agriculture to get maximum nutrients per unit of water. The concept of water productivity in agriculture is now shifting from harvest index per unit of land and water to nutrients (protein, carbohydrate, fat, etc.) produced per unit of water. This varies with food commodities and locations. For example, the total dietary energy produced by potato, maize, peanut, wheat, milk, egg and beef using one m³ of water are about 5600 kcal, 3800 kcal, 2300 kcal, 2280 kcal, 660 kcal, 520 kcal and 100 kcal, respectively. Similarly, the production of protein using one m³ of water by potato, peanut, maize, wheat, egg, milk, chicken, and beef are 150 g, 111 g, 77 g, 74 g, 41 g, 40 g, 33 g and 10 g, respectively. This paper describes the water nutrient productivity of some of the crops and livestock products and suggests as to how to provide food and nutritional security through an appropriate and balanced diet design, to the maximum number of people of the world from the limited and dwindling land, water and bio resources.

In order to provide information on the state of hydration of broilers during marketing, 7-week-old Ross broilers of mixed sex were kept at 17 or 23 degrees C and deprived of food, or food and water, for 24 h. Measurements were made of live weight, carcass weight, muscle moisture, packed cell volume, plasma glucose, corticosterone, total protein, osmolality and sodium. There was a decrease in live weight, carcass weight, plasma glucose and plasma total protein, and an increase in packed cell volume and corticosterone, in birds deprived of food, or food and water. Muscle moisture increased in birds deprived of food and decreased in birds deprived of food and water. Osmolality decreased in birds deprived of food, the decrease being greater in birds at 23 degrees C. Plasma sodium levels were higher in birds kept at 23 degrees C and increased only in birds deprived of food and water at 23 degrees C.

1. The effects on food intake and weight gain of offering broiler chickens (2 to 7 weeks of age) dry food, wet food, wet food containing whey, whey as drinking liquid and combinations of two of these were studied in 5 experiments. 2. Wet feed generally improved both weight gain and feed efficiencies significantly. Feeding whey also improved weight gain and feed conversion efficiency, but whey offered as a drinking fluid had an adverse effect on broiler performance. 3. When whey was offered both as drinking liquid and added to the food it had a deleterious effect. 4. When whey was offered from 4 or 6 weeks of age, it had a better effect than when offered from 2 weeks of age. 5. There was better performance when whey in the drinking water was diluted and/or offered on alternate days or half-days. 6. Broilers allowed to choose between wet and dry feed when water was freely available chose mostly dry feed; in the absence of drinking water they chose mostly wet food. Birds offered water and liquid whey avoided whey completely. 7. It is concluded that whey can be used in diets for broiler chickens by incorporating it in the food as long as drinking water is offered ad libitum. Whey may be offered as a drink if the food is mixed with 1.8 times its weight of water but it is better to dilute the whey with an equal volume of water whether it is added to food or given as drink. Good results can also be obtained when undiluted whey is offered alternately with water, either in half-day or full-day periods.

Due to the harmful effects of veterinary antibiotics (VAs) residues in food on children's health, urine samples from 31 preschool and primary school children were analyzed for 13 common VAs. Samples of raw and cooked pork, chicken, fish, milk and drinking water from the children's living areas were also analyzed for residual VAs. Urinalysis revealed one to four target antibiotics in 77.4% of the sample group, with concentrations as high as 0.36ng/mL. Norfloxacin and penicillin had the highest detection rates (48.4% and 35.5%, respectively), with median concentrations of 0.037 and 0.13ng/mL, respectively. The VA burden of children in HK was lower than that in Shanghai. Enrofloxacin, penicillin, and erythromycin were the most detected VAs in raw and cooked food. Only oxytetracycline was detected in terminal tap water, and none were detected in milk. Tetracycline and doxycycline hyclate were detected in organic eggs (up to 7.1ng/g) and regular eggs (up to 6.6ng/g), which were common in children's diets. Traditional Chinese cooking processes did not completely eliminate VAs, and the concentrations of some VAs increased, especially after frying and roasting. The estimated daily intake (EDI) results show that the contribution of dietary intake and that based on the urine concentrations of VAs were far below the acceptable daily intake (ADI). The EDIs from urine were significantly lower than those based on cooked foods. The highest level of achievement percentage (LAP) based on dietary consumption and urine concentrations were 39.7% and 1.79%, respectively, and thus current levels of exposure to VAs would not seem to pose a risk to children's health. However, harmful effects of residual VAs during developmental periods may occur with exposure to much lower doses than those considered harmful to adults, and further investigation of these emerging pollutants is urgently encouraged.

To determine if Campylobacter jejuni grown at 37 and 42 °C have different abilities to survive on beef and chicken, and in water. Beef, chicken and water were separately inoculated with four Camp. jejuni (two poultry and two beef) strains grown at 37 or 42 °C. The matrices were stored at ~4 °C and Camp. jejuni numbers were monitored over time by plate counts. On beef there was a greater decrease in number for two strains (P < 0·05; ~0·7 and 1·3 log CFU cm⁻²) grown at 37 °C as compared with 42 °C. By contrast on chicken there was a decrease in numbers for two strains (P < 0·05; ~1·3 and 1 log CFU g⁻¹) grown at 42 °C as compared with 37 °C. In water there was a greater decrease in numbers for all strains (P < 0·05; ~3-5·3 log CFU ml⁻¹) grown at 42 °C as compared with 37 °C. Growth temperature influences the survival of Camp. jejuni on food and in water. Campylobacter jejuni survival studies need to consider growth temperature to avoid erroneous results. Campylobacter jejuni grown at 37 °C, the body temperature of humans and cattle, may represent a greater public health risk in water than those grown at 42 °C, the body temperature of poultry.

In Japan, strategies for ensuring food safety have been developed without reliable scientific evidence on the relationship between foodborne diseases and food sources. This study aimed to provide information on the proportions of foodborne diseases caused by seven major causative pathogens (Campylobacter spp., Salmonella, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli [EHEC], Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus, and norovirus) attributed to foods and to explore factors affecting changes in these source attribution proportions over time using analysis of outbreak surveillance data. For the calculation of the number of outbreaks attributed to each source, simple-food outbreaks were assigned to the single-food category in question, and complex-food outbreaks were classified under each category proportional to the estimated probability. During 2007 to 2018, 8,730 outbreaks of foodborne diseases caused by seven pathogens were reported, of which 6,690 (76.6%) were of unknown source. We estimated the following source attribution proportions of foodborne diseases: chicken products (80.3%, 95% uncertainty interval [UI] 80.1 to 80.4) for Campylobacter spp.; beef products (50.1%, UI 47.0 to 51.5) and vegetables (42.3%, UI 40.9 to 45.5) for EHEC; eggs (34.6%, UI 27.8 to 41.4) and vegetables (34.4%, UI 27.8 to 40.8) for Salmonella; finfish (50.3%, UI 33.3 to 66.7) and shellfish (49.7%, UI 33.3 to 66.7) for V. parahaemolyticus; grains and beans (57.8%, UI 49.7 to 64.9) for S. aureus; vegetables (63.6%, UI 48.5 to 74.6), chicken products (12.7%, UI 4.6 to 21.5), and beef products (11.1%, UI 8.5 to 13.1) for C. perfringens; and shellfish (75.5%, UI 74.7 to 76.2) for norovirus. In this study, we provide the best available evidence-based information to evaluate the link between foodborne diseases and foods. Our results on source attribution for Campylobacter spp. and EHEC suggest that the strict health regulations for raw beef were reflected in the proportions of these diseases attributed to this food.

Phenols are plant metabolites characterised by several interesting bioactive properties such as antioxidant and bactericidal activities. In this study the application of a phenols concentrate (PC) from olive vegetation water to two different fresh products – gilt-head seabream (Sparus aurata) and chicken breast – was described. Products were treated in a bath of PC (22 g/L; chicken breast) or sprayed with two different solutions (L1:0.75 and L2:1.5 mg/mL; seabream) and then stored under refrigeration conditions. The shelf life was monitored through microbiological analyses – quality index method for seabream and a specific sensory index for raw breast. The secondary products of lipid-peroxidation of the chicken breast were determined using the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) test on cooked samples. Multivariate statistical techniques were adopted to investigate the impact of phenols and microbiological data were fitted by DMfit software. In seabream, the levels of PC did not highlight any significant difference on microbiological and sensory features. DMfit models suggested an effect only on H₂S producing bacteria with an increased lag phase compared to the control samples (C: 87 h vs L2: 136 h). The results on chicken breast showed that the PC bath clearly modified the growth of Pseudomonas and Enterobacteriaceae. The phenol dipping was effective in limiting lipid-peroxidation (TBARs) after cooking. Treated samples disclosed an increase of shelf life of 2 days. These could be considered as preliminary findings suggesting the use of this concentrate as preservative in some fresh products.