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Background/Aim. Establishing a food safety control system is extremely important in preventing diseases associated with foodborne pathogens. The aim of this study was to examine the hygiene status of food contact surfaces and the application of good hygiene practices by food handlers in school canteens. Methods. A total of 10,366 swabs were taken from food contact surfaces, including food handler’s hands from public school canteens in Novi Sad, Serbia, over ten years (2008–2017), covering voluntary good hygiene practices and obligatory Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) implementation periods. Results. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in aerobic colony counts (ACCs) on surfaces between two examined periods were found. A general positive trend regarding the reduction of microbial contamination of food contact surfaces was observed. The percentage of surfaces swabs with ACCs above 2.48 log CFU/cm2 significantly decreased (R2 = 0.453) during the study period, and the percentage of coagulase-positive Staphylococcus in the swabs also decreased, but not significantly (R2 = 0.264), and average annual Enterobacteriaceae counts above the established limit values on surfaces significantly decreased (R2 = 0.442) over the years. A significantly higher (p < 0.05) percentage of workers’ hands harbored ACCs, coagulase-positive Staphylococcus, and Enterobacteriaceae above the established limits than the equipment or work surfaces. Conclusion. The results obtained showed the proper implementation of good hygiene practices concerning food contact sur-faces, but the implementation of good personal hygiene practices needs enhanced supervision.

This paper analyzes the effect of the fiscal deficit on the current account deficit in the European Union during the period 1995-2018. The purpose is to examine to what extent an increase in government spending affects the deterioration of terms of trade and contributes to increasing external imbalances. Econometric methods for heterogeneous panel data models are used to analyse the existence of a long-run relationship between the fiscal deficit and the current account. The empirical findings indicate that the twin deficits hypothesis is not confirmed for the whole European Union, but only for a certain number of member states, where a long-run relationship still exists, confirming the impact of the fiscal deficit on the current account.

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Simple Summary: In surveillance studies conducted in industrialized EU nations, a rise has been noted in hepatitis E infections that are unrelated to travel. According to previous research studies, eating undercooked or uncooked meat and organs, as well as products from pigs or other wild animals (wild boars and deer), was predominantly linked to human hepatitis caused by the hepatitis E virus genotype 3. Furthermore, domestic pigs and wild boars represent nature's primary reservoirs of this virus, and the liver is the main organ for hosting this virus. The goal of this study conducted in Serbia was to detect HEV in pig liver samples from slaughterhouses, retail outlets, and environmental swabs over the course of a year. All positive HEV samples were measured and expressed as HEV gene copy numbers per gram of sample, and a representative number of samples were sequenced using the Sanger approach. A total of 45 HEV-positive samples were re-amplified using nested RT-PCR employing CODEHOP primers targeting ORF2 (493 nucleotides). The average prevalence of the HEV genotype 3 in all pig liver samples from the slaughterhouses was 29%, while HEV prevalence was 44% in liver samples from animals younger than 3 months. HEV RNA was found in thirteen out of sixty (22%) environmental swab samples that were taken from different surfaces along the slaughter line. Our findings confirmed seasonal patterns in HEV prevalence, with two picks (summer and winter periods) during the one-year examination. Among HEV-positive samples, the average viral particles for all positive liver samples was 4.41 ± 1.69 log10 genome copies per gram. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the majority of HEV strains (43/45) from Serbia were grouped in the HEV-3a subtype, while two strains were classified into the HEV-3c subtype, and one strain could not be classified into any of the HEV-3 subtypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to point out the limitations of conventional approaches, articulated via political processes, in reducing income inequality. Using the panel data methods, on the sample of 21 affluent OECD countries in the period from 1980 to 2011, it is observed that the increase in labour productivity as well as preferences of voters to parties that advocate greater redistribution, contrary to common perception, not necessarily lead to reduction in income inequality. Increasing dominance of big capital in the field of technological progress changes the conventions about contribution of workers to labour productivity. The result is a weakening of workers’ bargaining power in relation to employers as well as increase in gap between labour productivity growth and real wage growth, which both lead to increase in income inequality. In comparison with the other political parties, it seems that the right-wing parties are more efficient in using voters’ support to implement their concept of the welfare state, which contributes to maintaining the high market-generated income inequality. Such situation could be explained that de jure power of the government depends on election results, whereas de facto power depends on the support of so-called globally-oriented super elites. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47010]

This study presents the results related to changes in aw value and bacteriological status of fermented sausages during maturation without and with added starter culture, stuffed into a narrower and wider casing. Values of aw of narrower and wider diameter sausages with and without added starter cultures decreased during ripening, and were close to values of 0.9. Enterobacteriaceae in narrower diameter sausages were not detected on day 18, i.e., the end of the ripening process, and these bacteria were not detected in wider diameter fermented sausages on day 25 or at the end of ripening (day 35). The increase in the lactic acid bacteria in narrow and wider diameter sausages without added starter culture was slower than the increase in the number of these bacteria in sausages with added starter culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Serbian market, fish is available from aquaculture (such as carp and trout) and from fishing (commercial and recreational catch). In the past ten years, from 2012 to 2021, there has been a decrease in the production of carp due to reduced farming areas, but trout production has increased. On average, during this period, aquaculture production yielded approximately 5,491 tons of carp and 2,977 tons of trout, while the fish catch averaged around 2,979 tons. The yield per hectare in carp ponds was 800 kg, while in trout ponds, it was 20 kg per square meter. As the demand for fish exceeds the domestic supply, the market is supplemented with imported fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legal standards specifically describe the need for allergy labelling on foods, beverages and other non-pre-packaged items because food allergies have developed as a concealed problem that seriously jeopardizes public health. The growing number of people who have food allergies has made it difficult for the foodservice business to control them appropriately. Current efforts in order to protect vulnerable customers include recognized standards for producers aiming to eliminate an allergen from their products and the inclusion of food allergy education in the training for people in food service and those in charge of enforcing food standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of the meat chain is well-known, beginning with the Pre-harvest (feed, farm biosecurity, herd/flock health status, animal welfare, transportation, livestock market/abattoir lairage), followed by Harvest (slaughter, dressing, chilling) and Post-harvest (deboning, meat processing, packaging, distribution, retail, consumer) modules. Over the previous decade, consumer awareness increased globally towards animal health, animal welfare and food safety issues, including food quality, food fraud, sustainability and climate change impact on meat production. Therefore, consumers demand proper and accurate information on the aforementioned issues in real time for making informed choices when buying their preferred meat/meat products. The transformation of traditional meat value chains towards sustainability needs reliable and affordable tools to optimize such transformation and achieve higher levels of food safety. Sensing systems (biosensors) and their regular use within an integrated meat production chain, from farm-to-fork, can play an important role and be a part of the solution for climate-smart and sustainable agri-food chain considering biosensor function in early and accurate detection of food(meat)-borne pathogens and other food contaminants (residues). The application of biosensors can provide accurate and concentrated data on animal health and welfare, including food borne hazards, to support food safety risk assessment in both, 'traditional' and 'novel' (cell-based meat) meat value chains for the benefit of the global population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponentially increasing annual production of plastic waste at a global level has raised concerns regarding the prospective infiltration of microplastics into terrestrial ecosystems. The transport of microplastics via wind advection and stormwater runoff presents a substantial hazard to food resources. The most recent studies reveal that chicken, pork, and beef samples are contaminated with microplastic particles, encompassing polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polypropylene. However, the employment of various non-standardized detection methodologies poses a significant obstacle in the interpretation of acquired results. Furthermore, the thorough clarification of the correlation between human exposure to microplastics and various health consequences, such as carcinogenicity, infertility, metabolic disorders and pregnancy complications, remains inadequately explored and necessitates additional investigation to enhance public awareness and propose solutions and integrated strategies for the mitigation of microplastic contamination in meat chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcal food poisoning is one of the most common foodborne diseases resulting from the ingestion of staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) preformed in foods by enterotoxigenic strains of coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS), mainly Staphylococcus aureus. The presence of enterotoxigenic strains of coagulase-positive staphylococci in raw milk during the production process leads to the contamination of products and outbreaks of alimentary intoxication. The problem of Staphylococcus aureus in cheese remains significant on a global level. Domestic cheese contaminated with enterotoxigenic staphylococci can result in the formation of enterotoxin, which can produce foodborne illness when the product is ingested. Due to microbiological contamination, microbiological criteria are tools that can be used in assessing the safety and quality of foods. In order to avoid foodborne illness, the Serbian Regulation on General and Special Conditions for Food Hygiene (Official Gazette of RS, No. 72/10) provides microbiological criteria for staphylococcal enterotoxins in dairy products.

This paper explores the heterogeneity of growth in the Western Balkan and Emerging European economies. For that purpose, growth determinants are estimated in the period 1997-2009 by dynamic panel data models. The chosen period provides a comparison for the model results with those estimated for the period up to 2007 in order to analyze changes caused by the global instability. According to the main findings of the paper, macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms still matter in determining economic growth, but foreign direct investments and economic integrations seem to have the most important role in stimulating growth in the observed countries. Moreover, significant positive effects of foreign direct investments and economic integrations produce differences in growth paths between Emerging European and Western Balkan economies. Sharp decrease of foreign inflows in 2008 determined contractions of growth rates firstly in Emerging European economies with subsequent spill-over on the Western Balkan economies during 2009. Consequently, in the period of global instability, differences between two groups of economies become even more obvious.

This paper focuses on empirical analysis of the Serbian functional food market and its comparison with those in other Western Balkan countries (WBC). The purpose is to examine whether the existence of regulation, as an institutional precondition, makes a difference on the operating of the functional food market. This market is a new, fast developing segment, based on health claims made for food. Consumers in Serbia cannot verify health claims either before or after the purchase/consumption, since the property rights on information are extremely weak. Additionally, with successful innovation the free-rider problem usually occurs. Thus, strong institutional support is necessary to ensure regular market functioning. In order to identify the effects of regulation and some other factors with crucial influence on the differences between Serbian and other WBC functional food markets, pooled cross sectional analysis is conducted. The fixed-group effects model is estimated based on data of product categories observed across WBC. Differences in the current level of WBC market development could be explained by the existence of legal regulation, competition, and other factors. All results implicate the necessity of regulatory supervision as well as closer cooperation between government, the private sector, consumer groups, academics, and the research community in further functional food market development in Serbia.

This paper examines driving forces of economic growth in the second transition decade, by testing which determinants from the first decade remain dominant, and which new factors appear in explaining growth. To this end a panel simultaneous equation model is estimated based on a sample of 27 transition countries in the period 1999- 2009. According to the main findings of the paper initial conditions do not play a role in determining economic growth in the second decade, but macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms still matter. However, in contrast to the first decade, the overall impact of structural reforms is not positive, indicating that difficult progress with reforms in the second decade could slow down economic growth. Moreover, EU membership seems to have the additional effect of slowing down the growth of the accessing countries, meaning that once a transition country becomes an EU member it has a similar growth path to other EU countries in terms of lower growth rates. All this indicates that only countries that undertook fast reforms in the early phase of transition experienced significant benefits from reforms, achieving higher levels of economic development and becoming closer to developed EU countries. Finally, investments and openness of the economy appear as new important determinants of growth.

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) appears in milk or dairy products as a direct result of the cattle's ingestion of feed contaminated with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). This study comprises mycological and mycotoxicological investigations of 23 milk samples (raw, infant food, pasteurized, whey and yoghurt). The mycological testing showed dominant presence of genus Geotrichum. G. candidum was found in 9 samples, with the highest contamination in the raw milk samples. The contamination level of AM1 is defined by using direct competitive enzyme- -linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). AFM1 was found in 9 samples. AFM1 levels were lower than the recommended limits. However, as AFM1 is considered a probable human carcinogen (2B type), it is necessary to achieve a low level of AFM1 in milk. Therefore, cows' feed samples from various cowsheds are supposed to be evaluated routinely for aflatoxin, and kept away from fungal contamination as much as possible.

Copyright of Meat Technology is the property of Institute of Meat Hygiene & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper assesses fiscal sustainability in 28 European Union economies in the period 1995-2018, using panel cointegration analysis for fiscal sustainability testing. The research is based on econometric framework of nonstationary, heterogeneous, and cross-sectional dependent panels, using robust Westerlund (2007) panel cointegration test, Mean Group, and Pooled Mean Group method of estimations. The results of cointegration analysis for EU-28 point to weak fiscal sustainability, with significant fiscal adjustment in average. However, heterogeneous coefficients show in which economies fiscal sustainability is achieved (whether it is strong or weak fiscal sustainability) and heterogeneous fiscal reactions. Robustness check confirmed existence of fiscal sustainability with heterogeneous fiscal adjustments in European Union economies, and indicated strong fiscal sustainability in the shorter period of time, namely after 1997 when Stability and Growth Pact is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of different feed composition and cultivation on the composition of fatty acids, their relationships, and the cholesterol content in the tissue of rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss). Trout were reared in ponds at two different altitudes and raised on different feeds. The total amount of monounsaturated fatty acids in fillets of both groups showed no statistically significant difference. However, higher levels of n-6 fatty acids were found in Pond I trout fillets than in Pond II fillets, while Pond II fillets contained almost even amounts of n-3 and n-6 fatty acids. Total cholesterol content in Pond I trout fillets was significantly lower ( p < 0.05) than in Pond II fillets. The results indicate that the final composition of the trout fillets was mostly dependent on the feed the live fish had consumed; the altitude of the ponds had less effect. Also, both groups of trout could be used in the human diet as biologically valuable foods. Practical application: Our results show influence of altitude, feed, and fatty acid composition of feed on trout fillets. The average fatty acid level in the trout fillets increased in the order SFA

Copyright of Industry / Industrija is the property of Economics Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Meat Technology / Tehnologija Mesa is the property of Institute of Meat Hygiene & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics: Journal of Economics & Business is the property of University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)