Food Science Commons^™

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Public Perceptions Of Food Safety: Assessing The Risks Posed By Genetic Modification, Irradiation, Pesticides, Microbiological Contamination And High Fat/High Calorie Foods, Michael D. Mehta

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "In general, people in the developed world have access to a safe and varied supply of food. Instead of systemic hunger, many developed countries have problems with obesity and other kinds of eating disorders among their citizenry. It is within this context that some find public concerns about the safety of food both paradoxical and misplaced. Nevertheless, understanding how people perceive the risk associated with food is an important exercise in demonstrating accountability and in setting priorities for regulation. With the advent of technologies for producing genetically modified foods, and the development of fat blockers like Olestra, the public …

Behavior Of Escherichia Coli O157:H7 In Tomato And Processed Tomato Products, Broderick Eribo, Mogessie Ashenafi

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

The survival of E. coli O157:H7 in acid foods for weeks and its prolonged survival in refrigerated acid foods are well documented. This prompted the study to evaluate survival of E. coli O157:H7 in tomato and processed tomato products. The pH of the various products ranged from 4.2 to 4.8 and some products contained preservatives such as vinegar. Samples were separately inoculated with a mixture of four E. coli O157:H7 strains previously isolated from hamburger meat at lower and higher initial inoculum levels, incubated at 4 and 25 °C and assayed for survival at regular intervals. In fresh whole tomato, …

Food Groups And The Risk Of Colorectal Carcinoma In An Asian Population, Adeline Seow, Stella Quah, Denis Nyam, Paulin Tay Straughan, Terrence Chua, Tar-Choon Aw

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

BACKGROUND. Singapore Chinese have experienced a rapid transition toward a pattern of disease in which lifestyle-related, chronic, degenerative diseases are major public health concerns. The rates of colorectal carcinoma have increased 2-fold over the last 3 decades. It has long been known that dietary factors play a role in the risk of this disease, although studies in Asian populations, with their unique dietary intake, have been few.METHODS. The authors conducted a population-based case-control study that included 121 Chinese patients with colorectal carcinoma and 222 healthy control participants who provided information on usual intake of major food groups in the preceding …

Guidelines For The Management Of Microbial Food Safety In Fruit Packing Houses, Tony Portman, Elizabeth Frankish, Graham Mcalpine

Bulletins 4000 -

The fresh produce industry has undergone significant change in recent years in the application of quality assurance to business operations. The quality assurance schemes implemented such as the SQF^CM programs, have generally served to provide a focus on food quality and operational issues, as well as food safety. Improvements of all aspects of the operations are identified to provide consistent quality, safe produce.

Gelatin Manufacturing Process And Product, Vesselin D. Miladinov, Aristippos Gennadios, Milford A. Hanna

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

The present invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art by providing a process for manufacturing gelatin including cleaning a fowl-based source of collagen; subjecting the fowl-based source of collagen to at least one water extraction to extract gelatin from the collagen source; and separating the gelatin from any resulting by-products, wherein the process does not require an initial acid or lime pretreatment step. The present invention also includes a product made from this process.

Isolation And Characterization Of Atriplex Hortensis And Sweet Chenopodium Quinoa Starches, K. H. Wright, K. C. Huber, Daniel J. Fairbanks, C. S. Huber

Faculty Publications

Starches from garden orach (Atriplex hortensis) and sweet quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd. "Surumi") seeds were isolated, examined for compositional characteristics, and compared with bitter quinoa (Cheno-podium quinoa Willd.) starch. Garden orach and sweet quinoa seeds were similar in fat and ash contents, while garden orach seeds contained 10% more protein. Starches were isolated from seeds following a 12-hr soak in dilute alkaline solution using a series of grinding, screening, centrifugation, and washing steps. Isolated starches viewed by scanning electron microscopy yielded angular, polygonal granules 2 m in diameter. Starches displayed typical A-type crystalline packing arrangements as determined by X-ray powder …

Chestnut Market Opportunities Assessing Upscale Restaurant Interest In Value-Added Chestnut Products, Food Processing Center

Food Processing Center: Reports

Chestnut trees, and consequently chestnuts, were a large part of American culture at the turn of the twentieth century. The American chestnut, which is one of four primary chestnut species--Japanese, European, and Chinese being the other three--was prominent in many parts of the country but particularly, the eastern part of the United States. The wood from the trees was commonly used in furniture making and the chestnuts from the tree were frequently included on ingredient lists from recipes used during that era. To not be familiar with and eat chestnuts then could be likened to not having heard of and …

Discovering Lactic Acid Bacteria By Genomics, Todd Klaenhammer, Eric Altermann, Fabrizio Arigoni, Alexander Bolotin, Fred Breidt, Jeffrey Broadbent, Raul Cano, Stephane Chaillou, Josef Deutscher, Mike Gasson, Maarten Van De Gutche, Jean Guzzo, Axel Hartke, Trevor Hawkins, Pascal Hols, Robert W. Hutkins, Michiel Kleerebezem, Jan Kok, Oscar Kuipers, Mark Lubbers, Emanuelle Maguin, Larry Mckay, David Mills, Arjen Nauta, Ross Overbeek, Herman Pel, David Pridmore, Milton Saier, Douwe Van Sinderen, Alexei Sorokin, James Steele, Daniel O'Sullivan, Willem De Vos, Bart Weimer, Monique Zagorec, Roland Seizen

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

This review summarizes a collection of lactic acid bacteria that are now undergoing genomic sequencing and analysis. Summaries are presented on twenty different species, with each overview discussing the organisms fundamental and practical significance, environmental habitat, and its role in fermentation, bioprocessing, or probiotics. For those projects where genome sequence data were available by March 2002, summaries include a listing of key statistics and interesting genomic features. These efforts will revolutionize our molecular view of Gram-positive bacteria, as up to 15 genomes from the low GC content lactic acid bacteria are expected to be available in the public domain by …

Factors Affecting The Determination Of Threshold Doses For Allergenic Foods: How Much Is Too Much?, Steve L. Taylor, Susan L. Hefle, Carsten Bindslev-Jensen, S. Allan Bock, A. Wesley Burks Jr., Lynn Christie, David J. Hill, Arne Host, Jonathan O'B. Hourihane, Gideon Lack, Dean D. Metcalfe, Denise Anne Moneret-Vautrin, Peter A. Vadas, Fabienne Rance, Daniel J. Skrypec, Thomas A. Trautman, Ingrid Malmheden Yman, Robert S. Zeiger

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background: Ingestion of small amounts of an offending food can elicit adverse reactions in individuals with IgE-mediated food allergies. The threshold dose for provocation of such reactions is often considered to be zero. However, because of various practical limitations in food production and processing, foods may occasionally contain trace residues of the offending food. Are these very low, residual quantities hazardous to allergic consumers? How much of the offending food is too much? Very little quantitative information exists to allow any risk assessments to be conducted by the food industry.

Objective: We sought to determine whether the quality and quantity …

Nebraska Specialty Cheese Plant 2002, Food Processing Center

Food Processing Center: Reports

Vendors specializing in cheese processing equipment, both new and used, were identified and contacted. They were asked to supply as much information as they could on equipment requirements and costs associated with a “complete” cheese plant in very small (4,000 pounds raw milk/day), small (16,000 pounds raw milk/day), and medium-small (32,000 pounds raw milk/day) plant sizes. It was anticipated that these vendors would be better able to recommend equipment and provide costs for complete cheese making systems (plants) that could function efficiently to produce specialty cheese products. This is opposed to a more “piece meal” approach of putting together equipment …

Quality Attributes Of Dried Milk Products Packaged For Long-Term Storage, Michelle A. Lloyd, J. Zou, H. Farnsworth, Oscar A. Pike

Faculty Publications

There is a market for dehydrated foods, such as nonfat dry milk (NFDM), that are packaged for long-term storage in case of natural disasters or other emergencies. To maintain quality and optimize shelf-life, NFDM must be properly processed from good quality milk, well-packaged (minimizing moisture, light and oxygen), and stored appropriately. Research is needed to determine the variation in quality that exists in dried milk products intended for retail sale. The objective of this research was to evaluate and compare the quality of several types of dried milk products packaged for long-term storage. Ten brands of dried milk products (5 …

Aromatic Amino Acid Catabolism By Lactobacillus Spp.: Biochemistry And Contribution To Cheese Flavor Development, Sanjay Gummalla

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Amino acids derived from the degradation of casein in cheese serve as precursors for the generation of desirable and undesirable flavor compounds. Microbial degradation of aromatic amino acids is associated with the formation of aroma compounds that impart putrid-fecal, barny-utensil, and floral off-flavors in cheese, but pathways for their production had not been established. This study investigated Tyr and Phe catabolism by Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus helveticus cheese flavor adjuncts under simulated Cheddar cheese-ripening conditions (pH 5.2, 4% NaCl, 15°C, no sugar). Enzyme assays of cell-free extracts and micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography of supernatants indicated that L. casei and L. …

The Effect Of Ginkgo Biloba On Alzheimer's Disease, Allison Marie Wozney

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive dementia associated with increasing loss of memory, intellectual function, and disturbances in speech. It is the most common form of dementia. It is an incurable disease and has four stages which culminate in coma and death. The average survival rate for Alzheimer's is seven years. Presently, the only treatments approved in the United States for Alzheimer's are the drugs tacrine and donepezil. These drugs improve cognitive function in early Alzheimer's. However, Ginkgo biloba has recently been looked at as another treatment option and has been approved for use in Germany. Ginkgo Biloba was originally used …

The Effect Of Lactobacillus Helveticus And Propionibacterium Freudenreichii Ssp. Shermanii Combinations On Propensity For Split Defect In Swiss Cheese, Steven R. White

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One of the least controlled defects in Swiss cheese is development of splits. Split defect is characterized by fissures or cracks in the body of the cheese that can be as short as 1 cm in length or long enough to span a 90-kg block. This defect appears during refrigerated storage after the cheese is removed from the warm room. Swiss cheese with splits is downgraded because it is unsuitable for use on high-speed slicing equipment (up to 1,000 slices per minute).

A 2x2x2 factorial experiment was used to determine the effect of different commercial Lactobacillus helveticus starters combined with …

Tryptophan Catabolism In Brevibacterium Linens Bl2, Madhavi Ummadi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent studies suggest aromatic amino acid catabolism by starter lactococci and flavor adjunct bacteria have a significant impact on off-flavor development during Cheddar cheese ripening. We hypothesized that a flavor adjunct bacterium, Brevibacterium linens BL2, produces off-flavor compounds from aromatic amino acid metabolism that will have a detrimental impact on cheese flavor.

The mechanism of tryptophan (Trp) catabolism in Brevibacterium linens BL2, was investigated in a chemically defined medium during incubation in laboratory conditions (no carbohydrate, pH 6.50, 220 rpm, 25°C) and cheese-like conditions (no carbohydrate, 4% NaCl, static incubation, l5°C). In laboratory conditions, metabolic studies and enzyme assays confirmed …

Vietnam’S Rice Economy: Developments And Prospects, Kenneth B. Young, Eric J. Wailes, Gail L. Cramer, Nguyen Tri Khiem

AAES Research Reports and Research Bulletins

Vietnam shifted rapidly from being a net rice importer prior to 1987 to become the second largest world rice exporter by 1995. Net rice exports have leveled off at about 3.8 million metric tons from 1997 to 1999. The world rice price has dropped dramatically in 2000 to barely cover the rice production cost in Vietnam, and net rice exports are expected to fall to 3.4 million mt because of the poor import demand in 2000. This report reviews the policy adjustments that led to the rapid growth in rice production and evaluates the prospects for Vietnam to continue as …

Risk Assessment And Decision-Making For Genetically Modified Foods, Aynsley Kellow

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The author examines concerns about genetically modified foods and how those concerns have developed into policy responses markedly different in Europe than in the United States.

Bse: Risk, Uncertainty, And Policy Change, Enda Cummins, Pat Grace, Kevin Mcdonnell, Shane Ward

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors discuss how, in our "risk society," a range of potential risks and uncertainties are associated with new technologies and new diseases, such as BSE. These risks bring with them worries about human health, while the ability to assess and manage new health scares is an essential skill for government and related industries.

Golden Rice: A Case Study In Intellectual Property Management And International Capacity Building, Stanley P. Kowalski, R. David Kryder

Law Faculty Scholarship

In order for agricultural biotechnology (agri-biotech) to play a larger role in the development of sustainable agricultural systems, intellectual property (IP) rights management must be addressed. These issues are not limited to developing countries. With increased globalization, the management of agri-biotech IP rights affects both developing and industrialized countries. In industrialized countries, for example, IP rights risk management entails protection of inventions via strong patent portfolios. For developing countries, IP rights risk management includes the acquisition of rights requisite for the use of inventions essential to the basic welfare of the population. Strategies are needed to bridge these disparate IP …

Golden Rice: A Case Study In Intellectual Property Management And International Capacity Building, Stanley P. Kowalski, R. David Kryder

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors examine the management of risks associated with intellectual property linked to agri-biotech products, with emphasis on the international movement of agri-biotech intellectual property from industrialized to developing nations.

Review Of: Eat Your Genes: How Genetically Modified Food Is Entering Our Diet (Stephen Nottingham Ed.), Natalie Duval

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Review of the book: "Eat Your Genes: How Genetically Modified Food Is Entering Our Diet," by Stephen Nottingham, (St. Martin's Press 1999). Introduction, Glossary, Bibliography, Index. ISBN 1-85649-578-7 [212 pp. $17.95. Softbound, St. Martin's Press, Inc., New York, NY 10010].

Displacement Of Escherichia Coli O157:H7 From Rumen Medium Containing Prebiotic Sugars, Albane De Vaux, Mark Morrison, Robert W. Hutkins

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

A fed-batch, anaerobic culture system was developed to assess the behavior of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in a rumen-like environment. Fermentation medium consisted of either 50% (vol/vol) raw or sterile rumen fluid and 50% phosphate buffer. Additional rumen fluid was added twice per day, and samples were removed three times per day to simulate the exiting of digesta and microbes from the rumen environment under typical feeding regimens. With both types of medium, anaerobic and enteric bacteria reached 10¹⁰ and 10⁴ cells/ml, respectively, and were maintained at these levels for at least 5 days. When a rifampin-resistant strain of …

Detecting Stress In Animals, Sharon Durham, Ted H. Elsasser

Agricultural Research Magazine

When people get stressed, they seek relief in many ways. Some exercise, some practice specific breathing techniques, and some eat chocolate. Farm animals become stressed, too. In domesticated food animals, stress can affect meat quality, milk production, and general health. But animal stress must often be intuited from clues such as lower-than-anticipated weights and increased illness.

Certain stressful events can be anticipated, for example, birth and weaning. But how do you know if an animal is stressed for some other reason? Ted H. Elsasser of ARS’ Growth Biology Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, is investigating nitrated protein as a biomarker of …

Getting Atop Climbing Fern, Marcia Wood, Jesús García

Agricultural Research Magazine

A team of two tiny moths might help stop the spread of Old World climbing fern, an aggressive vine that’s on the march in central and south Florida. With further research, a third moth, a hungry mite, a small beetle, and perhaps other hardworking organisms as well may qualify to join the coterie of pint-sized weedeaters.

Known to botanists as Lygodium microphyllum, Old World climbing fern makes its way up stems and trunks of other plants, forming blankets of lightgreen vegetation.

On the ground, climbing fern creates tough, spongy mats that can easily smother grasses, low-growing shrubs, and small …

Speeding Up Breeding Of Superior Plants, Judy St. John

Agricultural Research Magazine

That oatmeal you ate for breakfast this morning is loaded with healthful compounds known as antioxidants. They help to protect your body from damage caused by molecules known as free radicals. Oats, for instance, are rich in the antioxidants alpha-tocopherol and alpha-tocotrienol.

But what if tomorrow’s oats could provide even more of these health-imparting compounds? That’s a goal of ARS oat researchers at laboratories in several states. Aiding this research is an invaluable tool of modern biotechnology. Known as biomolecular markers, gene markers, or DNA markers, these pieces of genetic material are signposts or clues. They are telltale indicators that, …

Protecting Peanuts From Aflatoxin, Jan Suszkiw, Joe W. Dorner, Marshall C. Lamb

Agricultural Research Magazine

Peanut farmers could soon have a biological pesticide for protecting their crop’s prized seed from fungi that produce aflatoxin—the chief culprits being Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus.

Circle One Global, Inc. (COGI), of Cuthbert, Georgia, has applied for an exclusive license on an ARS technique for making the biopesticide from spores of a nontoxigenic, or benign, strain of A. flavus.

In Florida, Georgia, and Alabama—top peanut-producing states— aflatoxin outbreaks from 1993 to 1996 caused losses averaging $26 million annually, ARS economist Marshall C. Lamb estimates. The Peanut Administrative Committee strictly regulates the sale or use of shelled peanuts …

Ars Researchers Winning Battle With Noxious Weed, Daniel Gandolfo, Jesús García

Agricultural Research Magazine

Small victories are being reported by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in the war against tropical soda apple (Solanum viarum), a nonnative, invasive weed of pastures, row crops, forests, and urban areas throughout the southeastern United States.

Tropical soda apple (TSA) was first observed in Florida in 1988, causing little concern with fewer than 2,000 acres affected. Just 6 years later, however, researchers estimated that more than 1 million acres were infested. Charles T. Bryson, an ARS research botanist with the Southern Weed Science Research Unit in Stoneville, Mississippi, says researchers believe the resilient weed has now been …

Science Update January 2002, Consuelo M. De Moraes, Brad Morris, Steven M. Valles, Yvette Alonso

Agricultural Research Magazine

Caterpillars—Agents of Their Own Demise

Bean Plants Repel Nematodes

Unlocking the Keys to Cockroach Resilience

Everything You Wanted To Know About Food Safety

Fighting Insect Pests Of Stored Foods, Michael A. Mullen, Franklin H. Arthur, Linda Mcgraw

Agricultural Research Magazine

Anyone who has ever been to a picnic knows insects are drawn to food. That’s why developing new methods to keep insects out of food in packages, warehouses, and processing plants is critical for food manufacturers. New and innovative methods are needed because the industry is challenged to reduce pesticide use while ensuring that food products are insect-free. To meet these challenges, a team of ARS scientists at the Grain Marketing and Production Research Center in Manhattan, Kansas, is working closely with industry.

Keep Out, Bug!

Keeping food in containers is one of the oldest ways to protect food from …