Viability of Listeria monocytogenes was monitored during refrigerated (4°C) and/or frozen (i.e., deep chilling at –2.2°C) storage on casing-cooked hams that were commercially prepared with and without potassium lactate and sodium diacetate (1.6%), buffered vinegar (2.2%), buffered vinegar and potassium lactate (1.7%), or a blend of potassium lactate, potassium acetate, and sodium diacetate (1.7%). A portion of these hams were subsequently surface treated with lauric arginate ester (LAE; 44 ppm). In phase I, hams (ca. 3.5 kg each) were sliced (ca. 0.7 cm thick, ca. 100 g), inoculated (ca. 4.0 log CFU per slice), surface treated with LAE, and stored at either 4°C for 120 days or at –2.2°C for 90 days and then at 4°C for an additional 120 days. In phase I, without antimicrobials, the population of L. monocytogenes increased by ca. 5.9 log CFU per slice within 120 days at 4°C; however, pathogen levels increased only slightly (ca. 0.45 log CFU per slice) for hams formulated with potassium lactate and sodium diacetate and decreased by ca. 1.2 log CFU per slice when formulated with the other antimicrobials. For slices held at –2.2°C and then stored at 4°C, but not treated with LAE, L. monocytogenes increased by ca. 4.5 log CFU per slice for controls, whereas when formulated with antimicrobials, pathogen levels decreased by ca. 1.4 to 1.8 log CFU per slice. For product treated with LAE, L. monocytogenes increased by ca. 4.0 log CFU per slice for controls, whereas when formulated with antimicrobials, pathogen levels decreased by ca. 0.9 to 1.9 log CFU per slice. In phase II, whole hams (ca. 1.0 kg each) containing antimicrobials were inoculated (6.8 log CFU per ham) and then stored at –2.2°C for 6 months. Pathogen levels decreased by ca. 2.0 to 3.5 log CFU per ham (without LAE treatment) and by ca. 4.2 to 5.2 log CFU per ham (with application of LAE via Sprayed Lethality in Container) when product was held at –2.2°C. In general, deep chilling hams was listericidal, and inclusion of antimicrobials in the formulation suppressed outgrowth of L. monocytogenes during extended cold storage.

Food industry processing wastes are produced in enormous amounts every year, such wastes are usually disposed with the corresponding economical cost it implies, in the best scenario they can be used for pet food or composting. However new promising technologies and tools have been developed in the last years aimed at recovering valuable compounds from this type of materials. In particular, sub-critical water hydrolysis (SWH) has been revealed as an interesting way for recovering high added-value molecules, and its applications have been broadly referred in the bibliography. Special interest has been focused on recovering protein hydrolysates in form of peptides or amino acids, from both animal and vegetable wastes, by means of SWH. These recovered biomolecules have a capital importance in fields such as biotechnology research, nutraceuticals, and above all in food industry, where such products can be applied with very different objectives.Present work reviews the current state of art of using sub-critical water hydrolysis for protein recovering from food industry wastes. Key parameters as reaction time, temperature, amino acid degradation and kinetic constants have been discussed. Besides, the characteristics of the raw material and the type of products that can be obtained depending on the substrate have been reviewed. Finally, the application of these hydrolysates based on their functional properties and antioxidant activity is described.

The attainment of food and water security rank high on the agendas of governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Although the objectives are similar, the underlying drivers, resource endowments and opportunities for achieving them are different. Differences between two regions in natural resource endowment and investment capital stock can, in theory, lead to mutually beneficial trade to achieve desired objectives. Concerns about the recent food crises coupled with the disparity in land and water endowment and investable capital between MENA and SSA have led in recent years to investment in agricultural land in the latter by a number of MENA countries with the aim of producing food. At the same time, many SSA countries seek these investments to infuse capital, technology and know-how into their agricultural sector to improve productivity, food security and rural livelihoods. However, these recent foreign direct agricultural investments have to date performed poorly or have been abandoned without achieving the initial objectives of setting them up. Based on research conducted in selected sub-Saharan countries, this paper analyses the reasons for the failure of these investments. It then reviews a few successful agricultural investments by private sector companies with a long history of operation in SSA. Juxtaposing lessons distilled from failed and successful case studies, the paper argues that large-scale agricultural investments that take advantage of this accumulated knowledge are needed and do have a critical role to play. Such investments, when they also incorporate ecosystems management practices and smallholder inclusive business models in their operations, can serve as appropriate instruments to reconcile the food and water security objectives of both the MENA region and SSA, while promoting sustainable intensification of agriculture and improved rural livelihoods in SSA.

Mobile phones are becoming important instruments for assessing diet and energy intake. We developed the Tool for Energy Balance in Children (TECH), which uses a mobile phone to assess energy and food intake in pre-school children. The aims of this study were: (a) to compare energy intake (EI) using TECH with total energy expenditure (TEE) measured via doubly labelled water (DLW); and (b) to compare intakes of fruits, vegetables, fruit juice, sweetened beverages, candy, ice cream, and bakery products using TECH with intakes acquired by 24 h dietary recalls. Participants were 39 healthy, Swedish children (5.5 ± 0.5 years) within the ongoing Mobile-based Intervention Intended to Stop Obesity in Preschoolers (MINISTOP) obesity prevention trial. Energy and food intakes were assessed during four days using TECH and 24 h telephone dietary recalls. Mean EI (TECH) was not statistically different from TEE (DLW) (5820 ± 820 kJ/24 h and 6040 ± 680kJ/24 h, respectively). No significant differences in the average food intakes using TECH and 24 h dietary recalls were found. All food intakes were correlated between TECH and the 24 h dietary recalls (ρ = 0.665–0.896, p < 0.001). In conclusion, TECH accurately estimated the average intakes of energy and selected foods and thus has the potential to be a useful tool for dietary studies in pre-school children, for example obesity prevention trials.

The objective of the workshop was to share with policy makers and other national partners in Tunisia, the preliminary scenarios and results of ICARDA’s research about “the impact of pressure on water resources and its effect on food security in Tunisia”. This research is being conducted as part of the CRP PIM activities of ICARDA and IWMI. It started in 2015 through participative design of scenarios and projections of water availability and demand in Tunisia and Jordan.

Mobile phones are becoming important instruments for assessing diet and energy intake. We developed the Tool for Energy Balance in Children (TECH), which uses a mobile phone to assess energy and food intake in pre-school children. The aims of this study were: (a) to compare energy intake (EI) using TECH with total energy expenditure (TEE) measured via doubly labelled water (DLW): and (b) to compare intakes of fruits, vegetables, fruit juice, sweetened beverages, candy, ice cream, and bakery products using TECH with intakes acquired by 24 h dietary recalls. Participants were 39 healthy, Swedish children (5.5 ± 0.5 years) within the ongoing Mobile-based Intervention Intended to Stop Obesity in Preschoolers (MINISTOP) obesity prevention trial. Energy and food intakes were assessed during four days using TECH and 24 h telephone dietary recalls. Mean EI (TECH) was not statistically different from TEE (DLW) (5820 ± 820 kJ/24 h and 6040 ± 680kJ/24 h, respectively). No significant differences in the average food intakes using TECH and 24 h dietary recalls were found. All food intakes were correlated between TECH and the 24 h dietary recalls (ρ = 0.665–0.896, p &lt: 0.001). In conclusion, TECH accurately estimated the average intakes of energy and selected foods and thus has the potential to be a useful tool for dietary studies in pre-school children, for example obesity prevention trials.

Se evaluó la efectividad del uso de agua de plata en la reducción de microorganismos indicadores de contaminación (Mesófilos aerobios, Escherichia coli, Coliformes totales y Staphylococcus aureus) procedentes de manipuladores de alimentos que preparaban los alimentos en diferentes cafeterías de un centro de educación superior. El estudio se realizó un estudio con 24 muestras resultantes del lavado de manos de manipuladores de alimentos que se encontraban en su jornada laboral, se cuantificó la carga bacteriana de Mesófilos aerobios, Coliformes totales/Escherichia coli y Staphylococcus aureus en sus manos. Se encontró que el 100% de las muestras presentaron un crecimiento >3000 UFC/mano incumpliendo el limite permisible para Mesófilos aerobios, para Coliformes totales el 50 % de las muestras se encontraron por encima del límite permisible de ≤100 UFC/mano, Escherichia coli estuvo presente en 4.16% de las muestras mientras que Staphylococcus aureus se encontró dentro del límite permisible de ≤100 ufc/mano en 58.33% de las muestras. Después de la aplicación de agua de plata, usando un diseño de experimento factorial de dos factores y el análisis de varianza (ANOVA) se encontró que la variable que interviene en la una reducción significativa (p<0,05) de la carga bacteriana es el tiempo de contacto, excepto para el indicador de contaminación Staphylococcus aureus. En este caso ninguna de las variables (tiempo y concentración, ni la interacción de ambas variables) reduce significativamente su contaje inicial. En conclusión, la aplicación del agua de plata durante 5 minutos es efectiva para la reducción o eliminación de microorganismos indicadores de contaminación presentes en las manos de manipuladores de alimentos.

In this work a novel magnetic metal–organic framework (MOF-199/dithiocarbamate modified magnetite nanoparticle composite) was synthesized and utilized for speciation analysis of As(iii) and As(v) via determination by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The synthesized sorbent represented selectivity toward As(iii) at pH = 3 while As(v) remained in the initial solution. Total amount of arsenic in the samples was determined after reduction of the As(v) species to As(iii) ions with the mixture of Na₂S₂O₃ and KI. A design of experiments approach was employed to find the best extraction conditions by evaluating the parameters affecting the preconcentration procedure. Under the optimal conditions the limit of detection, linearity and relative standard deviation of the method for As(iii) were 1.2 ng L⁻¹, 4–300 ng L⁻¹ and <8.4%, respectively. The developed method was validated by analyzing two certified reference materials. Finally, the outlined method was successfully employed to the rapid extraction and speciation analysis of As(iii) and As(v) in water samples and total arsenic in rice and canned tuna samples.

We assessed the food resource partitioning of three fish species (Arctic charr, Atlantic salmon and alpine bullhead) living in sympatry in a subarctic river. Fish were sampled monthly during the ice-free season (May–October), and dietary overlap among the species was calculated according to Schoener’s index. In October, the diet overlap among all three species was high (>70%). In contrast, large to modest food resource partitioning occurred among Arctic charr and the other two species from May to September (27–59% overlap), whereas there was a distinct diet overlap between Atlantic salmon and alpine bullhead in May, August and September (>64%), but not in July (53%). Surface prey (terrestrial and emerged aquatic insects), probably caught at the surface, were important for Arctic charr in August and September (24.9 and 46.6%, respectively), whereas the other fish species mainly fed on Apatania stigmatella, Mystrophora intermedia and Ephemerella aurivilli. Alpine bullhead seemed to feed close to the bottom, Atlantic salmon used both the bottom and water of various depths, whereas Arctic charr showed the greatest capacity to forage at the water surface. This vertical segregation may be important for fish assemblages in subarctic rivers, allowing food resource partitioning and coexistence of sympatric species.