Search results for "Food Contamination"
showing 10 items of 280 documents
Determination of acrylamide in foods by pressurized fluid extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry used for a survey of Spanish …
2006
An automated and rapid method for the determination of acrylamide in different food products is presented. The method involves pressurized fluid extraction (PFE) of foods with acetonitrile and precipitation with Carrez reagents. The final extract is analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS-MS). The main parameters affecting the performance of ESI-MS-MS and PFE were optimized using a design of experiments approach. The limit of quantification of the method was 5 microg kg(-1), and recoveries from incurred samples ranged between 93 and 101%. The accuracy was evaluated using the reference test materials FAPAS T3002, T3005 and T3011. …
Evaluation of enniatins A, A1, B, B1 and beauvericin in Portuguese cereal-based foods.
2012
Sixty-one samples of Portuguese cereal-based foods were analysed for the occurrence of emerging mycotoxins called enniatins (A, A1, B and B1) and beauvericin. Samples were extracted with a mixture of acetonitrile/water (85/15, v/v) using an Ultra-Turrax homogeniser, and mycotoxins were detected with liquid chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer. This method was validated and adequate values of recovery (70-103%) and relative standard deviation (15%) were obtained. Signal suppression/enhancement was studied and matrix-matched calibration used to minimise this effect, but no additional clean-up step was necessary. The mass spectrometer was operated in selected reaction monitoring (SRM)…
The use of near-infrared spectrometry in the olive oil industry.
2010
The enormous possibilities offered by near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for the (on/in/at-line) quality control process of olive fruits, pastes, and oils are summarized throughout this paper. Special attention has been paid to the combination of NIR and chemometric treatments for the on-line analysis of olive fruits and also for the quality parameters evaluation on olive oils and pastes which can enhance the production of a high quality olive oil and the selection of olive fruit with superior properties. The implementation of NIR sensors in olive mills with successful results has also been reviewed and the commercial olive fruit and oil analyzers highlighted.
Safety assessment of food-contact paper and board using a battery of short-term toxicity tests: European union BIOSAFEPAPER project.
2005
International audience; An European Union (EU)-funded project QLK1-CT-2001-00930 (BIOSAFEPAPER) involves the development, validation and intercalibration of a short-term battery of toxicological tests for the safety assessment of food-contact paper and board. Dissemination of the results to industry, legislators (e.g. DG Consumer Protection, DG Enterprises, DG Research), standardization bodies such as CEN, and consumers will create an agreed risk evaluation procedure. The project involves pre-normative research in order to establish a set of in-vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity tests that will be easily adaptable to food-contact fibre-based materials and have endpoints relevant to consume…
Characterization of antimicrobial properties on the growth of S. aureus of novel renewable blends of gliadins and chitosan of interest in food packag…
2007
The biocide properties of chitosan-based materials have been known for many years. However, typical antimicrobial formulations of chitosan, mostly chitosonium salts, are known to be very water sensitive materials which may impair their use in many application fields such as food packaging or food coating applications. This first work reports on the development and characterization of the antimicrobial properties of novel fully renewable blends of chitosan with more water-resistant gliadin proteins isolated from wheat gluten. Chitosan release to the nutrient broth from a wide range of blends was studied making use of the ninhydrin method. The results indicated that both pure chitosan and its…
Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum Essential Oil Prevented Biofilm formation and showed antibacterial activity against planktonic and sessile bacterial c…
2013
Essential oils from six different populations of Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum were compared for their antibiofilm properties. The six essential oils (A to F) were characterized by a combination of gas chromatography with flame ionization detector and gas chromatography with mass spectrometer detector analyses. All oils showed weak activity against the planktonic form of a group of Staphylococcus aureus strains and against a Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 15442 reference strain. The ability to inhibit biofilm formation was investigated at sub-MIC levels of 200, 100, and 50 m g/ml by staining sessile cells with safranin. Sample E showed the highest average effectiveness against all tested stra…
Prevalence of bacteria and absence of anisakid parasites in raw and prepared fish and seafood dishes in Spanish restaurants
2015
This study evaluated the presence of bacteria and anisakid parasites in 45 samples of raw anchovies in vinegar, a dish widely eaten in Spain, and in 227 samples of cooked fish and cephalopods served in Spanish food service establishments. Our analysis showed that, according to European and Spanish regulation, 14 to 30% of the prepared fish and cephalopod dishes exceeded the maximum allowable level for mesophilic aerobic counts, and 10 to 40% of these samples exceeded the allowable levels for Enterobacteriaceae. None of the studied samples showed evidence of anisakid parasites, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, or Listeria monocyto genes. These results indicate that applic…
Photoactivated chlorophyllin-based gelatin films and coatings to prevent microbial contamination of food products
2008
[EN] The aim of this work was to develop antimicrobial photosensitizer-containing edible films and coatings based on gelatin as the polymer matrix. incorporating sodium magnesium chlorophyllin (E-140) and sodium copper chlorophyllin (E-141). Chlorophyllins were incorporated into the gelatin film-forming solution and the inhibiting effect of the cast films was tested against Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes. The results demonstrated that water soluble sodium magnesium chlorophyllin and water soluble sodium copper chlorophyllin reduced the growth of S. aureus and L monocytogenes by 5 log and 4 log respectively. Subsequently, the activity of self-standing films and coatings con…
Quantification and viability assays of Toxoplasma gondii in commercial "Serrano" ham samples using magnetic capture real-time qPCR and bioassay techn…
2014
"Serrano" ham is a typical pork product from the Mediterranean area, highly valued for its flavour. To make Serrano ham, pork undergoes a salting and a subsequent fermentation process known as curing. Certain pigs used for meat production are an important source of Toxoplasma gondii infection in humans. We have developed a method for quantifying and assaying the viability of the T. gondii present in commercial Serrano ham samples. A magnetic capture method for the isolation of T. gondii DNA and a qRT-PCR were used to estimate the T. gondii burden in 475 commercial samples of "Serrano" ham in two presentation formats: ham pieces and sliced ham. The infectivity capacity of T. gondii in positi…
Profiling of compounds and degradation products from the postharvest treatment of pears and apples by ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography quadr…
2010
This study deals with a simple strategy to pinpoint potential unknown compounds in full scan mass spectrometry (MS) experiments. Forty samples of apples and pears intended for human consumption were analyzed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography quadrupole-time-of-flight (UPLC–QqTOF-MS), after extraction of the possible contaminants by rinsing the peel of the fruit with ethyl acetate. The peaks were visually recognized in the total ion chromatogram (TIC). Two major types of postharvest treatments were detected in this set of samples: imazalil (IMZ)/ethoxyquin (EQ) and thiabendazole (TBZ)/diphenylamine (DPA). The present work also describes the metabolites formed by degradation of …