Aquaculture Asia, vol. 11, no. 3, pp.1-34, July - September 2006

Resources and biodiversity of seahorses and the need for their conservation in India, by K.R. Salin and Nair C. Mohanakumaran. Captive breeding of pangasid catfish Pangasius pangasius with Ovaprim: an attempt towards sustainable seed production and conservation of wild populations, by U.K. Sarkar, S.K. Paul, D. Kapoor, P.K. Deepak and S.P. Singh. Establishment of post-tsunami rehabilitation information units to facilitate coordination of effort in Thailand, by Simon Wilkinson. Rural aquaculture: poor farmers culture tilapia intensively in ponds in Central Luzon, Philippines, by Peter Edwards. Simple herbal treatment for epizootic ulcerative syndrome in murrels (snakehead), by M.A. Haniffa, M. Dhanaraj, C. Muthu Ramakrishnan and R. Arthi Manju. DNA vaccination and prophylactic measures in aquaculture health management, by Dr. A.S. Ninawe. The role of immunostimulants in fish and shrimp aquaculture, by Vishal S. Jadhav, Sajid I. Khan, Milind M. Girkar and Madhav J. Gitte. Red tilapia cage culture in central Thailand, by Ben Belton, David Little & Jimmy Young. Quality improvement of farmed fish in Iranian markets, by Gholam Reza Shaviklo

Synthesis and final recommendations on the development of a European Information System for Organic Markets. = Deliverable D6 of the European Project EISfOM QLK5-2002-02400

Executive summary European markets for organic products are growing rapidly, but the market information available in most European countries is woefully inadequate. Often only very basic data such as certified organic holdings and land area are reported, and sometimes not even individual crop areas or livestock numbers. Important market data, such as the amount of production, consumption, international trade or producer and consumer prices, do not exist in most European countries. In some European countries there are only rough estimates of the levels of production and consumption. There is no standardisation and data are seldom comparable. Furthermore, detailed information on specific commodities is missing. Hence, investment decisions are taken under conditions of great uncertainty. Policy evaluation, including periodic monitoring of the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming and RDP 2007-2013, will require many other data in addition to those regarding production structures and financial data that are already available, but obtaining this information would require a new EU-wide data collection and processing system (DCPS) to be put in place. The European Information System for Organic Markets (EISfOM) project is an EUfunded Concerted Action which has analysed and documented the current situation and proposed ways in which organic data collection and processing systems (DCPS) can be improved by means of: • improvement in the current situation of data collecting and processing systems for the organic sector • innovation in data collection and processing systems for the organic sector • integration of conventional and organic data collection and processing systems This report summarises the most relevant findings of the EISfOM project, which are analysed in the main project reports: Wolfert, S., Kramer, K. J., Richter, T., Hempfling, G., Lux. S. and Recke, G. (eds.) (2004). Review of data collection and processing systems for organic and conventional markets. EISfOM (QLK5-2002-02400) project deliverable submitted to European Commission. www.eisfom.org/publications. Recke, G., Hamm, U., Lampkin, N., Zanoli, R., Vitulano, S. and Olmos, S. (eds.) (2004a) Report on proposals for the development, harmonisation and quality assurance of organic data collection and processing systems (DCPS). EISfOM (QLK5-2002-02400) project deliverable submitted to European Commission. www.eisfom.org/publications. Recke, G., Willer, H., Lampkin, N. and Vaughan, A. (eds.) (2004b). Development of a European Information System for Organic Markets – Improving the Scope and Quality of Statistical Data. Proceedings of the 1st EISfOM European Seminar, Berlin, Germany, 26-27 April, 2004. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland. www.eisfom.org/publications. Gleirscher, N., Schermer, M., Wroblewska, M. and Zakowska-Biemans, S. (2005) Report on the evaluation of the pilot case studies. EISfOM (QLK5-2002-02400) project deliverable submitted to European Commission. www.eisfom.org/publications. QLK5-2002-02400 European Information System for Organic Markets (EISfOM) D6 final report Rippin, M. and Lampkin, N. (eds.) (2005) Framework for a European Information System for Organic Markets. Unpublished report of the project European Information System for Organic Markets (EISfOM) (QLK5-2002-02400). Rippin, M., Willer, H., Lampkin, N., and Vaughan A. (2006). Towards a European Framework for Organic Market information, Proceedings of the 2nd EISfOM European Seminar, Brussels, November 10 and 11, 2005. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Frick, Switzerland. www.eisfom.org/publications

Big data for monitoring educational systems

This report considers “how advances in big data are likely to transform the context and methodology of monitoring educational systems within a long-term perspective (10-30 years) and impact the evidence based policy development in the sector”, big data are “large amounts of different types of data produced with high velocity from a high number of various types of sources.” Five independent experts were commissioned by Ecorys, responding to themes of: students' privacy, educational equity and efficiency, student tracking, assessment and skills. The experts were asked to consider the “macro perspective on governance on educational systems at all levels from primary, secondary education and tertiary – the latter covering all aspects of tertiary from further, to higher, and to VET”, prioritising primary and secondary levels of education

Ethical consumerism. How are caterers coping?

Active ethical consumerism is much less obvious in the behaviour of consumers when they eat outside the home. The catering industry argue that the majority of consumers are primarily driven by the taste of food, convenience and the service they receive when eating out. This article examines the drivers for ethical provisioning within the catering industry

Elm Farm Organic Research Centre December 2006

The Organic Research Centre. Elm Farm Research Centre Bulletin with Technical Updates from The Organic Advisory Service is a regular publication from The Organic Research Centre. The current issue covers: Report from 2006 Cirencester Conference; Quest for more home produced organic food; in a world where bread matters; Improving wheat with plenty of parents; Unlocking the secrets of the ancient (cereal varieties); Brain food- a good read; Not to late to protect the future: The organic role; Bumper Oat yields- Tradis trials top ten tonnes; Multiage flocks- a viable solution to wheigh variability; Letters

Molecular surveillance of Listeria monocytogenes in Germany to control transmission along food supply chains and to prevent human listeriosis cases

Human listeriosis is a comparatively rare but serious infectious disease. The high hospitalisation and mortality rate make it a major public health concern worldwide. Elderly and immunocompromised people as well as pregnant women are at increased risk of infection. Listeriosis is caused by consumption of food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria (L.) monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes is widespread in the environment and in animals. It enters the food chain either via contaminated raw animal or plant products or via cross-contamination during food processing. The overall aim of the present dissertation was to prevent cases of listeriosis in humans using state-of-the-art molecular epidemiological methods and genetic profiling of bacterial isolates. As a support to classical epidemiology, molecular typing methods are used to monitor the entry and spread of L. monocytogenes along the food chain up to the consumer. In recent years, the possibility of whole genome sequencing (WGS) has revolutionised the molecular typing of bacterial isolates. Based on the knowledge gained in the present doctoral project, the previous gold standard for fine typing, pulsed-field electrophoresis, was completely replaced by WGS in the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for L. monocytogenes in 2018. As part of the present project, the value of WGS as a high-resolution molecular surveillance tool for L. monocytogenes has been widely communicated to stakeholders along the food chain. Based on the protocols established in the NRL during the doctoral project, the tool is now available to the national monitoring authorities. Within the dissertation project, the bioinformatic analysis of WGS data of L. monocytogenes was optimised for data exchange, a listeriosis outbreak and the spread of Listeria spp. in a food processing plant were investigated, and the significance of the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) for foodborne outbreaks was evaluated. Using WGS, contamination and infection chains can be traced with unprecedented precision and thus be stopped. However, the methods for analysing WGS data are diverse and not yet fully harmonised, which hinders data sharing. In the present work, it was shown that different WGS analysis methods for L. monocytogenes generate largely comparable results. A translation code developed within this doctoral project allows information on clusters to be exchanged between sectors (e.g. food safety, public health) and countries even without harmonised methods. This approach offers a major advantage as it allows rapid communication between stakeholders, especially in time-critical situations such as listeriosis outbreaks. An important prerequisite for the prevention of listeriosis infections is a stronger focus on industrial hygiene in food processing. This became clear in the example of a study of a poultry processing chain carried out as part of this doctoral project. By means of WGS typing, it could be shown that Listeria spp. are transferred from the animal and from the environment to the finished food product. In addition, bacteria were shown to spread to surfaces in the production environment, favouring dangerous cross-contamination. Since the introduction of WGS for typing L. monocytogenes in Germany, in cross-sectoral collaboration, a large number of listeriosis outbreaks could be clarified and stopped. This work provides insight into a large national listeriosis outbreak lasting several years, which was lead investigated in the present doctoral project. Using WGS typing, the outbreak was traced back to ready-to-eat meat products and their producer. By using forward checking as a supplement to the usual backtracking in outbreak investigations, two different clusters of listeriosis cases could be assigned to the same producer. Only through such a two-sided control strategy, combining backtracking and forward checking, can listeriosis outbreaks be significantly minimised in the future. As a result of the intensive sampling at the producer, a very diverse L. monocytogenes population was found, with some strains persisting for several years. Listeria monocytogenes was found especially in niches of the food processing environment, difficult to reach for cleaning and disinfection. This study pointed to weaknesses in industrial hygiene that resulted in the production of contaminated food and thus triggered the listeriosis outbreak. If L. monocytogenes is found in a food product, the European RASFF enables international communication of this risk and, for example, immediate product recalls. In this way, it makes an essential contribution to protecting consumers from foodborne infections. An analysis of the RASFF notifications concerning L. monocytogenes as part of this doctoral project highlighted the complexity of international processing and distribution channels. This underlines how important international cooperation is with regard to food safety. The fact that individual producers were involved in many RASFF notifications in different years again showed the influence of inadequate industrial hygiene and persistence on the spread of L. monocytogenes. In addition, the results of the study highlighted the need for food processing companies to take greater responsibility for their own operations. The success of the WGS-based surveillance strategy for L. monocytogenes, which was established as part of this doctoral project and continuously optimised over its course, was already evident during the project term. For the first time, the number of reported cases of listeriosis in Germany no longer increased in 2018, but decreased, and continued to decrease in 2019. The dissertation project has thus made a decisive contribution to controlling the spread of L. monocytogenes along the food chain and thus reducing the number of listeriosis cases in Germany.Die humane Listeriose ist eine vergleichsweise seltene, aber schwerwiegende Infektionserkrankung. Die hohe Hospitalisierungs- und Sterblichkeitsrate machen sie weltweit zu einem großen Problem für die öffentliche Gesundheit. Ältere, Schwangere und Immungeschwächte haben ein erhöhtes Infektionsrisiko. Verursacht wird die Listeriose durch den Verzehr von Lebensmitteln, die mit dem Bakterium Listeria (L.) monocytogenes kontaminiert sind. Listeria monocytogenes ist weit verbreitet in der Umwelt und Tierwelt. In die Lebensmittelkette gelangt es entweder über kontaminierte rohe tierische oder pflanzliche Produkte oder über Kreuzkontaminationen während der Verarbeitung von Lebensmitteln. Das übergeordnete Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es, mittels modernster molekularepidemiologischer Methoden und genetischem Profiling von Bakterienisolaten Listeriosefälle beim Menschen zu verhindern. Neben der klassischen Epidemiologie werden molekulare Typisierungsmethoden angewendet, um den Eintrag und die Verbreitung von L. monocytogenes entlang der Lebensmittelkette bis hin zum Verbraucher aufzudecken. In den letzten Jahren wurde die molekulare Typisierung durch die Möglichkeit zur Gesamtgenomsequenzierung (WGS, whole genome sequencing) bakterieller Isolate revolutioniert. Anhand der in der vorliegenden Promotionsarbeit gewonnenen Erkenntnisse konnte der bisherige Goldstandard zur Feintypisierung, die Pulsed-Field-Gelektrophorese, im Nationalen Referenzlabor (NRL) für L. monocytogenes in 2018 komplett durch die WGS abgelöst werden. Der Wert der WGS als hochauflösendes, molekulares Überwachungstool für L. monocytogenes wurde im Rahmen des Promotionsprojekts umfassend an die Stakeholder entlang der Lebensmittelkette kommuniziert. Auf der Basis der im Zuge des Promotionsprojekts im NRL etablierten Protokolle steht das Tool den nationalen Überwachungsbehörden nun zur Verfügung. Innerhalb des Promotionsvorhabens wurde die bioinformatische Analyse von WGS-Daten von L. monocytogenes für den Datenaustausch optimiert, beispielhaft ein Listerioseausbruch und die Verbreitung von Listeria spp. in einem lebensmittelverarbeitenden Betrieb untersucht, sowie die Bedeutung des europäischen Schnellwarnsystems für lebensmittelbedingte Krankheitsausbrüche evaluiert. Mittels WGS lassen sich Kontaminations- und Infektionsketten mit beispielloser Genauigkeit nachvollziehen und so unterbrechen. Die Verfahren zur Analyse von WGS-Daten sind jedoch vielfältig und noch nicht umfassend harmonisiert, was den Datenaustausch erschwert. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde gezeigt, dass mit verschiedenen WGS-Analysemethoden für L. monocytogenes größtenteils vergleichbare Ergebnisse generiert werden können. Ein innerhalb der Promotionsarbeit entwickelter Übersetzungscode ermöglicht es, Informationen zu Clustern auch ohne harmonisierte Methoden zwischen Sektoren (z.B. Lebensmittelsicherheit, Öffentliches Gesundheitswesen) und Ländern auszutauschen. Dieses Vorgehen bietet einen großen Vorteil, indem es gerade in zeitkritischen Situationen wie Listerioseausbrüchen eine schnelle Kommunikation zwischen den Stakeholdern erlaubt. Eine wichtige Voraussetzung, um Listerioseinfektionen zu verhindern, ist ein stärkerer Fokus auf die Betriebshygiene in der Lebensmittelverarbeitung. Deutlich wurde dies am Beispiel einer im Rahmen der Promotionsarbeit durchgeführten Studie einer Geflügelverarbeitungskette. Mittels WGS-Typisierung konnte gezeigt werden, dass Listeria spp. vom Tier und aus der Umwelt bis in das fertige Lebensmittelprodukt übertragen werden. Zusätzlich zeigte sich eine Ausbreitung auf Oberflächen in der Produktionsumgebung, wodurch gefährliche Kreuzkontaminationen begünstigt werden. Seit der Einführung der WGS für die Typisierung von L. monocytogenes in Deutschland konnte in sektorübergreifender Zusammenarbeit eine Vielzahl von Listerioseausbrüchen aufgeklärt und beendet werden. Die vorliegende Arbeit gibt Einblick in einen großen, über mehrere Jahre anhaltenden, nationalen Listeriseausbruch, der im Rahmen des Promotionsvorhabens federführend untersucht wurde. Mittels WGS-Typisierung konnte der Ausbruch auf verzehrfertige Fleischprodukte und deren Herstellerbetrieb zurückverfolgt werden. Durch eine vorwärts gerichtete Überprüfung (forward checking) als Ergänzung zu der in Ausbruchsuntersuchungen üblichen Rückverfolgung (backtracking), konnten zwei verschiedene Cluster von Listeriosefällen demselben Betrieb zugeordnet werden. Nur durch solch eine zweiseitige Kontrollstrategie, bei der backtracking und forward checking kombiniert werden, können Listerioseausbrüche in Zukunft wesentlich minimiert werden. Als Resultat der intensiven Beprobung des Herstellerbetriebs zeigte sich eine sehr diverse L. monocytogenes-Population mit teils über mehrere Jahre persistierenden Stämmen. Listeria monocytogenes wurde insbesondere in für Reinigung und Desinfektion schwer zu erreichenden Nischen gefunden. Diese Studie deutete auf Schwachpunkte in der Betriebshygiene hin, die die Produktion kontaminierter Lebensmittel nach sich zogen und so Auslöser des Listerioseausbruchs waren. Wird L. monocytogenes in einem Lebensmittel gefunden, ermöglicht das europäische Schnellwarnsystem für Lebensmittel und Futtermittel (RASFF, Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) eine internationale Kommunikation dieses Risikos und beispielsweise umgehende Produktrückrufe. Auf diese Weise trägt es essenziell dazu bei, Verbraucher vor lebensmittelbedingten Infektionen zu schützen. Die Analyse von RASFF-Meldungen bezüglich L. monocytogenes im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit verdeutlichte die Komplexität internationaler Verarbeitungs- und Vertriebswege. Dies unterstreicht, wie wichtig auch die internationale Zusammenarbeit im Hinblick auf die Lebensmittelsicherheit ist. Die Tatsache, dass einzelne lebensmittelverarbeitende Betriebe in zahlreiche RASFF-Meldungen in unterschiedlichen Jahren involviert waren, zeigte erneut den Einfluss unzureichender Betriebshygiene und Persistenz auf die Ausbreitung von L. monocytogenes. Zudem verdeutlichten die Studienergebnisse den Bedarf einer stärkeren Eigenverantwortung lebensmittelverarbeitender Betriebe. Schon während der Laufzeit zeigte sich der Erfolg der im Rahmen des Promotionsprojekts etablierten und im Projektverlauf stetig optimierten WGS-basierten Überwachungsstrategie von L. monocytogenes. Die Zahl gemeldeter Listeriosefälle in Deutschland war in 2018 erstmals nicht mehr ansteigend, sondern rückläufig, und sank in 2019 weiter. Das Promotionsvorhaben hat damit entscheidend dazu beigetragen, die Ausbreitung von L. monocytogenes entlang der Nahrungskette zu kontrollieren und so die Zahl der Listerioseerkrankungen in Deutschland zu reduzieren

1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance-Linked Metabolomics Investigations of Broiler Poultry and Human Saliva

1H NMR-linked metabolomics was employed to investigate blood plasma and breast meat muscle from broiler poultry for quality assessment. The purpose of this research is to further explore the metabolomics profile of poultry breast meat muscle and plasma and comprehensively identify their metabolic components. NMR spectroscopy was also used to further investigate as to whether different ultimate pH levels of water would influence the metabolic profile. A total of 10 meat muscle samples were processed and the resulting 1H NMR spectra were elucidated, identifying a total of 18 metabolites. A total of 49 plasma samples were processed for 1H NMR analysis, where 35 metabolites were identified and confirmed. These metabolites were cross-referenced with metabolic quality indicators from previous studies and it was found that the group of samples treated by WET Engineering showed higher levels of these metabolites and therefore deemed higher quality. The application of multivariate statistical analysis also showed a significant difference between treatment groups. Therefore, highlighting that changes in the pH of water given to broiler poultry can indeed have an influence on their metabolic profile. 1H NMR-linked metabolomics was also employed in order to quantify ionic magnesium and calcium salivary concentrations via NMR characterisation of their chelation complexes with EDTA. At total of 82 samples were processed for 1H NMR analysis and metabolic compounds were identified. Concentrations of ionic levels were measured for each sample and quantified via calibration curve, giving average ionic concentrations of 212 μMol/L for magnesium and 932 μMol/L for calcium. These results were comparable to those levels found in previous studies, using alternative methodologies such as AAS. The repeatability and reliability of the technique was also investigated by preparing and measuring each sample in triplicate and then re-measuring these triplicate samples after a period of 48 hours. It was found that there was a very low standard deviation of concentrations between triplicate measurements. Giving deviations on average of 22μMol/L for magnesium and 36μMol/L for calcium. However, after a period of 48 hours, when samples were re-measured, they showed on average a standard deviation that was twice as high for magnesium and four times higher for calcium. The overall objective of this thesis was to demonstrate the range of research that can be done, when using 1H NMR-linked metabolomics for the analysis of biological fluids. In this case, the research areas of agriculture and oral health were chosen.WET Engineerin

A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Australian Supermarkets’ Corporate Social Responsibility Commitments to Public Health: The Case of Supermarket Own Brand Foods

This PhD examined Australian supermarkets’ corporate social responsibility commitments that impact public health, and evidence of practical application, by analysing the contribution of supermarket own brand foods to Australian within-store food environments. A mixed-methods approach was used because so little was known about the topic. Findings from the eight included studies show how Australian supermarkets exert power over the food system and impact public health by the decisions they make