Journal of Food Safety and Hygiene
Volume:8 Issue: 1, Winter 2022

The technology of genetically modified (GM) food can overwhelm agricultural and nutritional difficulties in the food industry, food safety and security by increasing resistance to pests and herbicides, drought tolerance, rapid ripening and ultimately increasing yield and food quality. However, in the last few decades, significant dangers of GM foods to humans, animals, and the environment have been identified. Nevertheless, there is insufficient scientific evidence to prove the harmful effects of these foods on human and animal health. In this article, several advantages and disadvantages of this technology are reviewed. Therefore, it is necessary to perform all the requested risk assessments before releasing any GM product and next post-release checking to track probable gene flow and limit any possible contamination of the food chain catastrophe. Therefore, the safe use of this technology, in compliance with all protocols of environmental health and safety assessment at the national and international levels is demanded.

Three selected chicken abattoirs and two retail locations were studied to determine the frequency of occurrence and profile for Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strain present in abattoirs and retail (frozen) chicken carcasses in Osun state, Nigeria. Samples were plated on Eosin Methylene Blue agar for the presence of E. coli. Furthermore, the isolates were confirmed serologically as non-O157 STEC using a latex agglutination serotyping kit. Multiplex PCR was used to check for specific virulence factors in the isolated E. coli strains. The mean colony count results showed that effluent water samples from the Ikirun slaughter slab type abattoir were the highest at 25 cfu/ml. A post hoc comparison showed that this value was significantly higher than that of the slaughtering table at Oluode-1 (P = 0.04) and retail chicken meat samples at Igbona (P = 0.01). The results show that chicken abattoirs are poor reservoirs of STEC. Moreover, the results from this study showing that the stx2-producing strains that are more prone to cause hemolytic uremic syndrome are the predominant strain in the study area are worrisome. These results underscore the improper hygiene practices of the abattoir workers combined with inadequate waste management and biological waste disposal systems. It is recommended that regulatory bodies in this locality should focus on ensuring the upgrade of biological waste disposal from these abattoirs in order to limit spread of potentially virulent pathogens into the runoff and groundwater.

Lipid oxidation is an undesirable reaction that produces unwanted and harmful compounds, including malondialdehyde (MDA). Ice cream has a considerable amount of fat; therefore, it is sensitive to lipid oxidation. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the lipid oxidation level in traditional and pasteurized ice creams. The traditional ice cream and various brands of pasteurized ice cream samples were collected. The amount of MDA was measured by the TBARS method, and dietary exposure to MDA was calculated. MDA levels in the traditional samples were lower than in pasteurized ice creams, however, it was not significant (p>0.05). The level of lipid oxidation was different in brands A, B, and C. The highest and lowest levels of MDA were found in brand A and brand C, respectively. The value of estimated dietary intake was calculated as 4.251 µg/Kg. This study showed that the amount of MDA could be very different in branded samples. Furthermore, the dietary intake of MDA is considerable. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a standard regarding the permissible level of MDA in ice cream.

Campylobacter spp. are among the ten top leading causes of foodborne diseases around the world and are capable of triggering severe gastroenteritis with potential for severe sequelae. Fresh camel milk is one of the most common hospitality gestures among certain cultures. We investigated the potential risk of illness from the consumption of camel milk contaminated with Campylobacter spp. in Qatar and identified critical intervention points that would contribute to mitigating its consequences. Quantitative risk assessment (QRA) methodology with a combination of deterministic and stochastic approaches was employed to address this objective. Data on the likelihood of either C. jejuni or C. coli in camel milk or in humans was obtained through repeat cross-sectional studies in these populations in Qatar. Estimates of the adverse health effects were computed using risk characterization which integrated data on the hazard, the probability of exposure, and dose-response models. Our analyses showed that the probability of illness for a healthy female from the consumption of camel milk contaminated with C. jejuni ranged from 5 x 10-3 to 24 x 10-2 depending on the amount of milk consumed. The risk of illness for males was higher (13 x 10-3 to 30 x 10-2). The estimates of illness were three times higher for immunocompromised females in comparison to healthy females. Immunocompromised males had a five-times higher risk of illness in comparison to healthy men. The computed risk of illness from consumption of camel milk contaminated with either C. jejuni or C. coli could be significantly mitigated by increasing the efficacy of sterilizing or pasteurization before serving.

The antimicrobial effect postbiotic extant of Lactobacillus casei was evaluated against Escherichia coli by well propagation method and growth inhibition zone diameter was measured. The selected concentration of the postbiotic extract of L. casei was added to milk containing E. coli, followed by evaluating the changes in colony number and pH during storage (1 and 5) days at 4°C then compared with control milk. The largest growth inhibition zone was formed at a concentration of 800 µl/ml against E. coli. Also, the counts of E. coli decreased on days 1 and 5 in the evaluated milk containing postbiotic (p≤ 0.05). The pH of milk containing postbiotic was 6.5-6.8 (p≤ 0.05). The results showed that the postbiotics of L. casei inhibited the growth of E. coli in milk containing.

The occurrence of aflatoxin in staple food products is a serious threat to public health. This study aimed to determine the level of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination in rice and rice products produced in Jhapa, a major rice-producing area of the country. A total of 108 samples including paddy, rice and rice products (4 varieties each) were collected and the amount of AFB1 in them was analyzed using Bio-Shield B1 5 Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test. The major varieties of paddy cultivated were Ranjit (26.61%), Sarana (22.22%), NR-2167 (13.89%) and Sukkha variety (5.56%). Fungal attack, color change and unwanted odor were major problems incurred during paddy storage while fungal attack and appearance of lumps were major problems during rice storage. About 76.92% of respondents were unaware of good agricultural practices and 87% of them had no idea about aflatoxins. Through ELISA, it was found that paddy, rice and rice products had a mean AFB1 content of 1.43, 1.41 and 1.64 μg/kg respectively, and the contamination levels differed significantly among different varieties of the samples. Ranjit variety of paddy, rice as well as beaten rice had the highest level of contamination among paddy, rice and rice product samples respectively. All the samples had AFB1 concentrations below the standards set by Nepal Government as well as World Health Organization. But 1 sample of Sukkha paddy, 3 samples of Ranjit paddy, 1 sample of Mansoori rice, 3 samples of Ranjit rice, 3 samples of Ranjit beaten rice and 3 samples of Mansoori puffed rice had AFB1 above the European Union standard.