The public health risk posed by Listeria monocytogenes in frozen fruit and vegetables including herbs, blanched during processing

A multi-country outbreak ofListeria monocytogenesST6 linked to blanched frozen vegetables (bfV)took place in the EU (2015–2018). Evidence of food-borne outbreaks shows thatL. monocytogenesisthe most relevant pathogen associated with bfV. The probability of illness per serving of uncooked bfV,for the elderly (65–74 years old) population, is up to 3,600 times greater than cooked bfV and verylikely lower than any of the evaluated ready-to-eat food categories. The main factors affectingcontamination and growth ofL. monocytogenesin bfV during processing are the hygiene of the rawmaterials and process water; the hygienic conditions of the food processing environment (FPE); andthe time/Temperature (t/T) combinations used for storage and processing (e.g. blanching, cooling).Relevant factors after processing are the intrinsic characteristics of the bfV, the t/T combinations usedfor thawing and storage and subsequent cooking conditions, unless eaten uncooked. Analysis of thepossible control options suggests that application of a complete HACCP plan is either not possible orwould not further enhance food safety. Instead, specific prerequisite programmes (PRP) andoperational PRP activities should be applied such as cleaning and disinfection of the FPE, water control,t/T control and product information and consumer awareness. The occurrence of low levels ofL. monocytogenesat the end of the production process (e.g.<10 CFU/g) would be compatible with thelimit of 100 CFU/g at the moment of consumption if any labelling recommendations are strictly followed(i.e. 24 h at 5°C). Under reasonably foreseeable conditions of use (i.e. 48 h at 12°C),L. monocytogeneslevels need to be considerably lower (not detected in 25 g). Routine monitoring programmes forL. monocytogenesshould be designed following a risk-based approach and regularly revised based ontrend analysis, being FPE monitoring a key activity in the frozen vegetable industry

Retention and application of Skylab experiences to future programs

The problems encountered and special techniques and procedures developed on the Skylab program are described along with the experiences and practical benefits obtained for dissemination and use on future programs. Three major topics are discussed: electrical problems, mechanical problems, and special techniques. Special techniques and procedures are identified that were either developed or refined during the Skylab program. These techniques and procedures came from all manufacturing and test phases of the Skylab program and include both flight and GSE items from component level to sophisticated spaceflight systems

Community Perceptions of the Environmental Remediation Effort in the Milwaukee River Estuary

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Milwaukee County Parks Department have been working on an environmental remediation project that seeks to remove chemical contaminants and pollution from the Milwaukee River. The purpose of this research is to discover community member’s perceptions on the quality and safety of the Milwaukee River, and determine whether their perspectives on safe and desirable uses of the river differ from those of the organizations overseeing the Great Lake Legacy Act (GLLA) project. The results from this study show that the communities in the project area believe that the quality of the river has improved but it is still unsafe in some ways. This study shows that understanding the perceptions about quality, safety and uses of the river can improve the relationship between remediation organizations and the affected community.Ope

Two decades of "Horse sweat" taint and Brettanomyces yeasts in wine: where do we stand now ?

ReviewThe unwanted modification of wine sensory attributes by yeasts of the species Brettanomyces bruxellensis due to the production of volatile phenols is presently the main microbiological threat to red wine quality. The effects of ethylphenols and other metabolites on wine flavor is now recognized worldwide and the object of lively debate. The focus of this review is to provide an update of the present knowledge and practice on the prevention of this problem in the wine industry. Brettanomyces bruxellensis, or its teleomorph, Dekkera bruxellensis, are rarely found in the natural environment and, although frequently isolated from fermenting substrates, their numbers are relatively low when compared with other fermenting species. Despite this rarity, they have long been studied for their unusual metabolical features (e.g., the Custers effect). Rising interest over the last decades is mostly due to volatile phenol production affecting high quality red wines worldwide. The challenges have been dealt with together by researchers and winemakers in an effective way and this has enabled a state where, presently, knowledge and prevention of the problem at the winery level is readily accessible. Today, the main issues have shifted from technological to sensory science concerning the effects of metabolites other than ethylphenols and the over estimation of the detrimental impact by ethylphenols on flavor. Hopefully, these questions will continue to be tackled together by science and industry for the benefit of wine enjoymentinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Use of collective expertise as a tool to reinforce food safety management in Africa

The Erasmus+ project (2017-2020) entitled Societal Challenges and Governance of African Universities: the case of ALIments in Morocco, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Senegal (DAfrAli) seeks to strengthen the governance capacity of African Higher Education Institutions to mobilize their resources in order to respond to major societal challenges in relation to external stakeholders. A work package consisted of organizing three workshops to use Collective Expertise as a tool for the identification of societal risks, in the area of food safety. These three workshops were conducted in Morocco, in Senegal and in Democratic Republic of Congo. The exercise was performed by country academics with the contribution of the European project partners. Collective Expertise gave results that demonstrated that, with a careful and diversified selection of experts, this methodology can have a deep importance to list the food hazards in a country. The results obtained can induce changes in university curricula, showed the social impacts of food safety, unveiled research needs and training needs for different agents in the food sector and above all the impact in food policy in a country. The collective expertise approach of the determination of hazards also permitted to discuss possible organization models for food risk management in the 3 countries

Evaluation of Water Quality for Water Bathing Conditions on Querer Beach in the Municipality of Santa Rosa, Tocantins

The water is an indispensable natural resource for life, economic development, and the conservation and maintenance of ecosystem services. It is known that the quantity and quality of water available for consumption is decreasing considerably and the increasing scarcity of this resource may be associated with factors such as the irregular distribution of water, waste and irrational use of it, socioeconomic and environmental problems, pollution of resources inadequate disposal of sewage, lack of basic sanitation and treatment of sewage, among others. In this way, the environmental problems have gained relevant space in the current discussions due to their importance, making the debates of these questions in the society necessary. Because of the anthropic activities that have been developed in a disorderly way and without planning, it reflects drastically in the environmental degradation, especially in this case, in the quality of the waters, which compromises this natural resource, whatever the purpose of its use. Thus, the objective of this work is to evaluate the water quality of Querer Beach in Santa Rosa-TO, promoting a water bathing condition study. Therefore, to investigate the effects of anthropogenic interferences on water quality, the water quality was evaluated by means of monitoring. The analyzes of the bathing conditions, show the percentages obtained for the situations in which the beach is classified as suitable for bathing, the investigations followed the criteria established by the CONAMA resolution n&ordm; 274/00. The water quality at a specific point of the beach was evaluated and monitored for a determined period of six weeks, and the microbiological indicator of water quality according to the Collilert technique according to the methodology described by Standard Methods was used as a parameter. In this way, it was possible to verify the tolerances of the Brazilian parameters for the water bathing conditions indicators of Querer Beach