Front-of-pack labelling of food products: international practices and perspectives

Introduction. A prerequisite for the deve­lopment of the food market is to provide con­sumers with accessible and necessary informa­tion about properties of food products. Food products labeling on the front of the package is aimed at facilitating consumers’ understanding of information about their usefulness. Problem. A wide range of symbols, schemes and formats have been developed which would provide information about the properties of food products to the consumer in the most convenient and accessible form. However, it is important to analyze the existing options and the effecti­veness of this method of informing consumers about the usefulness of food products. The aim of the work is to analyze different approaches to food products labeling on the front of the package in terms of their informativeness and usefulness for consumers. Methods. The methods of comparative ana­lysis and synthesis, selection and generalization, legislative and regulatory documents were used. Results. Many front-of-pack labeling sys­tems are known today, including Multiple Traffic Lights, Reference Intakes, Health Star Rating system, Nutri-Score, etc. Each of these systems has its own peculiarities regarding the content and way of presenting information about the components of the product, in terms of their use­fulness for the human body and the presence / absence of components that may have a negative impact on health. However, the current labeling systems make it possible to compare food products without taking into account other aspects of health im­pact (degree of processing, added additives that make them unhealthy), which does not allow to provide a complete profile of the health benefits of the food product. Conclusions. The analysis of different front-of-pack nutrition labels systems proved that thanks to such information, consumers have the opportunity to choose more healthy food products. The adoption and implementation of a single label on the front of the package can be useful for consumers and reduce the number of cases associated with the negative impact of food products on health.Вступ. Обов’язковою умовою розвитку ринку харчових продуктів є надання спожива­чам доступної та необхідної інформації щодо їхніх властивостей. Етикетування харчових продуктів на передній частині паковання спря­моване на полегшення розуміння споживачами інформації про їхню корисність. Проблема. Розроблено широкий вибір символів, схем та форматів, які б у макси­мально зручній і доступній формі доводили до споживача інформацію про властивості харчових продуктів. Однак важливо проаналізу­вати існуючі варіанти й ефективність такого способу інформування споживачів про корис­ність харчових продуктів. Метою роботи є аналіз різних підходів до етикетування харчових продуктів на перед­ній частині паковання щодо їхньої інформа­тивності та корисності для споживачів. Методи. Використано методи порівняль­ного аналізу та синтезу, виокремлення й уза­гальнення, законодавчі та нормативні документи. Результати дослідження. Нині відомо багато систем етикетування на передній панелі паковання, зокрема системи Multiple Traffic Lights, Reference Intakes, Health Star Rating sys­tem, Nutri-Score тощо. Кожна з цих систем має свої особливості щодо змісту і способу представ­лення інформації про складові продукту, з по­гляду їхньої корисності для організму людини і наявності/відсутності компонентів, які можуть чинити негативний вплив на здоров’я. Однак діючі системи етикетування уможлив­люють порівнювати харчові продукти, не бе­ручи до уваги інших аспектів щодо впливу на здоров’я (ступінь обробки, додані добавки, які роблять їх некорисними для здоров’я), що не дає змоги надання повного профілю корис­ності харчового продукту. Висновки. Аналіз різних систем етикету­вання харчових продуктів на передній частині паковання засвідчив, що завдяки такій інформації споживачі мають можливість виби­рати більш корисні для організму харчові продукти. Прийняття та впровадження єдиної етикетки на лицьовій стороні паковання можуть бути корисними для споживачів та уможливлять зменшити кількість випадків, пов’яза­них із негативним впливом харчових продуктів на здоров’я

Pre-treatments of Milk and their Effect on the Food Safety of Cheese

In the manufacture of traditional cheese varieties, processing Fresh milk that has been treated as little as possible is crucial. Preserving the microbiome and the activity of the original enzymes in the raw milk to the greatest extent possible allows these cheeses to retain their original character. This objective conflicts with the growing demands placed on products in terms of food safety. The present literature search addresses the influence of the pre-treatment of cheesemaking milk on the food safety and quality of ripened cheeses, with particular focus on heat treatment, bactofugation, and microfiltration

Lactic Acid Bacteria as Markers for the Authentication of Swiss Cheeses

The manufacture of traditional Swiss-type cheeses adheres to strict rules, so as to guarantee quality and purity of the end product. This raises production costs and means consumers pay more. It also opens the door to cut-rate forgeries claiming to be made to the stringent standards and causing considerable economic losses to the entire dairy sector. In order to combat product counterfeiting, Agroscope has developed proof-of-origin cultures that allow the identification of copycats. Carefully selected lactic acid bacteria, having uniquely located insertion sequence elements, are proliferated by fermentation and subsequently dried by lyophilization. The proof-of-origin culture is added during the cheese production process and sustains maturation. These so-called 'biological markers' can be traced using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods, which allow authentication even if the cheese is cut into pieces or grated. They do not lead to any alteration of the cheese's taste or texture, and are compatible with the strict 'protected designation of origin' (PDO) specifications. The proof-of-origin cultures are used for the protection of several traditional Swiss-cheese varieties, such as Emmental PDO, Tête de Moine PDO, and Appenzeller®. A market survey of Emmental PDO showed that the system is effective in revealing fraud and has the power to enforce corrective measures

Population dynamics of two antilisterial cheese surface consortia revealed by temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Surface contamination of smear cheese by <it>Listeria </it>spp. is of major concern for the industry. Complex smear ecosystems have been shown to harbor antilisterial potential but the microorganisms and mechanisms involved in the inhibition mostly remain unclear, and are likely related to complex interactions than to production of single antimicrobial compounds. Bacterial biodiversity and population dynamics of complex smear ecosystems exhibiting antilisterial properties <it>in situ </it>were investigated by Temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE), a culture independent technique, for two microbial consortia isolated from commercial Raclette type cheeses inoculated with defined commercial ripening cultures (F) or produced with an old-young smearing process (M).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TTGE revealed nine bacterial species common to both F and M consortia, but consortium F exhibited a higher diversity than consortium M, with thirteen and ten species, respectively. Population dynamics were studied after application of the consortia on fresh-produced Raclette cheeses. TTGE analyses revealed a similar sequential development of the nine species common to both consortia. Beside common cheese surface bacteria (<it>Staphylococcus equorum, Corynebacterium </it>spp., <it>Brevibacterium linens, Microbacterium gubbeenense</it>, <it>Agrococcus casei</it>), the two consortia contained marine lactic acid bacteria (<it>Alkalibacterium kapii</it>, <it>Marinilactibacillus psychrotolerans</it>) that developed early in ripening (day 14 to 20), shortly after the growth of staphylococci (day 7). A decrease of <it>Listeria </it>counts was observed on cheese surface inoculated at day 7 with 0.1-1 × 10²CFU cm^-2, when cheeses were smeared with consortium F or M. <it>Listeria </it>counts went below the detection limit of the method between day 14 and 28 and no subsequent regrowth was detected over 60 to 80 ripening days. In contrast, <it>Listeria </it>grew to high counts (10⁵CFU cm^-2) on cheeses smeared with a defined surface culture.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This work reports the first population dynamics study of complex smear ecosystems exhibiting <it>in situ </it>antilisterial activity. TTGE revealed the presence of marine lactic acid bacteria that are likely related to the strong <it>Listeria </it>inhibition, as their early development in the smear occurred simultaneously with a decrease in <it>Listeria </it>cell count.</p

The aminotransferase Aat initiates 3-phenyllactic acid biosynthesis in Pediococcus acidilactici

The function of the aminotransferase Aat (GenBank Protein WP_159211138) from Pediococcus acidilactici FAM 18098 was studied in vivo. For this purpose, the gene was replaced with an erythromycin resistance gene using the temperature-sensitive Escherichia coli-Pediococcus shuttle plasmid pSET4T_Δaat. The knockout was verified by PCR and genome sequencing. Subsequently, the differences between the metabolism of the knockout and of the wild-type strain were investigated by determining the free amino acids and organic acids in culture supernatants. It was found that the knockout mutant no longer synthesized 3-phenyllactic acid (PLA) and 4-hydroxyphenyllactic acid (HPLA). Additionally, the mutant strain no longer catabolized phenylalanine. Metabolic pathway analysis using the KEGG database indicate that P. acidilactici cannot synthesize α-ketoglutarate that is a predominant amino-group acceptor in many transamination reactions. To study the transfer of the amino group of phenylalanine, the wild-type strain was incubated with [15N] phenylalanine. Mass spectrometry showed that during fermentation, [15N] alanine was formed, indicating that pyruvic acid is an amino group acceptor in P. acidilactici. The present study shows that Aat plays a crucial role in PLA/HPLA biosynthesis and pyruvic acid is an amino acceptor in transamination reactions in P. acidilactici

Formation of alanine, α-aminobutyrate, acetate, and 2-butanol during cheese ripening by Pediococcus acidilactici FAM18098

There is limited information about the contribution of Pediococcus acidilactici, a nonstarter lactic acid bacteria, to cheese ripening and flavour development. Model Tilsit-type and Gruyère-type cheeses were produced using P. acidilactici FAM18098 as an adjunct. The adjunct did not influence the cheese manufacturing processes. The pediococcal log counts ranged from 7.0 to 8.0 cfu g-1 after 90 and 120 days of ripening. P. acidilactici produced ornithine, a result of arginine metabolism by the arginine deiminase pathway, and a-aminobutyrate and alanine while simultaneously metabolising serine and threonine. The analysis of the volatile compounds in the cheeses showed that higher acetate, 2-butanone, and 2-butanol levels and lower diacetyl levels were present in the cheeses produced with P. acidilactici than in the control cheeses. The study illustrates that P. acidilactici can influence amino acid metabolism in cheese; further, ornithine, a-aminobutyrate, and acetate can serve as indicators for the presence of this species. © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Conversion of Methionine to Cysteine in Lactobacillus paracasei Depends on the Highly Mobile cysK-ctl-cysE Gene Cluster

Milk and dairy products are rich in nutrients and are therefore habitats for various microbiomes. However, the composition of nutrients can be quite diverse, in particular among the sulfur containing amino acids. In milk, methionine is present in a 25-fold higher abundance than cysteine. Interestingly, a fraction of strains of the species L. paracasei – a flavor-enhancing adjunct culture species – can grow in medium with methionine as the sole sulfur source. In this study, we focus on genomic and evolutionary aspects of sulfur dependence in L. paracasei strains. From 24 selected L. paracasei strains, 16 strains can grow in medium with methionine as sole sulfur source. We sequenced these strains to perform gene-trait matching. We found that one gene cluster – consisting of a cysteine synthase, a cystathionine lyase, and a serine acetyltransferase – is present in all strains that grow in medium with methionine as sole sulfur source. In contrast, strains that depend on other sulfur sources do not have this gene cluster. We expanded the study and searched for this gene cluster in other species and detected it in the genomes of many bacteria species used in the food production. The comparison to these species showed that two different versions of the gene cluster exist in L. paracasei which were likely gained in two distinct events of horizontal gene transfer. Additionally, the comparison of 62 L. paracasei genomes and the two versions of the gene cluster revealed that this gene cluster is mobile within the species

The Histidine Decarboxylase Gene Cluster of Lactobacillus parabuchneri Was Gained by Horizontal Gene Transfer and Is Mobile within the Species

Histamine in food can cause intolerance reactions in consumers. Lactobacillus parabuchneri (L. parabuchneri) is one of the major causes of elevated histamine levels in cheese. Despite its significant economic impact and negative influence on human health, no genomic study has been published so far. We sequenced and analyzed 18 L. parabuchneri strains of which 12 were histamine positive and 6 were histamine negative. We determined the complete genome of the histamine positive strain FAM21731 with PacBio as well as Illumina and the genomes of the remaining 17 strains using the Illumina technology. We developed the synteny aware ortholog finding algorithm SynOrf to compare the genomes and we show that the histidine decarboxylase (HDC) gene cluster is located in a genomic island. It is very likely that the HDC gene cluster was transferred from other lactobacilli, as it is highly conserved within several lactobacilli species. Furthermore, we have evidence that the HDC gene cluster was transferred within the L. parabuchneri species

Pflanzliche Proteine als Fleischersatz: eine Betrachtung für die Schweiz

Soll die Eigenversorgung an pflanzlichem Protein für die menschliche Ernährung ausgebaut werden, bedarf es einer möglichst gesamthaften Betrachtung. In dieser Studie wird die Situation in der Schweiz systemisch analysiert. Es wird aufgezeigt, welche proteinreichen Pflanzen sich besonders für einen nachhaltigen und ökologischen Anbau eignen, welches ernährungsphysiologische Potenzial sie mitbringen und welche Prozessschritte notwendig sind, um sie zu Proteinkonzentraten und -isolaten aufzuarbeiten, die sich wiederum zur Herstellung von Fleischersatzprodukten eignen