Digital Commons Network^™

Sustainable Sensing With Paper Microfluidics: Applications In Health, Environment, And Food Safety, Sanjay Kumar, Jyoti B. Kaushal, Heow Pueh Lee

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

This manuscript offers a concise overview of paper microfluidics, emphasizing its sustainable sensing applications in healthcare, environmental monitoring, and food safety. Researchers have developed innovative sensing platforms for detecting pathogens, pollutants, and contaminants by leveraging the paper’s unique properties, such as biodegradability and affordability. These portable, low-cost sensors facilitate rapid diagnostics and on-site analysis, making them invaluable tools for resource-limited settings. This review discusses the fabrication techniques, principles, and applications of paper microfluidics, showcasing its potential to address pressing challenges and enhance human health and environmental sustainability.

Twenty-Eight Years Of Gm Food And Feed Without Harm: Why Not Accept Them?, Richard E. Goodman

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Since the first genetically engineered or modified crops or organisms (GMO) were approved for commercial production in 1995, no new GMO has been proven to be a hazard or cause harm to human consumers. These modifications have improved crop efficiency, reduced losses to insect pests, reduced losses to viral and microbial plant pathogens and improved drought tolerance. A few have focused on nutritional improvements producing beta carotene in Golden Rice. Regulators in the United States and countries signing the CODEX Alimentarius and Cartagena Biosafety agreements have evaluated human and animal food safety considering potential risks of allergenicity, toxicity, nutritional and …

Bystanders To A Public Health Crisis: The Failures Of The U.S. Multi-Agency Regulatory Approach To Food Safety In The Face Of Persistent Organic Pollutants, Katya S. Cronin

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) are devastating our food systems and our health. Recent studies link even small exposure to PFAS to a host of adverse health outcomes, including cancer, autoimmune diseases, thyroid disease, liver damage, childhood obesity, infertility, and birth defects.

Food consumption is a primary route of PFAS exposure. PFAS are omnipresent at dangerous levels in our marine and agricultural environments, including in water, soil, fertilizers, compost, and air. From there, they can find their way into virtually every plant, fish, animal, and animal product, and ultimately (in the greatest concentration) into the consumer. In addition, PFAS-laden food …

Presence, Co-Occurrence, And Daily Intake Estimates Of Aflatoxins And Fumonisins In Maize Consumed In Food-Insecure Regions Of Western Honduras, Luis Sabillón, Jackeline Alvarado, Alejandra Leiva, Rodrigo Mendoza, Raúl Espinal, John F. Leslie, Andreia Bianchini

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Foodborne mycotoxins are a significant food safety risk in developing countries. Our objective was to determine the occurrence of and exposure levels to aflatoxins (AFs) and fumonisins (FBs) in maize intended for human and animal consumption in food-insecure regions of western Honduras. Total AFs and FBs were quantified with a monoclonal antibody-based affinity spectrofluorimetric method. FBs were detected in 614/631 samples of maize destined for human consumption at 0.3 to 41 mg/kg (mean, 2.7 mg/kg). Of the 614 positive samples, 147 had FB levels exceeding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory threshold of 4.0 mg/kg. AFs were detected …

Risk Factors For Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli Infections, United States, Ellyn P. Marder, Zhaohui Cui, Beau B. Bruce, Latonia Clay Richardson, Michelle M. Boyle, Paul R. Cieslak, Nicole Comstock, Sarah Lathrop, Katie Garman, Suzanne Mcguire, Danyel Olson, Duc J. Vugia, Siri Wilson, Patricia M. Griffin, Carlota Medus

Pathology Research and Scholarship

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) causes acute diarrheal illness. To determine risk factors for non-O157 STEC infection, we enrolled 939 patients and 2,464 healthy controls in a case-control study conducted in 10 US sites. The highest population-attributable fractions for domestically acquired infections were for eating lettuce (39%), tomatoes (21%), or at a fast-food restaurant (23%). Exposures with 10%-19% population attributable fractions included eating at a table service restaurant, eating watermelon, eating chicken, pork, beef, or iceberg lettuce prepared in a restaurant, eating exotic fruit, taking acid-reducing medication, and living or working on or visiting a farm. Significant exposures with high …

Uv-C Inactivation Of Microorganisms In Droplets On Food Contact Surfaces Using Uv-C Light-Emitting Diode Devices, Aakash Sharma, Housyn Mahmoud, Brahmaiah Pendyala, Sampathkumar Balamurugan, Ankit Patras

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

The main objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of ultraviolet light (UV-C) emitting diodes for the decontamination of stainless steel food contact surfaces. Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC 19115), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (ATCC 700720) were chosen as challenge microorganisms. Target microorganisms were subjected to UV-C dosages of 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 mJ cm−2 at an average fluence of 0.163 mW/cm2 using a near-collimated beam operating at 279 nm wavelength. Escherichia coli showed lower sensitivity to UV-C light compared to Salmonella Typhimurium and followed first-order kinetics. Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium were …

Thematic Analysis Of Food Safety Literature: The Fda Food Code And State Legislation, Sabrina Nicole Backlund

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

One of the most important purposes of communication is to warn people of environmental dangers. More specifically, communication can identify risks associated with food safety. The government and food safety experts are to provide information on these dangers. This study aims to determine whether these entities use consistent language to communicate these dangers. The reader will first take a journey through relevant communication concepts and an introduction to food safety. This qualitative applied communication analysis uses MAXQDA software to ascertain similarities in word choice between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food code and state legislative material. This comparison uses …

Evaluation Of Irish Consumers’ Knowledge Of Salmonellosis And Foodhandling Practices, Ann Conway, Olugbenga Ehuwa, Meabh Manning, Aine Maye, Fintan Moran, Amit K. Jaiswal, Swarna Jaiswal

Articles

Salmonella is one of numerous food-borne pathogens that could possibly pose a major threat to global food safety. Salmonella is primarily associated with foods such as poultry, eggs, vegetables, and some dairy products. However, infected food handlers and faecal contaminated environments are also significant sources and reservoirs of this pathogen. This study comprehensively evaluated the Irish consumers’ food safety knowledge by exploring their knowledge level, practices and attitudes regarding raw meat handling, cross-contamination while handling different types of food products, and knowledge of Salmonella risk and associated food-handling practices. The online SurveyMonkey tool was used to distribute a quantitative survey …

Isolation And Identification Of Chlorate-Reducing Hafnia Sp. From Milk, William P. Mccarthy, Meghana Srinivas, Martin Danaher, Christine O'Connor, Tom F. O'Callaghan, Douwe Van Sinderen, John Kenny, John T. Tobin

Articles

Chlorate has become a concern in the food and beverage sector, related to chlorine sanitizers in industrial food production and water treatment. It is of particular concern to regulatory bodies due to the negative health effects of chlorate exposure. This study investigated the fate of chlorate in raw milk and isolated bacterial strains of interest responsible for chlorate breakdown. Unpasteurized milk was demonstrated to have a chlorate-reducing capacity, breaking down enriched chlorate to undetectable levels in 11 days. Further enrichment and isolation using conditions specific to chlorate-reducing bacteria successfully isolated three distinct strains of Hafnia paralvei . Chlorate-reducing bacteria were …

Diy Handwashing Stations, Mary S. Choate

Advisory Council

No abstract provided.

Evidence For The Efficacy Of Pre-Harvest Agricultural Practices In Mitigating Food-Safety Risks To Fresh Produce In North America, Naresh Devarajan, Daniel L. Weller, Matthew Jones, Aiko D. Adell, Achyut Adhikari, Ana Allende, Nicole L. Arnold, Patrick Baur, Sarah M. Beno, Donna Clements, Elissa M. Olimpi, Faith Critzer, Hyatt Green, Lisa Gorski, Angela Ferelli Gruber, Jasna Kovac, Jeffery Mcgarvey, Claire M. Murphy, Sarah I. Murphy, Nora Navarro-Gonzalez, Jeb P. Owen, Alda F.A. Pires, Nicole Richard, Sandipan Samaddar, Radomir Schmidt, Kate Scow, Nikki W. Shariat, Olivia M. Smith, Austin R. Spence, Don Stoeckel, Thao D.H. Tran, Gretchen Wall, Daniel S. Karp

Faculty Publications

Consumption of contaminated produce remains a leading cause of foodborne illness. Increasingly, growers are altering agricultural practices and farm environments to manage food-safety hazards, but these changes often result in substantial economic, social, and environmental costs. Here, we present a comprehensive evidence synthesis evaluating the efficacy of soil, non-crop vegetation, animal, landscape, and irrigation water management strategies aimed at reducing produce-safety risk in North America. We systematically summarized findings from 78 peer-reviewed papers on the effect of 21 management practices on the prevalence, abundance, or survival of four foodborne pathogens (i.e., E. coli, Salmonella spp., Listeria spp., and Campylobacter spp.), …

Trends In Maintaining Postharvest Freshness And Quality Of Rubus Berries, Hafiz Muhammad Shoaib Shah, Zora Singh, Jashanpreet Kaur, Mahmood Ul Hasan, Andrew Woodward, Eben Afrifa-Yamoah

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Blackberries and raspberries, commonly known as Rubus berries, are commercially grown worldwide across different climates. Rubus berries contain wide array of phytochemicals, vitamins, dietary fibers, minerals, and unsaturated fatty acids. Nevertheless, these berries have short storage life which is the major constraint in their supply chains leading to higher postharvest losses. Inappropriate harvest handling, physical bruising, insect pests, and postharvest diseases lower the acceptability of fruit among consumers and other supply chain stakeholders. Additionally, the susceptibility to microbial decay, fruit softening, higher ethylene production, respiratory activity, and increased oxidation of anthocyanins, phenolics, and flavonoids considerably affects the marketability of Rubus …

Handwashing Areas Missed, Mary S. Choate

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Handwashing Steps Poster, Mary S. Choate

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Crossover Food Businesses In Louisiana, United States: A Descriptive Study Of Their Characteristics And Food Safety Training Needs From Public Health Inspectors’ Perspective, Wenqing Xu, Evelyn Watts, Carolyn Bombet, Melissa Cater

Faculty Publications

Objectives: Integrating retail and manufacturing enables limitless potential for food businesses, but also creates challenges for navigating within complex food safety regulations. From public health inspectors’ (PHIs) perspective, this study aimed (1) to describe the characteristics of crossover businesses in Louisiana, and (2) to evaluate regulation awareness and food safety education needs for business owners and PHIs who inspect crossover businesses. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was administered to Louisiana Department of Health PHIs using Qualtrics®. A descriptive analysis was performed, focusing on the frequency of each item. Results: In total, 1774 retailers were conducting or planned to conduct specialized processes, …

Digitalization In Food Supply Chains: A Bibliometric Review And Key-Route Main Path Analysis, Abderahman Rejeb, Karim Rejeb, Alireza Abdollahi, Suhaiza Zailani, Mohammad Iranmanesh, Morteza Ghobakhloo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Technological advances such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data, social media, and geographic information systems represent a building block of the digital transformation that supports the resilience of the food supply chain (FSC) and increases its efficiency. This paper reviews the literature surrounding digitalization in FSCs. A bibliometric and key-route main path analysis was carried out to objectively and analytically uncover the knowledge development in digitalization within the context of sustainable FSCs. The research began with the selection of 2140 articles published over nearly five decades. Then, the articles were examined according to several bibliometric metrics such as year of …

Evaluation Of The Kitchen Microbiome And Food Safety Behaviors Of Predominantly Low-Income Families, Christina K Carstens, Joelle K Salazar, Shreela V Sharma, Wenyaw Chan, Charles Darkoh

Student and Faculty Publications

Bacterial pathogens in the domestic environment present a risk to residents, particularly among susceptible populations. However, the impact of consumer demographic characteristics and food handling methods on kitchen microbiomes is not fully understood. The domestic kitchen bacterial communities of ten predominantly low-income families in Houston, TX, were assessed in conjunction with a cross-sectional food safety survey to evaluate differences in household and surface-specific microbiomes and bacterial foodborne pathogen presence. Three kitchen surfaces within each household, including the sink drain, the refrigerator handle, and the counter, were environmentally sampled and metataxonomically evaluated via targeted 16S rRNA sequencing. Disposable dish sponges were …

Impact Of Supply Chain Integration On Halal Food Supply Chain Integrity And Food Quality Performance, Mohd Helmi Ali, Mohammad Iranmanesh, Kim Hua Tan, Suhaiza Zailani, Nor Asiah Omar

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Purpose: The current complex halal food supply chain (SC) has caused food scandals, which have illustrated the weakness of multiple food quality standards and certification and audits in ensuring food safety. Drawn on the resource-based view (RBV) theory, the purpose of this study is to explore the impacts of SC integration (SCI) on halal food SC integrity and, consequently, food quality. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical data were collected from 275 halal-certified food companies in Malaysia and analysed using structural equation modelling – SmartPLS3.0. Findings: The results confirmed that SCI, including internal, supplier and customer integrations, has significant effects on the dimensions of …

Antibiotic Resistant Enterobacteriaceae In Milk Alternatives, Winnie Mukuna, Abdullah Ibn Mafiz, Bharat Pokharel, Aniume Tobenna, Agnes Kilonzo-Nthenge

Human Sciences Faculty Research

The consumption of non-dairy milk is on the rise due to health benefits. Although there is increasing inclination towards milk alternatives (MA), there is limited data on antibiotic resistant bacteria in these substitutes. The aim of this study was to investigate antimicrobial resistance of bacteria isolated from MA. A total of 138 extracts from almonds (n = 63), cashew nuts (n = 36), and soybeans (n = 39) were analyzed for Enterobacteriaceae. The identification of the bacteria was based on biochemical and PCR methods. Antibiotic sensitivity was determined by using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion technique. Overall, 31% (43 of 138) …

Editorial: Conflicts And Compromises Between Food Safety Policies And Environmental Sustainability, Patrick Baur, Janne Lundén, Michele Jay-Russell

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Global Trends In Norovirus Genotype Distribution Among Children With Acute Gastroenteritis., Jennifer L. Cannon, Joseph Bonifacio, Filemon Bucardo, Javier Buesa, Leesa Bruggink, Martin Chi-Wai Chan, Tulio M. Fumian, Sidhartha Giri, Mark D. Gonzalez, Joanne Hewitt, Jih-Hui Lin, Janet Mans, Christian Muñoz, Chao-Yang Pan, Xiao-Li Pang, Corinna Pietsch, Mustafiz Rahman, Naomi Sakon, Rangaraj Selvarangan, Hannah Browne, Leslie Barclay, Jan Vinjé

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Noroviruses are a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) among adults and children worldwide. NoroSurv is a global network for norovirus strain surveillance among children(genotype and polymerase type) and uploaded 1,325 dual-typed sequences to the NoroSurv web portal during 2016-2020. More than 50% of submitted sequences were GII.4 Sydney[P16] or GII.4 Sydney[P31] strains. Other common strains included GII.2[P16], GII.3[P12], GII.6[P7], and GI.3[P3] viruses. In total, 22 genotypes and 36 dual types, including GII.3 and GII.20 viruses with rarely reported polymerase types, were detected, reflecting high strain diversity. Surveillance data captured in NoroSurv enables the monitoring of trends in norovirus strains …

Narrow And Brittle Or Broad And Nimble? Comparing Adaptive Capacity In Simplifying And Diversifying Farming Systems, Margiana Petersen-Rockney, Patrick Baur, Aidee Guzman, S. Franz Bender, Adam Calo, Federico Castillo, Kathryn De Master, Antoinette Dumont, Kenzo Esquivel, Claire Kremen, James Lachance, Maria Mooshammer, Joanna Ory, Mindy J. Price, Yvonne Socolar, Paige Stanley, Alastair Iles, Timothy Bowles

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

Humanity faces a triple threat of climate change, biodiversity loss, and global food insecurity. In response, increasing the general adaptive capacity of farming systems is essential. We identify two divergent strategies for building adaptive capacity. Simplifying processes seek to narrowly maximize production by shifting the basis of agricultural production toward centralized control of socially and ecologically homogenized systems. Diversifying processes cultivate social-ecological complexity in order to provide multiple ecosystem services, maintain management flexibility, and promote coordinated adaptation across levels. Through five primarily United States focused cases of distinct agricultural challenges—foodborne pathogens, drought, marginal lands, labor availability, and land access and …

Fruits And Vegetables In The Management Of Underlying Conditions For Covid-19 High-Risk Groups, Nora Moreb, Ahmed Albandary, Swarna Jaiswal, Amit Jaiswal

Articles

: SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus, which is the cause of the current pandemic with 107,411,561 infections and 2,351,195 death worldwide so far. There are multiple symptoms that are linked with the infection of COVID-19 such as coughing, shortness of breath, congestion together with fatigue, fever, loss of taste or smell, headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. The lack of or early stage of development of a cure for COVID-19 illness, there is need for insuring the best possible position of health to be able to fight the virus naturally through a robust immune system to limit …

Proteome Analysis And Epitope Mapping In A Commercial Reduced-Gluten Wheat Product, Mitchell G. Nye-Wood, Angela Juhasz, Utpal Bos, Michelle L. Colgrave

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Gluten related disorders, such as coeliac disease, wheat allergy and baker's asthma are triggered by proteins present in food products made from wheat and related cereal species. The only treatment of these medical illnesses is a strict gluten-free diet; however, gluten-free products that are currently available in the market can have lower nutritional quality and are more expensive than traditional gluten containing cereal products. These constraints have led to the development of gluten-free or gluten-reduced ingredients. In this vein, a non-GMO wheat flour that purports to contain “65% less allergenic gluten” was recently brought to market. The present study aims …

Effect Of High-Pressure Processing On The Microbial Load And Functionality Of Sugar-Cookie Dough, Luis Sabillón, Jayne E. Stratton, Devin Rose, Kent M. Eskridge, Andreia Bianchini

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background and objectives: Refrigerated dough products have the potential to be a safety hazard to consumers because they could be consumed raw or undercooked. The objectives of this study were designed to evaluate the microbial and functionality changes in high pressured sugar-cookie dough as a function of a_w (0.80–0.87), pressure level (100–600 MPa), and holding time (1–6 min).

Findings: Endogenous microbial populations were marginally reduced (0.2–0.5 log CFU/g) by pressure treatments. However, treating the dough at 600 MPa for 6 min significantly reduced counts of inoculated Escherichia coli by as much as 2.0 log CFU/g. Increasing the a_{w …}

Heuristic And Hierarchical-Based Population Mining Of Salmonella Enterica Lineage I Pan-Genomes As A Platform To Enhance Food Safety, Joao Carlos Gomes-Neto, Natasha Pavlovikj, Carmen Cano, Baha Abdalhamid, Gabriel Asad Al-Ghalith, John Dustin Loy, Dan Knights, Peter C. Iwen, Byron D. Chaves, Andrew K. Benson

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

The recent incorporation of bacterial whole-genome sequencing (WGS) into Public Health laboratories has enhanced foodborne outbreak detection and source attribution. As a result, large volumes of publicly available datasets can be used to study the biology of foodborne pathogen populations at an unprecedented scale. To demonstrate the application of a heuristic and agnostic hierarchical population structure guided pan-genome enrichment analysis (PANGEA), we used populations of S. enterica lineage I to achieve two main objectives: (i) show how hierarchical population inquiry at different scales of resolution can enhance ecological and epidemiological inquiries; and (ii) identify population-specific inferable traits that could provide …

Fdst 403/803 – Food Quality Assurance, Byron D. Chaves

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Food Science and Technology (FDST) 403: Food Quality Assurance is an upper level required course for FDST undergraduate majors at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course covers food safety regulations, food safety management systems, and statistical process control applied to food safety and quality in food manufacturing. This Peer Review of Teaching Portfolio documents the course analysis and reflection for spring 2021. Two mid-semester student course evaluations were performed on March 1 and April 5, the lecture immediately after the midterm exams. Anonymous paper and online surveys were filled out during class time asking students to reflect on the course …

Salmonella, Food Safety And Food Handling Practices, Olugbenga Ehuwa, Amit Jaiswal, Swarna Jaiswal

Articles

: Salmonellosis is the second most reported gastrointestinal disorder in the EU resulting from the consumption of Salmonella-contaminated foods. Symptoms include gastroenteritis, abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhoea, fever, myalgia, headache, nausea and vomiting. In 2018, Salmonella accounted for more than half of the numbers of foodborne outbreak illnesses reported in the EU. Salmonella contamination is mostly associated with produce such as poultry, cattle and their feeds but other products such as dried foods, infant formula, fruit and vegetable products and pets have become important. Efforts aimed at controlling Salmonella are being made. For example, legislation and measures put in place reduced …

Eat Clean And Safe Food: A Food-Based Dietary Guideline For The Elderly In South Africa, Makenzie Miller, Wilna Oldewage-Theron, Carin Napier

Faculty Publications

As the population of elderly individuals in South Africa (SA) grows, there is a need to promote the continued health of these persons as they progress through the life cycle. Food Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) for the SA elderly were developed to address this need. These thirteen guidelines for the elderly collectively offer a basis of health practices that the elderly can follow to ensure that they are taking the right steps toward maintaining their health. While the guideline ‘Eat clean and safe food’ is not included in the current SA FBDGs, this recommendation is of particular importance to the …

The Use Of Bacteriophages For Food Safety, Lorraine Endersen, Aidan Coffey

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The search for natural biocontrol agents that allow the production of foods that are safe for human consumption and do not impact the taste, texture, and nutritional quality of the food, is a constant challenge for diverse food industries worldwide, particularly as the human population continues to rise globally, and multiple antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria is increasingly prevalent. Bacteriophages (phages), the naturally occurring predators of bacteria, are harmless to humans and animals and are ubiquitous in the environment — and as such, have been recognised as promising antimicrobial agents to help control specific bacterial pathogens in food production. This …