Tools to support the self assessment of the performance of Food Safety Management Systems

Changes in food supply chains, health and demographic situations, lifestyle and social situations, environmental conditions, and increased legislative requirements have led to significant efforts in the development of quality and safety management systems in agribusiness and food industry worldwide (Ropkins and Beck, 2000; Efstratiadis, Karirti, and Arvanitoyannis, 2000; Jacxsens, et al, 2009a, Luning and Marcelis, 2009a). Nowadays, companies have implemented various quality assurance (QA) guidelines and standards, such as GMP and HACCP guidelines (like General Principles of food hygiene (Codex Alimentarius 2003), GFSI guidance document (GFSI (2007), and quality assurance standards (like ISO 9001:2008 (2008), ISO22000:2005 (2005), BRC (2008), and IFS (2007) into their company own food safety management system. The performance of such systems in practice is, however, still variable. Moreover, the continuous pressure on food safety management system (FSMS) performance and the dynamic environment wherein the systems operate (such as emerging pathogens, changing consumer demands, developments in preservation techniques) require that they can be systematically analysed to determine opportunities for improvement (Wallace, et al, 2005; Manning et al, 2006; Van der Spiegel et al, 2006; Cornier et al, 2007; Luning et al, 2009a). Within the European project entitled ‘PathogenCombat- EU FOOD-CT-2005-007081’ various tools have been developed to support food companies and establishments in systematically analysing and judging their food safety management system and its microbiological performance as basis for strategic choices on interventions to improve the FSMS performance. This chapter describes briefly principles of the major tools that have been developed and some others, which are still under still under construction

Effect of frying instructions for food handlers on acrylamide concentration in French fries : an explorative study.

The objective of this study was to obtain insight into the effect of frying instructions on food handlers' control decisions in restaurants and to investigate the impact of control decisions on the variation and concentration of acrylamide in French fries. The concentrations of acrylamide and reducing sugars were analyzed, the frying temperature and time were measured, and thawing practices were observed. The results obtained before and after instructions were provided to the food handlers were compared for restaurants as a group and for each restaurant. Frying instructions supported food handlers' decisions to start frying when the oil temperature reached 175°C; all handlers started frying at the correct temperature. However, the effect of the instructions on the food handlers' decisions for frying time differed; most handlers increased the frying time beyond 240 s to achieve crispier French fries with a final color dictated by their preference. Providing instructions did not result in a significant difference in the mean concentration of acrylamide in French fries for the restaurants as a group. However, data analyzed for each restaurant revealed that when food handlers properly followed the instructions, the mean concentration of acrylamide was significantly lower (169 μg/kg) than that before instructions were provided (1,517 μg/kg). When food handlers did not complying with the frying instructions, mean acrylamide concentrations were even higher than those before instructions were provided. Two different strategies were developed to overcome the noncompliant behavior of food handlers: establishing requirements for the features of commercial fryers and strict monitoring of compliance with instructions

Imaging the antiparallel magnetic alignment of adjacent Fe and MnAs thin films

The magnetic coupling between iron and alpha - MnAs in the epitaxial system Fe/MnAs/GaAs(001) has been studied at the sub-micron scale, using element selective x-ray photoemission electron microscopy. At room temperature, MnAs layers display ridges and grooves, alternating alpha (magnetic) and beta (non-magnetic) phases. The self-organised microstructure of MnAs and the stray fields that it generates govern the local alignment between the Fe and alpha - MnAs magnetization directions, which is mostly antiparallel with a marked dependence upon the magnetic domain size

Milk quality and hygiene: Knowledge, attitudes and practices of smallholder dairy farmers in central Kenya

Milk production is an important livelihood source for smallholder dairy farmers in low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Kenya. However, milk quality and safety are a challenge due to unhygienic handling and non-adherence to food safety standards. The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and adoption of milk quality and food safety practices by smallholder farmers in Kenya.Ten Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), involving 71 smallholder farmers, were held to collect qualitative data on knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPs) of smallholder dairy farmers in Laikipia, Nakuru, and Nyandarua counties. Additionally, data were collected through a cross-sectional administered to 652 smallholder farming households. The results of the study revealed low knowledge level and negative attitudes towards respecting antibiotics treatment withdrawal periods, milk quality standards and food safety regulations. Farmers stated they had received low levels of training on milk quality and safety standards. The majority of farmers adopted animal health measures and hygienic measures such as hand washing and udder cleaning. However, unhygienic milking environments, the use of plastic containers, the use of untreated water, and lack of teat dipping compromised milk quality and safety. Currently, milk production, handling and consumption could expose actors along the dairy value chain to health risks. The adoption of milk quality and food safety practices was influenced by farmers' knowledge, socioeconomic characteristics, and choice of marketing channel.There is a need to improve farmers' knowledge and attitudes and implement hygienic control, disease control and antibiotic residue control practices in the milk production process to meet required milk quality and food safety standards. Awareness campaigns and training programmes for smallholder dairy farmers could foster behavioural change and lead to an improvement in milk quality in Kenya

International course on water and water management in the Philippines: 6 January - 1 February 2019

Since 2011, the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSW) and the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) of Leiden University, in cooperation with Isabela State University and the Mabuwaya Foundation in the Philippines organize an annual month–long international, interdisciplinary course on sustainable development, water issues and water management in the Cagayan River basin in Northeast Luzon in the Philippines. Thirty students participate in this course, 15 through Leiden University and 15 through Isabela State University. The students are enrolled in different studies, encompassing social, natural and applied sciences. The annual report contains background information, all student reports and the online blog that the students maintained during the course.Global Challenges (FSW)Environmental BiologyConservation Biolog

Field-driven femtosecond magnetization dynamics induced by ultrastrong coupling to THz transients

Controlling ultrafast magnetization dynamics by a femtosecond laser is attracting interest both in fundamental science and industry because of the potential to achieve magnetic domain switching at ever advanced speed. Here we report experiments illustrating the ultrastrong and fully coherent light-matter coupling of a high-field single-cycle THz transient to the magnetization vector in a ferromagnetic thin film. We could visualize magnetization dynamics which occur on a timescale of the THz laser cycle and two orders of magnitude faster than the natural precession response of electrons to an external magnetic field, given by the Larmor frequency. We show that for one particular scattering geometry the strong coherent optical coupling can be described within the framework of a renormalized Landau Lifshitz equation. In addition to fundamentally new insights to ultrafast magnetization dynamics the coherent interaction allows for retrieving the complex time-frequency magnetic properties and points out new opportunities in data storage technology towards significantly higher storage speed.Comment: 25 page

International course on water and water management in the Philippines: 5 January - 31 January 2016

Since 2011, the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSW) and the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) of Leiden University, in cooperation with Isabela State University and the Mabuwaya Foundation in the Philippines organize an annual month–long international, interdisciplinary course on sustainable development, water issues and water management in the Cagayan River basin in Northeast Luzon in the Philippines. Thirty students participate in this course, 15 through Leiden University and 15 through Isabela State University. The students are enrolled in different studies, encompassing social, natural and applied sciences. The annual report contains background information, all student reports and the online blog that the students maintained during the courseGlobal Challenges (FSW)Environmental BiologyConservation Biolog

Protein kinase A negatively regulates Ca2+ signalling in Toxoplasma gondii

The phylum Apicomplexa comprises a group of obligate intracellular parasites that alternate between intracellular replicating stages and actively motile extracellular forms that move through tissue. Parasite cytosolic Ca2+ signalling activates motility, but how this is switched off after invasion is complete to allow for replication to begin is not understood. Here, we show that the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase A catalytic subunit 1 (PKAc1) of Toxoplasma is responsible for suppression of Ca2+ signalling upon host cell invasion. We demonstrate that PKAc1 is sequestered to the parasite periphery by dual acylation of PKA regulatory subunit 1 (PKAr1). Upon genetic depletion of PKAc1 we show that newly invaded parasites exit host cells shortly thereafter, in a perforin-like protein 1 (PLP-1)-dependent fashion. Furthermore, we demonstrate that loss of PKAc1 prevents rapid down-regulation of cytosolic [Ca2+] levels shortly after invasion. We also provide evidence that loss of PKAc1 sensitises parasites to cyclic GMP (cGMP)-induced Ca2+ signalling, thus demonstrating a functional link between cAMP and these other signalling modalities. Together, this work provides a new paradigm in understanding how Toxoplasma and related apicomplexan parasites regulate infectivity

Shipping Canals in Transition

Shipping canals have supported maritime traffic and port development for many centuries. Radical transformations of these shipping landscapes through land reclamation, diking, and canalization were celebrated as Herculean works of progress and modernity. Today, shipping canals are the sites of increasing tension between economic growth and associated infrastructural interventions focused on the quality, sustainability, and resilience of natural systems and spatial settlement patterns. Shifting approaches to land/water relations must now be understood in longer political histories in which pre-existing alliances influence changes in infrastructure planning. On the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the New Waterway (Nieuwe Waterweg), the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus universities PortCityFutures Center hosted an international symposium in October 2022 to explore the past, present, and future of this channel that links Rotterdam to the North Sea. Symposium participants addressed issues of shipping, dredging, and planning within in the Dutch delta, and linked them to contemporary debates on the environmental, spatial, and societal conditions of shipping canals internationally. The thematic issue builds on symposium conversations, and highlights the importance of spatial, economic, and political linkages in port and urban development. These spatial approaches contribute to more dynamic, responsive strategies for shipping canals through water management and planning