Microbiological criteria - Danish experience with use of the food safety criteria on minced meat and meat preparations

The recently introduced EU Commission regulation 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs sets food safety criteria on Salmonella in minced meat and meat preparations. Products intended to be eaten cooked are to be sampled weekly by five samples of 10g each. If Salmonella is found and the product is on the market, a recall will take place. Data from several EU countries in 2005 show a Salmonella prevalence varying from 0-8% in minced pork and 0-4% in minced beef. In Denmark, a total of 32 recalls were performed in 2006. This is costly, and it is questionably whether it has any impact on food safety, since the meat is supposed to be heat-treated prior to consumption

Tuplix Calculus

We introduce a calculus for tuplices, which are expressions that generalize matrices and vectors. Tuplices have an underlying data type for quantities that are taken from a zero-totalized field. We start with the core tuplix calculus CTC for entries and tests, which are combined using conjunctive composition. We define a standard model and prove that CTC is relatively complete with respect to it. The core calculus is extended with operators for choice, information hiding, scalar multiplication, clearing and encapsulation. We provide two examples of applications; one on incremental financial budgeting, and one on modular financial budget design.Comment: 22 page

Risk-mitigation for antimicrobial resistance in Danish swine herds at a national level

In Denmark, actions to mitigate the risk related to antimicrobial resistance have been put in place continuously. Due to an increase in the consumption of antimicrobials in the Danish pig production further actions were implemented in July 2010. These were: a voluntary ban on use of cephalosporin in Danish swine herds for a 2-year period and a so-called “Yellow card” scheme from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA). Farmers with the highest use of antibiotics receive a Yellow Card. Approximately 10% of Danish herds are above the yellow card threshold value. The consumption in pigs is evaluated as animal daily doses (ADD) per 100 animals seen over the last 9 months (by age group)

Human health risk of residues in Danish pork – in theory and practice

Residues of pharmacological active substances or their metabolites might be found in food products from food-producing animals posing a potential risk to human health. Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for pharmacological active substances in foodstuffs of animal origin are established to assure high food safety standards, and residue surveillance programmes are required to verify compliance with legislation, export requirements and consumer confidence

Evaluation of the potential use of risk-based sampling to surveillance of antibacterial residues in Danish pork

Consumers consider presence of chemical substances in food products as undesirable. In Denmark, more than 20,000 samples are analysed each year for presence of antibacterial residues in Danish slaughter pigs, and these surveillance data indicate that the true antibacterial residue prevalence in Danish slaughter pigs is negligible. The question has been raised whether it would be possible to improve the cost-effectiveness of the surveillance programme. This was addressed in this study

Clogging by sieving in microchannels: Application to the detection of contaminants in colloidal suspensions

We report on a microfluidic method that allows measurement of a small concentration of large contaminants in suspensions of solid micrometer-scale particles. To perform the measurement, we flow the colloidal suspension through a series of constrictions, i.e. a microchannel of varying cross-section. We show and quantify the role of large contaminants in the formation of clogs at a constriction and the growth of the resulting filter cake. By measuring the time interval between two clogging events in an array of parallel microchannels, we are able to estimate the concentration of contaminants whose size is selected by the geometry of the microfluidic device. This technique for characterizing colloidal suspensions offers a versatile and rapid tool to explore the role of contaminants on the properties of the suspensions

Handling of chronic cases of pyaemia/osteomyelitis in finishing pigs in Denmark – is de-boning necessary to maintain food safety?

Meat inspection is up for debate and one issue deals with how to handle chronic cases of pyaemia/ osteomyelitis in finishing pigs. In Denmark, such carcasses are required to be de-boned to avoid presence of osteomyelitis not found in the rework area. Around 40,000 pigs (0.24%) are subjected to de-boning in Denmark per year, and the associated costs amount to approx. €3 million. The questions are: 1) is the meat from such pigs fit for human consumption? 2) Is de-boning necessary, or do the meat inspectors find what they should in the rework area? And 3) which alternative practices could replace de-boning? To address this, data covering 1 year were extracted from the Danish Slaughterhouse Database including information from the 7 largest Danish abattoirs. Registration schemes covering findings during de-boning and the result of de-boning (approved/ condemned) were provided by the individual abattoirs. Additionally, a questionnaire survey was undertaken regarding the de-boning personals’ experience related to de-boning. Furthermore, samples from 102 pigs sent for de-boning at one slaughterhouse were collected. These samples included abscesses found in pigs at the rework area plus one muscle sample per pig. All samples underwent microbiological investigation. As a control group, microbiological results obtained from a similar study from carcasses unconditionally approved at meat inspection were included. Staphylococcus aureus, which has the potential to cause human illness, was found in 15 abscesses and 1 muscle of the 102 pigs sent for de-boning. S. aureus was also found in 1 of the 60 control samples. The results were included in a risk assessment that revealed the same very low health risk related to consumption of meat from de-boned pigs as from fully accepted pigs. Abscesses were found at de-boning in a low proportion of the pigs, at different sites of the carcass, varying between abattoirs. The vast majority of pigs sent for de-boning were accepted after de-boning (99.7%). If routine de-boning is no longer required, then focus on a thorough inspection at the rework-area will most likely result in a higher probability of finding abscesses at that stage of inspection. Moreover, overlooked abscesses will be found during cutting. Therefore de-boning is not considered necessary and could be replaced by condemnation of the affected part(s) only

Recovery of Total Chromium from Tannery Wastewater by Carbonization Application

A carbonization process was carried out for the recovery of chromium from wastewater by chemical treatment with sodium hydroxide as a basic solution in contact with the precursor material at different concentrations [1:0.15 (%w/w) - 1:0.20 (%w/w)]. The physical treatment was carried out with carbonization at 700∘C for a period of 2 hours. The obtained samples were characterized by elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), atomic absorption spectroscopy, and surface area analysis (BET) to validate the evidence of metal recovery. The results indicate that the percentage of total chromium recovery was 47.62% with respect to the uncarbonized material, establishing that the best carbonization variables are at 700∘C and concentration 1:0.20% w/w for 2 hours. Keywords: tannery industry, carbonization, recovery, total chromium. Resumen Se realizó un proceso de carbonización para la recuperación de cromo a partir de aguas residuales mediante un tratamiento químico con hidróxido de sodio como solución básica en contacto con el material precursor a diferentes concentraciones [1:0,15 (%p/p)- 1:0,20 (%p/p)], el tratamiento físico se realizó con la carbonización a 700∘C por un lapso de 2 horas. Las muestras obtenidas se caracterizaron mediante análisis elemental, análisis termogravimétrico (TGA), espectroscopia infrarroja por transformada de Fourier (FT-IR), espectroscopia de absorción atómica y análisis de área superficial (BET) para validar la evidencia de la recuperación del metal. Los resultados indican que el porcentaje de recuperación de cromo total es de 47,62% respecto del material sin carbonizar estableciendo que las mejores variables de carbonización son 700 ∘C y concentración 1:0.20 %p/p por 2 horas. Palabras Clave: Industria curtiembre, carbonización, recuperación, cromo total

A conceptual map of invasion biology: Integrating hypotheses into a consensus network

Background and aims Since its emergence in the mid‐20th century, invasion biology has matured into a productive research field addressing questions of fundamental and applied importance. Not only has the number of empirical studies increased through time, but also has the number of competing, overlapping and, in some cases, contradictory hypotheses about biological invasions. To make these contradictions and redundancies explicit, and to gain insight into the field’s current theoretical structure, we developed and applied a Delphi approach to create a consensus network of 39 existing invasion hypotheses. Results The resulting network was analysed with a link‐clustering algorithm that revealed five concept clusters (resource availability, biotic interaction, propagule, trait and Darwin’s clusters) representing complementary areas in the theory of invasion biology. The network also displays hypotheses that link two or more clusters, called connecting hypotheses, which are important in determining network structure. The network indicates hypotheses that are logically linked either positively (77 connections of support) or negatively (that is, they contradict each other; 6 connections). Significance The network visually synthesizes how invasion biology’s predominant hypotheses are conceptually related to each other, and thus, reveals an emergent structure – a conceptual map – that can serve as a navigation tool for scholars, practitioners and students, both inside and outside of the field of invasion biology, and guide the development of a more coherent foundation of theory. Additionally, the outlined approach can be more widely applied to create a conceptual map for the larger fields of ecology and biogeography