Search results for "Food Contamination"
showing 10 items of 280 documents
Mycotoxins in dry-cured meats: A review
2017
Dry-cured meats products are consumed in various regions of the world and, consumers are increasingly demanding better quality and safety of these products. Some fungal species can produce mycotoxins in drycured meats, such as aflatoxins and ochratoxins, which, when ingested, can produce carcinogenic and mutagenic effects in humans. Contamination of these products can occur at different points of the production chain, from the field (animal contaminated with feed) to the production or storage of the final product. Although the presence of mycotoxins in drycured meats has been reported in several regions of the world, the presence of these contaminants are not legislated in most countries. T…
Yeasts and moulds contaminants of food ice cubes and their survival in different drinks
2018
Aims To evaluate the levels of unicellular and filamentous fungi in ice cubes produced at different levels and to determine their survival in alcoholic beverages and soft drinks. Methods and Results Sixty samples of ice cubes collected from home level (HL) productions, bars and pubs (BP) and industrial manufacturing plants (MP) were investigated for the presence and cell density of yeasts and moulds. Moulds were detected in almost all samples, while yeasts developed from the majority of HL and MP samples. Representative colonies of microfungi were subjected to phenotypic and genotypic characterization. The identification was carried out by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) ana…
Application of high-content screening for the study of hepatotoxicity: Focus on food toxicology
2020
Safety evaluation of thousands of chemicals that are directly added to or come in contact with food is needed. Due to the central role of the liver in intermediary and energy metabolism and in the biotransformation of foreign compounds, the hepatotoxicity assessment is essential. New approach methodologies have been proposed for the safety evaluation of compounds with the idea of rapidly gaining insight into effects on biochemical mechanisms and cellular processes and screening large number of compounds. In this sense, high-content screening (HCS) is the application of automated microscopy and image analysis for better understanding of complex biological functions and mechanisms of toxicity…
A melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene polymorphism is useful for authentication of Massese sheep dairy products
2011
Massese is an Italian sheep breed, with black or grey coat colour, mainly reared in the Tuscany and Emilia Romagna regions. Recently, the emerging interests in this breed have resulted in the production of Pecorino cheese obtained with only Massese milk. In order to be profitable, this marketing link between Massese breed and its products should be defended against fraudsters who could include milk of other sheep breeds or cow milk in Massese labelled productions. To identify the genetic factors affecting coat colour in sheep, we have recently analysed the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene and identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In this work, as a first step to set …
Development of a GC–MS/MS strategy to determine 15 mycotoxins and metabolites in human urine
2014
The widespread mycotoxins contamination of food commodities has made the monitoring of their levels essential. To overcome the disadvantages of the indirect approach by food analysis, detection of mycotoxin as biomarkers in urine provides a useful and specific data for exposure assessment to these food contaminants. In this work, a sensitive, rapid and accurate method based on gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry procedure to determine 15 mycotoxins and metabolites in human urine was optimized and validated taking into consideration the guidelines specified in Commission Decision 2002/657/EC and 401/2006/EC. A salting-out assisted acetonitrile-based extraction was used for sample pre…
Risk assessment and monitoring programme of nitrates through vegetables in the Region of Valencia (Spain)
2017
This study was carried out to determine current levels of nitrate in vegetables marketed in the Region of Valencia (Spain) and to estimate the toxicological risk associated with their intake. A total of 533 samples of seven vegetable species were studied. Nitrate levels were derived from the Valencia Region monitoring programme carried out from 2009 to 2013 and food consumption levels were taken from the first Valencia Food Consumption Survey, conducted in 2010. The exposure was estimated using a probabilistic approach and two scenarios were assumed for left-censored data: the lower-bound scenario, in which unquantified results (below the limit of quantification) were set to zero and the up…
Exposure assessment of fruits contaminated with pesticide residues from Valencia, 2001– 03
2006
A total of 634 samples of oranges, tangerines, peaches, nectarines, khakis and watermelons were collected from an Agricultural Valencia Community Cooperative during the May 2001 to April 2003 campaigns and they were analysed for 15 pesticides among those recommended for pest treatment. A conventional multiresidue analytical procedure based on ethyl acetate extraction was used followed by gas chromatography coupled to a nitrogen phosphorus detector for routine analysis; and mass spectrometry was performed for confirmation. Recovery studies with spiked samples at 0.5 mg kg-1 for each pesticide ranged from 52% for acephate to 87% for fenthion with a standard deviation20%. Limits of quantificat…
Monitoring programme on cadmium, lead and mercury in fish and seafood from Valencia, Spain: levels and estimated weekly intake.
2008
The study was carried out to determine the current levels of mercury, cadmium, and lead in fish and seafood from the market of Comunitat Valenciana, Spain. Levels of total mercury ranged from 0.02 to 3.15 mg kg⁻¹ w.w. (average = 0.073 mg kg⁻¹ w.w.). Cadmium concentrations ranged from 0.003 to 0.66 mg kg⁻¹ w.w. (average = 0.27 mg kg⁻¹ w.w.) for seafood, and between 0.003 and 0.71 mg kg⁻¹ w.w. (average = 0.01 mg kg⁻¹ w.w.) for marine fish. Concerning lead, concentrations from 0.02 to 0.36 mg kg⁻¹ w.w (average = 0.04 mg kg⁻¹ w.w.) were found in fish, and from 0.02 to 1.02 mg kg⁻¹ w.w. in seafood (average = 0.147 mg kg⁻¹ w.w.). The levels found were, in general, lower than maximum levels propos…
Multi-occurrence of twenty mycotoxinsin pasta and a risk assessment in the moroccan population
2018
In the present study, the multi-occurrence of twenty (20) mycotoxins in pasta samples consumed in Morocco was assessed. For this, a modified Quick, Easy, Cheap Effective, Rugged, and Safe method was validated. The mycotoxins studied were identified and quantified by liquid chromatography&ndash
Determination of 21 perfluoroalkyl substances and organophosphorus compounds in breast milk by liquid chromatography coupled to orbitrap high-resolut…
2018
Abstract The human exposure to perfluoroalkyl (PFASs) and organophosphorus (OPs) compounds is a cause of concern and its determination in biological matrices, including human milk, is an emergent approach for evaluate their exposure. A comprehensive strategy for the quantitative determination of 21 PFASs and OPs compounds in breast milk was developed. The proposed method includes an extraction and clean-up procedure based on the QuEChERs methodology followed by an ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) determination. The full-scan mass data were acquired with a resolution of 50000 FWHM and a mass accuracy better than 5 ppm. Met…