Rapid Methods as Analytical Tools for Food and Feed Contaminant Evaluation: Methodological Implications for Mycotoxin Analysis in Cereals

Over the past years, food quality is perceived to have improved and food safety has become an important food quality attribute (R\uf6hr et al., 2005). This implies that all aspects of food production and therefore of the feed supply chain must be considered to ensure the safety of human food (Pinotti & Dell\u2019Orto, 2011). As a result, public authorities and regulatory agencies are pushing producers, manufacturers, and researchers to pay serious attention to food and feed production processes and to develop comprehensive quality policies and management systems to improve food safety and try to enhance consumer information to regain consumers trust in food. From this point of view, the knowledge and control of the level and distribution of contaminants and undesirable substances in food and feed are become a worldwide topic of interest due to the high economic and sanitary impact on human/animal health. Since it is impossible to fully eliminate the presence of undesirable substances and contaminants, an adequate surveillance and frequent checks are fundamental to assure quality and safety of raw materials destined for direct consumption or industrial processes. The aim of this chapter will be to evaluate the potentiality offered by rapid analytical approaches to food and feed evaluation, focusing on contaminants and undesirable substances. A critical overview, highlighting characteristics and applications of these techniques, will be offered with examples pointed on specific matrices and contaminants,cereals and mycotoxins, respectively

Sampling feed for mycotoxins: acquiring knowledge from food

The occurrence and control of mycotoxins in feed and food are items of great interest to researchers, producers, manufacturers and regulatory agencies. In order to implement knowledge of control measures for mycotoxins in the entire food production chain, coordinated inspection programmes aimed to check the presence and concentration of mycotoxins in feedingstuffs are recommended by the Commission of the European Communities. Reliability of measured levels of mycotoxins in feed and food is greatly affected by the collection of representative samples. Because of the heterogeneous distribution of mycotoxins, the variability associated with a mycotoxin test procedure usually depends heavily on the sampling plan. European legislation dealing with sampling plans for mycotoxins in foodstuffs has been recently revised. The aim of the following overview is to discuss the role of sampling in mycotoxin-contaminated feed by considering the evolution of legislation dealing with sampling plans for food. A sampling procedure is a multistage process and consists of three distinct phases: sampling, sample preparation and analysis. The variability associated with each step of a sampling procedure and the aspects related to feedstuffs, matrix/ mycotoxin combination and level of contamination are discussed

Rumen protected choline supplementation in beef cattle: effect on growth performance

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of rumen-protected choline administration on growth performance in beef cattle. Thirty-two newly received Charolais steers (420 kg ± 8 kg initial BW), were assigned randomly to one of the two experimental groups: control (CTR), no choline supplementation; choline (RPC), supplemented with 5 g/day choline chloride in rumenprotected form. Experimental period was 122 d long. DMI at different times did not differ between treatments. Supplementation of 5 g of choline increased body weight, and average daily gain on day 89 of the experiment,but not later on. Feed conversion rate and killing out percentage were not affected by the treatment. Therefore ruminally protected choline can improve growth performance of newly received beef cattle, and its inclusion in receiving diet can be useful

Multivariate image analysis for the rapid detection of residues from packaging remnants in former foodstuff products (FFPs)–a feasibility study

From a circular economy perspective, feeding livestock with food leftovers or former foodstuff products (FFPs) could be an effective option aimed at exploiting food leftover resources and reducing food losses. FFPs are valuable energy sources, characterised by a beneficial starch/sugar content, and also fats. However, besides these nutritional aspects, safety is a key concern given that FFPs are generally derived from packaged food. Packaging materials, such as plastics and paper, are not accepted as a feed ingredient which means that residues should be rigorously avoided. A sensitive and objective detection method is thus essential for an accurate risk evaluation throughout the former food production chain. To this end, former food samples were collected in processing plants of two different European countries and subjected to multivariate analysis of red, green, and blue (RGB) microscopic images, in order to evaluate the possible application of this non-destructive technique for the rapid detection of residual particles from packaging materials. Multivariate Image Analysis (MIA) was performed on single images at the pixel level, which essentially consisted in an exploratory analysis of the image data by means of Principal Component Analysis, which highlighted the differences between packaging and foodstuff particles, based on their colour. The whole dataset of images was then analysed by means of a multivariate data dimensionality reduction method known as the colourgrams approach, which identified clusters of images sharing similar features and also highlighted outlier images due to the presence of packaging particles. The results obtained in this feasibility study demonstrated that MIA is a promising tool for a rapid automated method for detecting particles of packaging materials in FFPs

Relative bioefficacy of RRR-α-tocopherol versus all-rac-α-tocopherol in in vitro models

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro relative bioefficacy of RRR-α-tocopherol (RRR- α-T) versus all-rac-α-tocopherol (all-rac-α-T) in counteracting the cytotoxic effect induced by H2O2 in Bovine Mammary Epithelium – University of Vermont (BME-UV1) and Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells. The range of RRR- α-T and all-rac- α-T concentrations selected for the oxidative challenge experiments was 100µM - 1nM. To study the bioefficacy of RRR- α-T and all-rac- α-T, MTT and LDH tests were performed. Cells were pre-incubated for 3 h with  selected a-tocopherol concentrations and then exposed to increasing H2O2 concentrations ranging from 125 to 750µM for the following 24h. Concerning the cell viability, the pre-treatments with 100µM of RRR- α-T and 100µM all-rac-α-T were able to significantly (P<0.05) counteract the effect induced by 750 µM of H2O2 in BME-UV1. In MDCK the pre-treatment with 1nM of all-rac-α-T was able to significantly (P<0.05) reduce the effect of 125 and 150 mM H2O2. In MDCK cells, the pre-incubation with all-rac-α-T determines a significant reduction of the membrane damage, induced by 175 µM of H2O2. In conclusion, RRR-α-T and all-rac-α-T have shown the ability to counteract the oxidative effects of H2O2, however further investigation will help to better understand their specific mechanism of action in vitro.  

Potentials and Challenges of Former Food Products (Food Leftover) as Alternative Feed Ingredients

Former food products (FFPs) are foodstuffs that, even though they are nutritious and safe, have lost their value on the human consumption market for different reasons, such as production errors leading to broken or intermediate foodstuffs, surpluses caused by logistical challenges of daily delivery, or any other reason. The nutritional features of FFPs include carbohydrates, free sugars, and possibly also fats. FFPs tend to have been processed through various technological and heat treatments that impact the nutrients and the kinetics of digestion, as well as animal response and, particularly, gastro-intestinal health. This review integrates some of the most recently published works about the chemical composition, nutritional value, digestibility and glycaemic index of ex-foods. In addition, a view on the relationship between the use of FFPs and safety issues and their effects on pigs\u2019 intestinal microbiota are also given

Mycotoxins in Wheat and Mitigation Measures

Latest estimates for world cereal production in 2015 and EU‐28 production in 2014 are approximately 2540 and 323 mil tons, respectively. The FAO estimated that the global wheat consumption is about 66 kg/per capita. Among the most important risks associated with wheat consumption are mycotoxins. It has been estimated that up to 25% of the world\u27s crops grown for food and feed may be contaminated with mycotoxins. Despite efforts in controlling fungal growth, mycotoxin co‐contamination represents an unavoidable risk, occurring pre‐ and postharvest and resulting in reduced nutritional value and possible risks for human and animal health. In addition to health risks, mycotoxins have a detrimental effect on the quality and the processing performance of wheat. Mitigation measures to manage the challenge of mycotoxins in wheat include strategies at pre‐ and postharvest. Preharvest events are predominantly dictated by environmental factors and good agronomic/cultural practices, whereas storage and processing are the major areas where contamination can be prevented at postharvest. Integrating as many management options as possible may minimize the risk of mycotoxin contamination in wheat and wheat products

In vitro digestibility protocol applied to BARF diets: pros and cons

This study evaluated the in vitro dry matter and crude protein digestibility in natural pet food, also termed BARF diets. For this purpose, eight samples of dogs BARF diets and two commercial dog food, used as reference materials, were analysed and tested in the assay. The BARF diets were based on raw beef and poultry by-products, while the commercial pet food was one dry and one wet. All samples were analysed for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE) and ash content. Furthermore, using an in vitro assay, simulating gastric and small intestinal digestion, both dry matter digestibility (IVD-DM) and crude protein digestibility (IVD-CP) have been measured. Briefly, after the pepsin (39 \ub0C for 6 h) and pancreatin (39 \ub0C for 18 h) incubation in the IVD-DM and IVD-CP test, the undigested residues were dried at 105 \ub0C overnight. The IVD-DM was calculated from the difference between dry matter in the sample and the undigested residue. The IVD-CP was calculated from the difference between the nitrogen content in the original sample and the nitrogen content undigested residue measured by the Kjeldahl method. All BARF diets and wet pet food were characterised by high moisture content (DM: 380 g\ub7kg 121), while in the case of dry pet food DM content was 920 g\ub7kg 121. On average, BARF diets and commercial diets were characterised by the following values, on dry matter basis: CP, 368 g\ub7kg 121; EE, 442 g\ub7kg 121; ash, 52 g\ub7kg 121. All BARF samples and reference materials were characterised by high digestibility values. Both IVD-DM and IVD-CP reached values higher than 80%. Of note, in the case of IVD-DM, a substantial variability within samples has been observed (SD: \ub15.5). While in the case of IVD-CP value observed presented less variability (SD: \ub11.4). In light of these results, it can be concluded that proposed IDV method has some potential in determining protein digestibility in BARF diets, while the assay seems to be limited for measuring DM digestibility, as indicated by the large SD recorded in the BARF diets. The reason for this is unclear and merit further investigations