Assessment of the microbiological quality of popular food items on sale in secondary school canteens of Mauritius

This study was carried out to assess the microbiological status of three hot meals served in eight selected school canteens of Mauritius, with two schools randomly selected from each of the four school zones of the island. Three individual samples of farata, panini, or fried noodles were collected at each school during two independent visits. The three individual samples of each food type collected during each visit were then pooled before being subjected to microbiological analyses. A total of 48 composite samples were analyzed. The parameters tested were Total Viable Count (TVC), Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria spp. The microbiological analyses revealed that paninis were deemed as generally acceptable with TVC falling in the range of 3.0-5.7 Log CFU/g and undetectable levels of S. aureus and E. coli. In contrast, fried noodles and faratas harboured a moderately high level of TVC (4.4-6.7 Log CFU/g) and objectionably high levels S. aureus (3.1 to 5.0 Log CFU/g) and E. coli (3.1-5.1 Log CFU/g) for seven out of the eight schools

Food science sourcebook

2 v. : ill. ; 26 cm2nd edition.Rev. ed. of: Source book for food scientists. c1978"An AVI book."Pt. 1. Terms and descriptions -- pt. 2. Food composition,properties, and general data

Challenges and opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of food reformulation and fortification to improve dietary and nutrition outcomes

Reformulation, a change to a food or beverage’s processing or composition, can reduce potentially harmful ingredients such as salt, added sugar, and saturated and trans fats or increase potentially beneficial ingredients or nutrients such as fiber, protein, and micronutrients. Poor nutrition and health outcomes of populations have stimulated programs and policies to reduce the intake of salt, added sugar, and unhealthy fats and increase healthy nutrients and ingredients to meet recommended targets of a healthy diet. Alongside promoting the consumption of whole, nutritious foods (e.g., fruits, vegetables, and whole grains), reformulation, including fortification of processed foods, has been utilized by food industry manufacturers to contribute to improving diets and aligning with national dietary guidelines. This paper summarizes a literature review and twenty semistructured interviews with experts on food product reformulation and fortification to highlight the challenges, limitations, and opportunities for increasing their effectiveness. While studies have shown that reformulation could have beneficial public health impacts, such as iodized salt, there are a dearth of rigorous evaluations, particularly for some types of reformulations. Importantly, some evidence suggests that ultra-processing has significant adverse health effects independently of nutrient adequacy. To improve population health, reformu­ lation should be complemented with a range of approaches, including food taxes and subsidies, public food procurement, restrictions on food advertising and marketing, front-of-pack labeling, and changes to food envi­ ronments that improve availability, affordability, and demand for whole and minimally processed foods

An Inventory of Information on the Utilization of Unprocessed and Simply Processed Soybeans as Human Food

A.I.D. abstract: The lack of low-cost nutritious foods is a basic problem encountered by the poor in numerous lesser developed countries. Increased use of soybean foods by the poor could effectively ease this problem, but, while soybeans have been a basic part of oriental diets for centuries, their acceptance by western cultures has been minimal. A project has been initiated by AID to promote soybeans as a food staple among the rural poor in a select (test) LDC and to develop methods for introducing unprocessed or simply-processed soybeans as a "direct food" for low-income peoples of other LDC's. This document was prepared as a result of that project. It is a survey of the current knowledge on the food uses of soybeans and patterns of soybean consumption throughout the world. Traditional soybean foods and soybean processing methods according to country or region are discussed, as well as recently developed, non-traditional processing methods. Other sections of this document deal with ways of cooking and serving soybeans in the American diet, industrial processes for producing edible soy protein, the marketing of soybean products, barriers to acceptability and utilization of soybeans in food, and needed research or development work to overcome such barriers in developing countries

Advances in Food Processing (Food Preservation, Food Safety, Quality and Manufacturing Processes)

This e-book aims to compile advances in the area of food manufacturing including packaging to address issues of food safety, quality, fraud, and how these processes (new or old) could affect the organoleptic characteristics of foods, with the aim to promote consumers’ satisfaction. Moreover, food supply issues are explored. New and improved technologies are employed in the area of food manufacturing to address consumer needs in terms of quality and safety. The issues of research and development should be taken into account seriously before launching a new product onto the market. Finally, food fraud and authenticity are very important issues, and the food industry should focus on addressing them

Foods of Association

This fascinating book examines the biology and culture of foods and beverages that are consumed in communal settings, with special attention to their health implications. Nina Etkin covers a wealth of topics, exploring human evolutionary history, the Slow Food movement, ritual and ceremonial foods, caffeinated beverages, spices, the street foods of Hawaii and northern Nigeria, and even bottled water. Her work is framed by a biocultural perspective that considers both the physiological implications of consumption and the cultural construction and circulation of foods

Foods of Association

This fascinating book examines the biology and culture of foods and beverages that are consumed in communal settings, with special attention to their health implications. Nina Etkin covers a wealth of topics, exploring human evolutionary history, the Slow Food movement, ritual and ceremonial foods, caffeinated beverages, spices, the street foods of Hawaii and northern Nigeria, and even bottled water. Her work is framed by a biocultural perspective that considers both the physiological implications of consumption and the cultural construction and circulation of foods

An assessment of school food and nutrition environments for strengthening the integrated school health policy in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

The 2012 Integrated School Health Policy (ISHP) offers a framework for adequate school food environment. It aims to contribute to the improvement of the general health of school-going children and to address health barriers to learning in order to improve education outcomes. This study assessed the school food and nutrition environment and critically appraised the position of nutrition within ISHP in order to make recommendations for best practice and promotion of healthy-eating in quintiles 1 – 3 secondary school learners of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Areas evaluated included the school food environment (National School Food Nutrition Programme, NSNP, tuck-shop, vendor, lunch box, and school vegetable garden); eating practice; nutrition knowledge; and nutrition status. A quantitative and qualitative cross-sectional design was applied in data collection. Data was collected from 1,357 learners at 18 secondary schools in three districts: Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Chris Hani and OR Tambo, using semi-structured questionnaires. Five major food items provided in the school food and nutrition environment included: beans, pap, sour-milk, rice, and samp (maize) (NSNP); chips, sandwich, pap, biscuits, and cake (tuck-shop); chips, sandwich, pap, cake, and pop-corn (vendor); and samp (maize), noodles, fat-cake, chips, and Russian/Viennas (lunch boxes). Only three of the 16 schools had school vegetable gardens which produced vegetables and no fruits. Five most frequently eaten foods for breakfast were porridge, rusks, stiff-pap, bread-with-spread, eggs, and polony. Learners from quintile 3 (60.8percent) significantly ate more cooked porridge than learners from quintiles 1 and 2 (51.9percent) (p = 0.015). Leaners from quintile 3 (59.4percent) significantly ate more brown bread-with-spread than learners from quintiles 1 and 2 (50.4) (p = 0.022). The majority of learners (72.7percent) ate breakfast; more male learners (24.4percent) than female learners (29.1percent) skipped breakfast. The majority (62.2percent) of learners had poor nutritional knowledge; significantly, more male (35percent) than female (27percent) learners had poor nutritional knowledge (p = 0.003). Nutritional knowledge increased with age; significantly more grade 8 learners had poor (42.6percent) nutritional knowledge than grade 12 learners (14.1percent) (p < 0.001). Leaners from quintile 3 had good (23.5percent) nutritional knowledge than learners from quintiles 1 and 2 (15.7percent) (p < 0.001). School lessons, books and television were the most important source for nutritional information to learners. The most significant source was lessons (72.0percent; p < 0.001); followed by television (69.4percent; p < 0.001) and books (67.8percent; p = 0.014), in that ranking order. The majority of learners (64percent) had normal body weight. The prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity was 13.0percent, 15.0percent and 8.0percent, respectively. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher in females than males (21.3percent vs 5.3percent; overweight; p < 0.001)) and (11.6percent vs 1.2percent; obesity; p < 0.001), respectively; while the prevalence in terms of underweight was significantly higher in male (21.3percent) learners than in female learners (8.1percent); p < 0.001. The study indicated that the school food environment was not supported by ISHP. The Integrated School Health Policy did not include on-site package for nutritional assessment, thus, there is need to offer nutritional interventions in schools

Setting up and running a small-scale business producing high-value foods

Whether you want to start a new business, or improve or diversify an existing operation, this unique text collects for the first time essential information on the demand for high-value foods, their production, marketing and quality management. Aiming to raise awareness of opportunities in high-value foods and ingredients in ACP countries, the handbook also highlights routes to access different types of value chains for these products. Clearly laid out, with helpful summaries and ‘tips for success’, this comprehensive publication presents numerous real-life case studies to inspire entrepreneurs to improve their production and profitability