L¿USO DELL¿ISTOLOGIA NEL CONTROLLO DEGLI ALIMENTI DI ORIGINE ANIMALE CON PARTICOLARE RIFERIMENTO AI PRODOTTI ITTICI

Under Council Regulations, authentication of fish as fresh or frozen-thawed is compulsory because of the widespread fraudulent practice of retailing fish products as fresh, when they have actually been frozen. Moreover, in order to satisfy the health requirements of EC Regulations 853/2004 and 1276/2011, the fish intended for raw consumption has to be deep-frozen before usage, to protect consumers against Anisakiasis.. The aim of this study was to apply histological analysis as a method for distinguishing between fresh and frozen-thawed fish, with a view to evaluate its potential use as a routine screening technique in compliance with the requirements of EC Regulation No. 882/2004 on official food and feed controls. In a first experiment, method performance (i.e., accuracy and precision) was evaluated on tissue samples from three common Mediterranean fish species; the evaluation was subsequently extended to include samples from 35 different fish species in a second experiment to test for method robustness. Specifically, method accuracy was tested by comparing histological results against a gold standard obtained from the analysis of frozen and unfrozen fish samples prepared for the study; method precision was evaluated according to inter-rater agreement (i.e., three laboratories with expertise in histopathology in the first experiment, and three expert analysts in the second experiment) by estimating Cohen's kappa (and corresponding 95% confidence intervals) for each pair of labs and experts and combined Cohen\u2019s kappa for all three experts and labs. The observed interrater agreement among the three labs and the three experts showed good method accuracy and precision (high sensitivity and specificity), as well as good method reproducibility. Our results suggest that, besides being a rapid and simple tool, histology is a highly accurate method for distinguishing between fresh and frozen-thawed fish, irrespective of the fish species analysed. Furthermore in a third experiment ten samples obtained both from red and white-meat fish, based on real production of the food business, were designated to evaluate the performance of the histological method in correctly classifying the fish as fresh/frozen as well as the microbiological and chemical safety issues possibly related to the fishery products. All samples were collected and were subjected to histological, microbiological and chemical analyses before and after freezing. For two samples species identification was needed. Based on the histological method, one out of ten fish, all claimed to be fresh by the supplier, was not; all the remaining nine samples following freezing could be characterized microscopically as frozen; microbiological parameters resulted normal, while flesh from a tuna fish (Euthynnus alletteratus) contained mercury residues three times the legally permitted level

Estimating canine cancer incidence: Findings from a population-based tumour registry in northwestern Italy

Background: Canine cancer registry data can be put to good use in epidemiological studies. Quantitative comparison of tumour types may reveal unusual cancer frequencies, providing directions for research and generation of hypotheses of cancer causation in a specific area, and suggest leads for identifying risk factors. Here we report canine cancer incidence rates calculated from a population-based registry in an area without any known specific environmental hazard. Results: In its 90 months of operation from 2001 to 2008 (the observation period in this study), the population-based Piedmont Canine Cancer Registry collected data on 1175 tumours confirmed by histopathological diagnosis. The incidence rate was 804 per 100,000 dog-years for malignant tumours and 897 per 100,000 dog-years for benign tumours. Higher rates for all cancers were observed in purebred dogs, particularly in Yorkshire terrier and Boxer. The most prevalent malignant neoplasms were cutaneous mastocytoma and hemangiopericytoma, and mammary gland complex carcinoma and simplex carcinoma. Conclusions: The Piedmont canine cancer registry is one of few of its kind whose operations have been consistently supported by long-term public funding. The registry-based cancer incidence rates were estimated with particular attention to the validity of data collection, thus minimizing the potential for bias. The findings on cancer incidence rates may provide a reliable reference for comparison studies. Researches conducted on dogs, used as sentinels for community exposure to environmental carcinogens, can be useful to detect excess risks in the incidence of malignant tumours in the human population

Meat and meat products

Food Fraud has been around a long time but following several highly mediatised incidents such as the milk and infant formula contaminated with melamine in 2008 and the horsemeat scandal in 2013, all authenticity issues have become big news. Regulators and customers now require food operators to keep abreast of any potential risks and to regularly assess their raw material and ingredient supply chains for vulnerability to food fraud. It is hoped that this FoodIntegrity Handbook will be a useful companion to help the food industry achieve this aim. The Handbook has been written for food business operators and is primarily aimed at quality control managers working in food production and to those actors involved in the food supply chain. It may also be useful to young scientists, students and researchers with little prior knowledge of the area. Written by nearly 50 experts in food authenticity, it is the result of European collaboration through the EU-funded FoodIntegrity project. The book\u2019s editors, Jean Fran\ue7ois Morin and Mich\ue8le Lees, are respectively the current and former Directors of Collaborative Research at Eurofins Analytics France, an analytical laboratory renowned for its pioneering research into Food Authenticity