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Synbiotics are a combination of probiotic cells and prebiotic components and this harmonious association has numerous health benefits. Conventional processing technologies use high temperatures for processing which reduces the viability and the final quality of synbiotic beverages. Sonication is a rapidly growing technology in the food processing sector and can be employed for the formulation of synbiotic beverages with improved functionalities. The cavitation events generated during the sonication result in beneficial effects like increased viability of probiotic cells, enhanced bifidogenic characteristics of prebiotic components, less processing time, and high-quality products. The sonication process does not affect the sensory attributes of synbiotic beverages however, it alters the structure of prebiotics thus increasing the access by the probiotics. These positive effects are solely dependent on the type of ultrasound process and the ultrasound operating parameters. The review aims to provide information on the technological aspects of ultrasound, a brief about synbiotics, details on the ultrasound process used for the formulation of synbiotics, the influence of ultrasound operating parameters, and a focus on the research gap.

This work aimed to add chia and linseed oils in microencapsulated and free forms (nonmicroecapsulated) as sources of omega 3 fatty acids in fruit juice and to analyze their physical-chemical, microbiological and sensory acceptance. The lipid profiles of the chia and linseed oils showed high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (63.61 % for linseed and 81.26 for chia), especially alpha-linolenic omega-3. The morphology of the microcapsules showed a spherical structure with dispersed oil droplets, and the encapsulation efficiency was 64.20 % for linseed oil and 69.82 % for chia oil. The soluble solids content did not change with the addition of microcapsules or oils. On the other hand, pH and acidity showed changes with the addition of these components. The juice samples containing microcapsules of chia oil exhibited greater sensory acceptance than formulations containing free oil, suggesting the beneficial effect of microencapsulation in protecting and masking the taste of oils. Thus, with this work it was possible to add microcapsules of oils rich in omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids to beverages to increase the nutritional value of the final product, which has good sensory acceptance.

The silver vanadate AgVO@g-CN was synthesized by the Co-precipitation method for the first time. The electrocatalytic potential of the AgVO@g-CN nanocomposite is investigated using cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry to detect caffeine (CAF). The linear relationship between peak current and CAF concentration has been determined to be in the 6.5 to 255 μM wide linear range, with a lower detection limit of 0.038 μM. The sensitivity of produced electrode was 5.87 μAμM−1 cm−1. The successful application of the modified AgVO@g-CN nanocomposite electrode for CAF detection demonstrates operational stability, and the novel technique displayed good repeatability and reproducibility. Caffeine levels in commercial coffee, Red Bull, and Coca-Cola were successfully determined using the proposed sensor. The results obtained clearly show the capability of sensing and possible application of AgVO@g-CN nanocomposite for real-time electrochemical detection of CAF.

Human health hazards appear in wine production. Wineries have implemented food safety management systems to control food hazards through Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). Wine-making industry applies HACCP by evaluating Critical Control Points (CCPs). One of the CCPs that exhibits inadequate control is the potential contamination risk of arsenic, cadmium, and lead throughout the winemaking procedure. Wineries performance level about controlling CCPs related to contamination risk by arsenic, cadmium and lead in the winemaking were analyzed. A sixteen-question questionnaire was made to achieve this research. Three indicators were calculated for training, legislation, and analysis performance components in CCPs control. Results revealed that wineries fault in analysis and legislation components. Identification and updating of legislation about As, Cd and Pb contamination risk is in starting performance level for wineries that produce less than 250,000 L/year wineries. Analysis performance level is even lower than legislation. Only one out of every three wineries possess information regarding the concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, and lead in the soils of vineyards where grapes are cultivated. Furthermore, the availability of data on their available concentrations in the soil solution is even more limited. Those wineries that controlled As, Cd and Pb concentrations make it according to official recommendations using techniques based on atomic absorption spectrometry. However, there is a lack of this spectrometry equipment in the wineries own laboratories.

Glycaemic index (GI) is an important characteristic of any newly formulated foods. This study aimed to validate the estimated glycemic index (eGI) and glycaemic load (eGL) of some selected baked products, beverages, and canned foods. Also, further aimed to develop the relationship between eGI and the eGL value. For the method validation, 30 food products were selected. The eGI were determined and compared with published GI values from International GI Table 2021. This study used the in vitro digestion method to determine the eGI and eGL. In the results, it has been observed that baked products showed significant positive correlations (p

Chickpeas are gaining importance as a sustainable, plant-based protein source. The present study was conducted to optimize the conditions for roasting chickpea seeds that can be used in the development of products having characteristics similar to those made by the traditional approach. The temperature range was selected as 140–220 °C and the time was 1–5 min. The effect of roasting parameters on puffing index, bulk density, water absorption capacity, browning index, color difference, TPC, antioxidant activity, and overall acceptability was analyzed. Based on the criteria set, optimum roasting conditions were selected using numerical optimization. The optimum solution was found at 181.64 °C and a time of 3.17 min, with a desirability of 0.871. Roasting significantly affected chickpea flour's physical, proximate, functional, microstructural, thermal, and pasting properties. TPC and antioxidant activity increased, whereas TFC decreased after roasting. The morphology of starch granules was highly modified, and their thermal properties also varied considerably.

Probiotics are living bacteria and yeasts that nourish the human body, particularly the digestive system. Fruit-based beverages are an excellent vehicle for delivering probiotics to the body since they are frequently taken in large quantities and include a number of nutrients that promote the growth of these beneficial microbes. When adding probiotics to a fruit-based drink, the probiotics must survive and remain viable in the drink until ingested. This may be accomplished by choosing probiotic strains that are known to be substantial, as well as keeping the drink at the appropriate temperatures. It's also worth noting that not all probiotics have the same characteristics, and different strains of bacteria and yeast may provide varied health advantages. Fruit-based probiotic drinks, fermented vegetables like sauerkraut and kimchi, kombucha, water kefir, and non-dairy yogurt prepared from plant-based milk are all prominent non-dairy sources of probiotics. These commodities are high in beneficial bacteria and can be used in a balanced diet to help with digestion. Individuals who are lactose intolerant or follow a vegan diet prefer these non-dairy probiotic alternatives. The purpose of this review to comprehensively cover the mechanism of fruit-based probiotics and sum-up the recent advances fruit-based probiotic beverages and value-added products from these probiotics. It covers the notion of probiotics, fruits as prebiotics, the comparative fermentation mechanism of dairy and non-dairy probiotics, and the physiochemical and sensory alterations that occur following fermentation.

There is a lack of available studies that summarize the effect of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) and oxidative fermentation on polyphenols, and antioxidant activity in fermented foods of plant origin. Therefore, the aim of the systematic review was to systematize the current stage of knowledge of AAB possibilities of synthesis and stabilization of polyphenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in fermented food and their impact on human health. Three hypothesis questions were formulated: (1) Does the activity of acetic acid bacteria in food contribute to antioxidant content and what is the evidence of their activity to increase or stabilize the antioxidant potential of food?; (2) Does fermented food obtained by acetic acid bacteria activity have a health-promoting effect on the human body?; (3) How the heterogeneity of research material, research methods, raw materials, and production technologies affect the results of bioactive and phytochemical compounds of food antioxidant activity? 42 studies were selected, in which the authors suggest a beneficial effect on the increase or only stabilization of polyphenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in foods fermented with AAB. Although large heterogenicity of methods and material used (Kombucha, vinegar, fermented cocoa beans, and sour beer), evidence of the action of AAB towards stabilization or increase of antioxidant activity of the fermented products have been demonstrated. Summarizing information allows us to systematize the knowledge about AAB pro-health impact on the human body and future use in food technology.

Nowadays, collagen is widely used in food and beverage industries to enhance the nutritional and health value of the products. While many see this as an ideal way to incorporate more collagen into their diets, the exposure of these proteins to high temperature or acidic and alkaline solutions may negatively affect the quality and activity of these supplements. In general, the manufacturing of functional food and beverages often largely depends on the stability of the active ingredients during processing. The high temperatures, humidity, and low pH of processing may reduce product nutrient retention. Hence, understanding stability of collagen is of great significance and these data were gathered to determine the extent of undenatured type II collagen retention under different processing conditions. UC-II® undenatured type II collagen is a patented form of collagen derived from chicken sternum cartilage, and different food and beverage prototypes incorporating UC-II® undenatured type II collagen were produced. The content of undenatured type II collagen was compared in their pre-and post-manufacturing formats using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The undenatured type II collagen retention varied depending upon the prototype, with the highest amount of undenatured type II collagen retention occurring in nutritional bars (approximately 100%), followed by chews (98%), gummies (96%), and dairy beverages (81%). The present work also showed that recovery of the undenatured type II collagen depends on the exposure time, temperature and pH of the prototype.

Nowadays, a one-step nonenzymatic glucose sensor with a portable detector system is still required for food quality control and food safety monitoring. This paper introduces a one-step nonenzymatic glucose sensor using a sodium hydroxide/polyvinyl alcohol/polyethylene oxide (NaOH/PVA/PEO) blend film integrating a reduced graphene oxide composited with a copper-based-nanoparticle (rGO/Cu–Cu2O)-modified electrode. The NaOH/PVA/PEO blend film facilitated direct measurements of real samples without sample preparation and pretreatment. A single-step preparation of the rGO/Cu–Cu2O nanocomposite-modified electrode was easily performed by electrodeposition via amperometry. The rGO/Cu–Cu2O deposited on the electrode surface was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, confocal microscopy, and electrochemical characterization. The analytical performance of the proposed rGO/Cu–Cu2O-modified electrode was also compared with the CuO/rGO-modified electrode using commercial CuO nanoparticles. The glucose measurements were achieved by singly dropping glucose on the sample inlet well and detecting with amperometry using a small portable potentiostat connecting to a PStouch app with an overall analysis time of 180 s after sample loading. Linearity was observed in the range of 0.01–7 mM with a limit of detection of 0.06 μM. The proposed sensor with high storage stability (up to 56 days) was directly applied to measure the glucose levels in beverages, demonstrating promising results corresponding to the labeled values of the beverage products. Eventually, the proposed sensor is an alternative tool for one-step nonenzymatic glucose measurements to precisely control the glucose content in foods and beverages.

Globally, about 8.06 million tonnes of avocado are produced annually. According to Food and Agricultural Organisation Corporate Statistical Database, 2020, Kenya was ranked the 6th highest avocado producer globally. The processing of avocado leads to the production of large quantities of peels and seeds that are typically disposed off as waste without any further application. Avocado peels and seeds are claimed to contain high amounts of phytochemicals that offer therapeutic and other nutritional benefits. These compounds can be used to produce economically high-value products. The amounts of phenols present vary with different factors such as the varieties of avocado, level of ripening, maturation, growing conditions, and climatic conditions. Studies have shown that phenolics found in avocado peels and seeds exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties and contain related health benefits. Despite findings, that these by-products contain high-value functional properties that are beneficial to human health, pharmaceutical and food industry, they still remain underutilized. Avocado seeds and peels are currently being used traditionally in the production of soaps, pharmaceuticals, and food products, including beverage products. This review, therefore, focuses on the avocado production trend in Kenya from the year 2011 to 2020 compared to other parts of the world, with emphasis on the composition of avocado seeds and peels and their utilization in food products.

Drinks are an essential part of human diet, which makes them a source of human exposure to plasticizers such as organophosphate esters (OPEs). The current study provides new information about sixteen OPE levels in 75 different samples (tap water, packed water, cola drinks, juice, wine and hot drinks). Tap water mean levels (40.9 ng/L) were statistically higher than packed water mean levels (4.82 ng/L), mainly due to the contribution of tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP) and tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) that may come from PVC water pipes. Over 90% of samples presented at least one OPE, where regular cola drinks had the highest mean concentrations (2876 ng/L). There was a significantly higher presence of OPEs in added sugar beverages than sugar free drinks, especially for 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPP), which might be related not only to packaging materials but to the added sugar content. Estimated daily intakes (EDIs) in normal and high-exposure scenarios were 2.52 ng/kg bw/day and 7.43 ng/kg bw/day, respectively. Human risk associated with beverages ingestion showed regular cola drinks, juice and tap water as the groups with the highest hazard quotients (HQs). Although OPE exposure was below to safety limits, it should be noted that EHDPP values for regular cola group must be cause of concern, and other routes of exposure such as food ingestion or air inhalation should be also considered.

A new methodology for the detection of ketamine, flunitrazepam, and diazepam in beverage samples by the dried sample spot method was developed. The method is characterized by very low LODs in all tested types of beverages (100 ng/mL for ketamine, 25 ng/mL for flunitrazepam and diazepam) and great precision at the concentration of 100 ng/mL for all analytes. The significant advantages of this method are the consumption of fewer amount of samples and the possibility of securing the beverage samples on DBS cards at room temperature. The proposed method was evaluated by the innovative WAC approach according to Green Analytical Chemistry. The results of the evaluation indicate the best results of this method in terms of analytical quality compared to the other methods from the literature, however other aspects such as green chemistry and economical are also good. The DBS/MAE/LC-MS method could be used for qualitative analysis for drugs detection in cases of date-rape drugs analysis.

This work describes the development of a new automated parallel dispersive tip microextraction method (Au-Pa-DPX) for the determination of eleven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in four samples of Brazilian sugarcane spirit beverages, with separation and detection done by the HPLC-DAD. The results obtained with the Au-Pa-DPX approach were also compared with those obtained via the conventional parallel manual DPX method with the same samples and optimized extraction process. Desorption solvent and cycles of desorption, cleaning and extraction were optimized using response surface methodology and univariate approaches. For the Au-Pa-DPX method, the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) ranged from 0.9948 to 0.9997. The limits of detection and quantification were all 0.303 μg l -1 and 1.00 μg l -1 , respectively. Interday and intraday precision ranged from 7.6 % to 31.7 % and 0.40 % to 15.8 %, respectively. For the manual parallel DPX method, the interday and intraday precision ranged from 8.2 % to 38.1 % and 5.40 % to 18.7 %, respectively. The relative recovery values obtained with the proposed method ranged from 53.29 to 124.94 %. The enrichment factors ranged from 15.13 to 22.35. The sum of PAH concentrations in the four samples ranged from undetected to 25.58 μg l -1 . These results, when correlated to other methods, highlight the gains in regards to precision obtained with the automated apparatus. Furthermore, when compared to other methods from the literature, it is an interesting green alternative for the determination of these analytes and this sample, with high throughput (4.67 min per sample), low consumption of solvents and samples, generating less waste and reducing health risks to the analyst., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interest or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Studies have consistently demonstrated associations between ultra-processed food and drink (UPFD) consumption and non-communicable diseases. However, there is a lack of data investigating relationships between UPFD intake and intermediate cardiometabolic disease markers. In this study we explored UPFD associations with lipoprotein subclasses., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 1986 middle-to older-aged men and women randomly selected from a large primary care centre. The percentage contribution of UPFDs to total energy intake was calculated for each participant using the NOVA classification. Lipoprotein particle subclass concentrations and size were determined using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Correlation and multivariate-adjusted linear regression analyses were performed to examine UPFD intake relationships with lipoprotein subclasses., Results: In fully adjusted regression models, higher UPFD consumption was associated with reduced high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations (β = -0.024, p = 0.001), large low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels (β = -18.645, p = 0.002), total and medium HDL concentrations (β = -0.328, p = 0.012; β = -0.510, p < 0.001), smaller LDL and HDL size (β = -0.026, p = 0.023; β = -0.023, p = 0.024), and increased medium very low-density lipoprotein levels (β = 0.053, p = 0.022), small LDL and HDL concentrations (β = 20.358, p = 0.02; β = 0.336, p = 0.011), and higher lipoprotein insulin resistance scores (β = 0.048, p = 0.012), reflecting greater lipoprotein-related insulin resistance., Conclusions: Findings from this research suggest that increased intake of UPFDs is associated with a more pro-atherogenic, insulin-resistant metabolic profile in middle-to older-aged adults which may be a potential mechanism underlying reported associations between UPFD consumption and chronic disease risk and mortality., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest No competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background and Aims: Individual beverages have varying associations with cardiometabolic outcomes, but little is known about overall beverage quality and cardiometabolic risk after myocardial infarction (MI). We created the Beverage Quality Index (BQI) to assess beverage quality and examined its association with cardiometabolic outcomes after MI., Methods and Results: We included 4365 Dutch post-MI patients from the Alpha Omega Cohort, aged 60-80 years. Diet was assessed at baseline (2002-2006) with a 203-item FFQ. The BQI included eight components (coffee, tea, milk, juices, sugar-sweetened beverages, alcohol, added sugar to coffee and tea, and energy from beverages), and ranged from 0 to 80. Multivariable Cox models were used to estimate HRs for the BQI in relation to incident diabetes mellitus (DM), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), recurrent cardiovascular disease (CVD) and fatal CVD over 3.4 y of follow-up, with follow-up for fatal CVD extended through 2018 (12.4 y). The average BQI was 50.0 ± 12.5. During 3.4 y of follow-up, we identified 186 incident cases of DM, 601 of MACE, 310 of recurrent CVD and 140 of fatal CVD. In multivariable models, a higher BQI (T3 vs. T1) was associated with lower risk of MACE [HR: 0.73 (0.59-0.90)], and recurrent CVD [HR: 0.67 (0.50-0.91)], but not with DM or CVD mortality. After 12.4 y of follow-up, 903 CVD deaths occurred. A significant inverse association with CVD mortality during long-term follow-up was found [HR: 0.81 (0.68-0.96)]., Conclusion: Overall beverage intake quality, as assessed by the BQI, may represent an important target for the prevention of recurrent CVD., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The food and beverage industries in Mexico generate substantial effluents, including nejayote, cheese-whey, and tequila vinasses, which pose significant environmental challenges due to their extreme physicochemical characteristics and excessive organic load. This study aimed to assess the potential of Chlorella vulgaris in bioremediating these complex wastewaters while also producing added-value compounds. A UV mutagenesis treatment (40 min) enhanced C. vulgaris adaptability to grow in the effluent conditions. Robust growth was observed in all three effluents, with nejayote identified as the optimal medium. Physicochemical measurements conducted pre- and post-cultivation revealed notable reductions of pollutants in nejayote, including complete removal of nitrogen and phosphates, and an 85 % reduction in COD. Tequila vinasses exhibited promise with a 66 % reduction in nitrogen and a 70 % reduction in COD, while cheese-whey showed a 17 % reduction in phosphates. Regarding valuable compounds, nejayote yielded the highest pigment (1.62 mg·g -1 ) and phenolic compound (3.67 mg·g -1 ) content, while tequila vinasses had the highest protein content (16.83 %). The main highlight of this study is that C. vulgaris successfully grew in 100 % of the three effluents (without additional water or nutrients), demonstrating its potential for sustainable bioremediation and added-value compound production. When grown in 100 % of the effluents, they become a sustainable option since they don't require an input of fresh water and therefore do not contribute to water scarcity. These findings offer a practical solution for addressing environmental challenges in the food and beverage industries within a circular economy framework., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background & Aims: Several studies have shown positive associations between ultra-processed foods and drinks and cancer risk. However, evidence remains limited for liver cancer. We aimed to evaluate the associations between ultra-processed foods and drinks and liver cancer risk., Methods: We included 73,119 participants (22,431 Whites, 47,837 Blacks, 2851 other race) from the Southern Community Cohort Study. Ultra-processed products were defined based on the Nova classification using data from a validated food frequency questionnaire and calculated as percentage of daily foods by weight. Incident liver cancer and vital status were ascertained via linkages to state cancer registries and the National Death Index as of December 31, 2019., Results: With a median of 13.9 year's follow-up, we documented 453 incident liver cancer cases. Participants with higher intake of ultra-processed foods had an elevated risk of liver cancer (hazard ratios [HR] Tertile 3 vs. tertile 1 1.69, 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.28-2.22; P trend <0.001). The subclasses of ultra-processed foods, such as ultra-processed grains and fried potatoes (HR T3 vs. T1 1.29, 95% CI: 1.01-1.65; P trend  = 0.03), processed protein foods (HR T3 vs. T1 1.49, 95% CI: 1.14-1.94; P trend  = 0.007) and mixed dishes (HR T3 vs. T1 1.39, 95% CI: 1.09-1.77; P trend  = 0.01), were positively associated with liver cancer risk. No significant association was found for ultra-processed drinks (HR T3 vs. T1 0.85, 95% CI: 0.67-1.07; P trend  = 0.16)., Discussion: In a prospective cohort with predominantly low-income Southern US adults, we found certain ultra-processed foods were associated with a higher risk of liver cancer. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest Authors declared no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Capillary electrophoresis (CE) has the advantage of rapid anion analysis, when employing a reverse electroosmotic flow (EOF). The conventional CE method utilizes dynamic coatings with surfactants like cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in the run buffer to reverse the EOF. However, this method suffers from very slow equilibration leading to drifting effective migration times of the analyte anions, which adversely affects the identification and quantification of peaks. Permanent coating of the capillary surface may obviate this problem but has been relatively little explored. Thus, permanent capillary surface modification by the covalent binding of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was studied as an alternative., Results: This study investigates the effect of APTES concentration for surface functionalization on EOF mobility, separation efficiency, and reproducibility of anion separation. The performance data was complemented by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle (CA) measurements. The XPS measurements showed that the coverage with APTES was dependent on its concentration in the coating solution. The XPS measurements correlated well with the EOF values determined for the capillaries tested. A standard mixture of 21 anions could be baseline separated within 10 min in the capillaries with lower EOF, but not in the capillary with the highest EOF as the residence time of the analytes was too short in this case. Compared to conventional dynamic coating with CTAB, APTES-functionalized capillaries provide faster equilibration and long-term EOF stability. The application of APTES-functionalized capillaries in analyzing different beverages demonstrates the precision, reliability, and specificity in determining organic anions, providing valuable insights of their compositions., Significance: APTES coating on capillaries provides a facile approach to achieve a permanent reversal of the stable EOF to determine anions. The control of the coverage via the concentration of the reagent solution allows the tailoring of the EOF to different needs, a faster EOF for less complex samples where resolution is not challenging, while a lower EOF for higher complex samples where the focus is on separation efficiency. This enhancement in efficiency and sensitivity has been applied to analyzing organic acids in several beverages., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Low-calorie sweetener (LCS) consumption is prevalent among lactating mothers, yet infants' exposure to LCS in human milk is not well-characterized., Objectives: Conduct a pharmacokinetic study of sucralose and acesulfame-potassium (ace-K) in mothers' milk and plasma over 72 h and in infants' plasma., Methods: Following baseline blood and milk collection, mothers (n = 40) consumed 20 oz of diet cranberry juice containing sucralose and ace-K. Blood samples were collected from the mother 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h after beverage ingestion, and milk was expressed at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 24 h postingestion. One blood sample was collected from each infant, the timing of which was determined using pharmacokinetics model-based simulation. Concentration-time profiles of LCS from the mother's plasma and milk were analyzed using noncompartmental methods., Results: Ace-K rapidly entered human milk with the largest observed concentration of 373.0 (coefficient of variation 69%) ng/mL first detected 4 h following diet beverage ingestion. Sucralose appeared in human milk 1-2 h after diet beverage ingestion with the largest observed concentration of 7.2 (coefficient of variation 63%) ng/mL first detected 7 h postingestion. The mean 24-h milk to plasma ratio of ace-K was 1.75 [standard deviation (SD) 1.37] with a mean relative infant dose of 1.59% (SD 1.72%). Ace-K was detected in all infants' plasma with an mean concentration of 9.2 (SD% 14.8) ng/mL ∼6 h after maternal beverage ingestion. The mean 24-h milk to plasma ratio of sucralose was 0.15 (SD 0.06) with a mean relative infant dose of 0.04% (SD 0.02%). Sucralose was detected in only 15 infants' plasma, and the mean concentration was 5.0 (SD% 7.1) ng/mL ∼5 h after diet beverage ingestion., Conclusions: Ace-K rapidly transfers from human milk into infants' circulation whereas sucralose was detected at much lower concentrations and in some but not all infants. Future research should investigate the effects of early-life sucralose and ace-K exposure via human milk on infants' health. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT05379270., (Copyright © 2024 American Society for Nutrition. All rights reserved.)

The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether the content of sugar, protein, fat, or fibre in commercially available and specially formulated plant-based beverages (oat, soya and pea) influences the growth rates of Listeria. Beverages were inoculated with a strain cocktail of Listeria (approximately 1 × 10 3  CFU/mL), and the data demonstrated that Listeria could proliferate in all tested beverages. Moreover, varying concentrations of naturally occurring or added sugar (0-3.3%), protein (3.3-5%), fat (1.1-3.5%) and added fibre (0-1.5%) did not have a statistically significant (p > 0.05) impact on the growth rates of Listeria in the tested plant-based beverages. These data suggest that the wide variety of commercial plant-based beverages serve as an ideal medium for the growth of Listeria irrespective of product composition. All the various products tested provided sufficient nutrients to support at least a 2.6-log increase of Listeria within 16 h at room temperature, with some beverages supporting a 3-log increase. Therefore, these data highlight the importance of careful storage and handling of these increasingly varied and popular products., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Full disintegration of Oral solid dosage forms is critically important to achieve reliable clinical performance of the drug. Tablets/capsules are supposed to be taken with a full glass of water; however, many patients do not follow this recommendation as they administer their medications with beverages other than water. This study aims to assess the impact of different commonly consumed beverages in Saudi Arabia on the disintegration times of common over-the-counter (OTC) medication tablets and capsules in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Five immediate release OTC drugs were chosen: Fevadol®, Solpadeine®, Ralaxon®, Artiz ®, and Brufen®. The disintegration times of these medications were assessed using a disintegration test in five beverages: Coca-cola, arabic coffee, orange juice, buttermilk and an energy drink. Times were compared to the disintegration time in water under two temperature conditions (37 °C and 5 °C). All beverages significantly increased the disintegration times of fevadol, solpadeine, and relaxon in comparison with water. The same was found for burfen, except that arabic coffee did not significantly increase disintegration time (p > 0.05). The disintegration time of artiz tablets was also significantly influenced by all beverages, except for Coca-cola and the energy drink, which had no significant impact on the disintegration time. The tested beverages should not be used as substitutes for water when ingesting medications. Patients should be advised to avoid consuming beverages other than water with therapeutic products. Increasing public awareness of drug-beverage interactions is needed.

Healthy food retail strategies are delivered by Cooperative Extension Services in Louisiana to improve public health among communities with lower income. To guide Cooperative Extension Services Programming, the aim of this study was to assess healthy food access among SNAP-authorized stores. This included comparing the availability, affordability, and quality of healthy foods sold in these stores by geography, ownership, and store type. Seventy-five Louisiana SNAP-authorized stores were selected for measurement. Between October 2019 and March 2020 (prior to the COVID-19 national emergency declaration), trained researchers used the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in Stores (NEMS-S) to assess the availability, affordability, and quality of healthy versus less healthy foods and beverages in 42 SNAP-authorized stores, including: grocery (n = 12, 29%), convenience (n = 17, 41%), drug (n = 1, 2%), dollar (n = 11, 26%), and butcher/meat (n = 1, 2%). Multivariate analysis of variance (a priori, p

“Kounou” is a refreshing fermented beverage made from cereals much appreciated in the sudano-sahelian area of Cameroon. Despite its importance as a source of income, vehicle of socialization and source of food for population, this drink is little-known. The present study aims at elucidating the traditional processing of “kounou” as well as determining its quality attributes. To achieve this, an ethnographic method was used to highlight the manufacturing processes. Fifteen samples were randomly collected in each study site, namely Mozogo, Koza and Maroua. Then, physicochemical, phytochemical, microbiological and sensorial properties were assessed according to referenced methods. Surveys showed that the production of this drink is typically homemade with an uncontrolled addition of certain ingredients and an unstable spontaneous fermentation time varying between 7 h and 45 h. Physicochemical analyses revealed that “kounou” has a pH between 3.47 and 3.58, with a total acidity ranging between 0.18% and 0.20%. The electrical conductivity (μS/cm) fluctuated between 1672 and 1915, the mean of total soluble solids, dry matter and ash contents of the beverage of “kounou” were 8.19 °Brix, 8.57% and 0.24% respectively. Total sugar content (g/100 mL) was ranging between 24.09 and 34.07, with an average reducing sugar, protein, amino acid contents (g/100 mL) of 4.73, 0.413 and 0.346, respectively. It was noticed that DPPH scavenging activity (61.93%) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (791 mgTE/100 mL) were portrayed due the presence of flavonoids (1660 ± 190 mgQE/100 mL) and polyphenols (1120 ± 70 mg GAE/100 mL). “Kounou” presented no pathogen, but, its hygienic quality did not abide with standard recommendations. This beverage got an overall acceptability score of about 7 and the samples from Maroua were the most appreciated. The latter seems to evince that “kounou” is a drink with interesting nutritional and functional properties; however, it requires improvements at certain levels of the production chain.

Objectives: Front-of-pack warning labels may reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, potentially mitigating negative health outcomes. Comparisons between different warning label types to inform future research and policy directions are lacking. This study compared 27 warning labels across six message types for their potential to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption., Design and Methods: A national sample of regular soda (n = 2578) and juice (n = 1048) consumers aged 14-60 years participated in an online survey. Participants evaluated randomly allocated labels; one from each of six warning label sets (health-graphic, sugar-pictogram, sugar-text, exercise equivalents, health-text, energy information) on four measures of perceived effectiveness (PE: overall effectiveness, discourage from drinking, emotional response, persuasive potential). Participants could also provide open comments. A general linear model compared differences in mean scores across label sets for each measure of PE., Results: PE ratings differed significantly between label sets. Labels clearly quantifying sugar content (sugar-teaspoons) received consistently high PE ratings, whereas 'high in sugar' labels did not. Health-graphic labels were rated highly across all PE measures except persuasive potential. Exercise labels only rated highly on persuasive potential. Health-text results were mixed, and energy labels were consistently low., Conclusions: Simple, factual labels were easily interpreted and perceived as most effective. Labels quantifying sugar content were consistently high performers and should be advanced into policy to help decrease overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Public policies to contain the spread of coronavirus disease in Mexico could have had an effect on food purchase patterns., Objective: The objective of the study was to assess changes in the quantity of food and beverages purchased and proportion spent on food consumed away from home during the coronavirus disease pandemic in Mexican households., Design: This study is a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2014-2020., Participants/setting: The study included 234,631 households with information on food and beverages purchases from 2014 to 2020., Main Outcome Measures: Food and beverage purchases were classified into six categories: basic, nonbasic energy-dense foods, prepared food for consumption at home, water, milk, and sugar-sweetened beverages. In the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2014-2020, expenditures on food and beverages consumed away from home are not classified into any specific items but represents more than 10% of food and beverage expenditures; therefore, the analyses included the proportion of food and beverage expenditures spent on food consumed away from home., Statistical Analyses Performed: A two-part model was used to evaluate changes in the quantity of food purchased and the proportion spent away from home during the coronavirus disease pandemic in 2020 compared with 2018, adjusting for socio-demographic variables, gross domestic product and previous survey rounds. Results are presented at the national level, by income quintile and by place of residence., Results: Purchases of basic food increased by 17 g/capita/day at the national level and 22.4 g/capita/day in urban areas (P < 0.001). Purchases of nonbasic energy-dense foods decreased both at the national level (-4.2 g/capita/day; P < 0.001) and by place of residence (-4.8 g/capita/day; P < 0.001 in urban areas and -2.5 g/capita/day; P = 0.001 in rural settings). Purchases of prepared food increased 16 g/capita/day (P < 0.001). In rural areas, purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages increased 7.2 mL/per capita/day (P < 0.001). For the lowest income quintile purchases of processed meat increased 2.4 g/capita/day (P < 0.001). The proportion spent on food consumed away from home decreased by -44.9% (P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Results of this study show that during the coronavirus disease lockdown there was an increase in basic and prepared food purchases, whereas purchases of nonbasic energy-dense foods and the proportion spent on food consumed away from home decreased. However, findings showed an increase in sugar-sweetened beverages purchases among rural dwellers and an increase in purchases of processed meat among the lowest income quintile. Various factors such as income reductions, unemployment, mobility restrictions, or increases in prices may have led the observed changes. Future research should be conducted to analyze these potential pathways., (Copyright © 2024 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The Lucas-Washburn equation is commonly used to predict the distance (L) that a liquid travels through paper. This equation establishes that L 2 is linear with time and inversely proportional to the viscosity of the liquid. However, there is currently no theoretical equation connecting the viscosity of a solution to its concentration. In this study, the imbibition flow of a sucrose solution was measured along the length of a horizontal strip of filter paper, featuring a printed, thermometer-shaped hydrophobic boundary. A sample (38 μL) was dispensed onto the bulb area, and the solution's flow was visually tracked using a red dye added to the sample. The imbibition length (L) was measured by a vernier caliper at 10.0 min after the sample addition. An empirical equation, based on literature values of the viscosity (η) and concentration (C) of sucrose solutions, was proposed. By integrating this empirical equation with the Lucas-Washburn equation, the following equation was derived: L = a⋅exp{-(bC + cC 2 )}, where 'a', 'b' and 'c' are parameters. This equation was fitted to the dataset of L and C, covering C values from 0 to 60 % w/w standard sucrose solutions, resulting in a coefficient of determination of 0.9987. The plot of L against C was observed to closely follow a linear line, with a fitting providing a coefficient of determination of 0.9986. The sucrose contents in samples, such as soft drinks, syrups, and sugarcanes, determined using the imbibition length method and conventional refractometry, were in statistical agreement via the paired t-test at the 95 % confidence level. This method is simple, instrument-free, requiring only a small amount of safe red food dye, and can be conducted on-site., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Excess sugar consumption is a public health concern in the United States. How sugar purchases have changed over time, whether there are disparities across subpopulations, and the contribution of various food groups are unclear., Objective: To assess trends in sugar from packaged foods and beverages purchased by US households between 2002 and 2020., Design: This is an open cohort study., Participants/setting: We obtained data from the NielsenIQ U.S. Homescan Consumer Panel, which collects data on household purchases of all consumer packaged goods in 52 metropolitan and 24 non-metropolitan markets across the United States. We assessed data on food and beverage purchases for 1,163,447 household-years., Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcomes are the total sugar in grams purchased per capita per day and percentage of calories from sugar, by sociodemographic group., Statistical Analyses Performed: We used linear regression to estimate trends in total grams of sugar per capita per day, percentage of calories from sugar, and percentage of total sugar purchases by food or beverage group. We estimated means for select years and tested for significance compared with 2002 and with the previous timepoint and calculated the overall P-value for the linear trend using time series regression., Results: Total sugar purchases decreased over the study period, both in absolute terms (-37.2 g/capita/day; 95% confidence interval [CI], -38.7, -35.6) and as a percentage of total calories purchased (-5.3 percentage points; 95% CI, -5.5, -5.2). Sugar purchases declined for all sociodemographic groups, but disparities have persisted or widened, particularly among individuals who are non-Hispanic Black, low-income, and with lower educational attainment. Beverages' contributions to sugar purchases decreased 8.1 percentage points (95% CI, -8.4, -7.8)., Conclusion: In the United States, purchases of sugar declined, but disparities by socioeconomic status and race or ethnicity persisted or widened. Policies to further reduce sugar consumption and the burden of diet-related disparities are needed., (Copyright © 2024 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Variety has been used as a strategy for increasing intakes of healthy foods, but has not been well explored with respect to discretionary food/beverages. The diverse sensory properties of these foods suggests that variety could play an important role in total intake., Objective: This study explored variety as a predictor of intake of discretionary food/beverages, and described the variety of these items consumed by Australian adults., Design: Secondary analyses of cross-sectional data from a validated, online survey that assesses participants' dietary intake using frequency and portion-based questions. Discretionary food/beverages are grouped into 11 categories., Participants/setting: Participants included 235,203 Australian adults, aged 18 years or older, who provided data from May 2015 to November 2020., Outcome Measures: Variety was the number of categories of discretionary food/beverages consumed. Servings were estimated from usual intake questions, and percent contribution summarized by category. Consumption prevalence was the proportion of the sample/subgroup consuming each category. Consumption was calculated as the mean of the sample and per capita in servings., Statistical Analyses Performed: Descriptive statistics were used to present variety and percent contribution to total intake across the sample and subgroups, and multiple regression was used to examine whether or not variety predicted intake of discretionary food/beverages., Results: Participants consumed a median of 8 categories of discretionary food/beverages, with every additional category associated wit h an increase in intake of half a serving of discretionary food/beverages per day (B = 0.48; P < 0.001). Alcohol, cakes and cookies, takeaway, and confectionary collectively contributed around two-thirds of total daily intake of discretionary food/beverages, with alcohol contributing the largest proportion (28.3% of total daily intake)., Conclusions: Variety is related to total intake of discretionary food/beverages. Intervention approaches targeting a reduction in variety, as an alternative to a focus on portion size or frequency of intake, would be a novel way of addressing overconsumption of discretionary food/beverages in future research., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: To describe the results of a technology-integrated intervention on sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and energy-dense snack intake with third graders experiencing low income., Design: A 2 × 2 quasi-randomized cluster-block, parallel-group experimental research design., Setting: Low-income schools in Rhode Island., Participants: Two-hundred seventeen intervention and 242 control third-grade students in low-income (89.6% and 88.2% free/reduced meals, respectively), ethnically and racially diverse (63% Hispanic/20% Black and 62% Hispanic/18% Black, respectively) schools., Intervention(s): A 13-week in-school program held once per week for 1 hour. The hands-on, technology-integrated program used a modified version of the Body Quest: Food of the Warrior curriculum., Main Outcome Measure(s): Intake of SSB and energy-dense snacks, both salty and sweet snacks, using baseline (week 1) and postassessment (week 13) previous day self-recall., Analysis: Generalized mixed modeling with nesting., Results: Intervention students significantly reduced their SSB intake by 38% (0.5 times/d; F[1, 540] = 4.26; P = 0.04) and salty snack intake by 58% (0.8 times/d; F[1, 534] = 6.58, P < 0.01) from baseline to postassessment as compared with the control students., Conclusions and Implications: Findings suggest a technology-integrated curriculum is effective in decreasing SSB and salty snacks in elementary-aged students of low-income, minoritized populations. Improved dietary habits can potentially influence other facets of students' lives., (Copyright © 2023 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The study objectives were to examine the associations of exclusive and dual use of e-cigarettes and marijuana and the attainment of the “Let’s Go! 5–2-1–0” obesity prevention guidelines and perceptions of weight status among U.S. adolescents. Data from the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a school-based nationally representative cross-sectional study, were analyzed (N = 12,578). Participants were categorized based on their past 30-day e-cigarette and marijuana use as: non-users, exclusive e-cigarette users, exclusive marijuana users, and dual users. Adjusted logistic regression models were conducted. Of adolescents, 5.2% were exclusive e-cigarette users, 10.3% were exclusive marijuana users, and 7.4% were dual users. Compared to non-users, exclusive e-cigarette users were more likely (aOR = 1.55, 95%CI = 1.16–2.07) to meet the physical activity recommendation. Compared to dual-users, exclusive e-cigarette users were more likely (aOR = 1.47, 95%CI = 1.10–1.97) to meet the screen time recommendation. Compared to non-users, exclusive marijuana users were at increased odds to meet the fruit/vegetable recommendation (aOR = 1.33, 95%CI = 1.03–1.71), but were at decreased odds to meet the sugar-sweetened beverages recommendation (aOR = 0.81, 95%CI = 0.65–0.99). Compared to exclusive e-cigarette users, exclusive marijuana users were less likely to meet the screen time (aOR = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.54–0.93) and physical activity recommendations (aOR = 0.60, 95%CI = 0.43–0.84). Compared with dual users, exclusive marijuana users were more likely (aOR = 1.38, 95%CI = 1.01–1.88) to perceive themselves as slightly/very overweight. Compared to non-users, dual users were less likely to meet the sugar-sweetened beverages recommendation (aOR = 0.63, 95%CI = 0.46–0.87). Adolescent current marijuana users and dual users were less likely to meet obesity prevention guidelines. Prevention efforts are needed to reduce e-cigarette and marijuana use and increase adherence to these guidelines.

Various microorganisms present in beverages as contaminants, yet few can develop in the presence of acidic and low oxygen conditions. Notably, yeast is the dominant microbe group present in the fruit juices and drinks in the fruit juices and drinks. Due to the microbe development and secondary metabolite production, such as polluting compounds, carbon dioxide, and spoilage, the beverages were identified. Yeast and molds are considered to be a vital microbe that causes deterioration. The primary reason for the deterioration in fruits and fruit juices is because of the contamination caused by fungi and yeast, and sometimes damage may cause by insects. Sugars and sugar concentrates are generally polluted with osmophilic yeasts, for instance, Z. rouxii. This review mainly focuses on the types of spoilages in soft drinks and beverages and their control measures.

Metals and metalloids have different effects on human health even at trace levels. Some of them are essential for living organisms while others can be toxic. Therefore, the determination of trace elements in food and beverage is highly important to understand their impact in human health. A new generation of solvents named deep eutectic solvents (DES) has emerged as a green alternative for trace element analysis, owing to their low toxicity, biodegradability, and high extraction capacity. In recent years, the application of DES in extraction techniques for trace element analysis in food and beverage samples has increased significantly. This review summarizes recent advances and challenges on the application of DES to develop microextraction techniques useful for the analysis of samples with complex matrices. The importance of the use of biodegradable substances instead of classic organic solvents, which are toxic, volatile, and flammable in methods for elemental analysis with a positive environmental impact is also highlighted. Finally, conclusions and future challenges arising from the use of DES in microextraction techniques are discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Studies investigating associations between sweeteners and health yield inconsistent results, possibly due to subjective self-report dietary assessment methods., Objectives: We compared the performance of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), multiple 24-h dietary recalls (24hRs), and urinary biomarkers to estimate intake of sugars and low/no-calorie sweeteners (LNCSs)., Methods: Participants (n = 848, age 54 ± 12 y) from a 2-y observational study completed 1 semiquantitative FFQ and ≥ 3 nonconsecutive 24hRs. Both methods assessed intake of sugars (mono- and disaccharides, sucrose, fructose, free and added sugars) and sweetened foods and beverages (sugary foods, fruit juice, and sugar or LNCS-containing beverages [sugar-sweetened beverages and low/no-calorie sweetened beverages (LNCSBs)]); 24hRs also included LNCS-containing foods and tabletop sweeteners (low/no-calorie sweetened foods [LNCSFs]). Urinary excretion of sugars (fructose+sucrose) and LNCSs (acesulfame K+sucralose+steviol glucuronide+cyclamate+saccharin) were simultaneously assessed using ultrapressure liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry in 288 participants with 3 annual 24-h urine samples. Methods were compared using, amongst others, validity coefficients (correlations corrected for measurement error)., Results: Median (interquartile range) FFQ intakes ranged from 0 (0-7) g/d for LNCSBs to 94 (73-117) g/d for mono- and disaccharides. LNCSB use was reported by 32% of participants. Median LNCSB+LNCSF intake using 24hRs was 1 (0-50) g/d and reported by 58%. Total sugar excretions were detected in 100% of samples [56 (37-85) mg/d] and LNCSs in 99% of urine samples [3 (1-10) mg/d]. Comparing FFQ against 24hRs showed VCs ranging from 0.38 (fruit juice) to 0.74 (LNCSB). VCs for comparing FFQ with urinary excretions were 0.25 to 0.29 for sugars and 0.39 for LNCSBs; for 24hR they amounted to 0.31-0.38 for sugars, 0.37 for LNCSBs, and 0.45 for LNCSFs., Conclusions: The validity of the FFQ against 24hRs for the assessment of sugars and LNCSBs ranged from moderate to good. Comparing self-reports and urine excretions showed moderate agreement but highlighted an important underestimation of LNCS exposure using self-reports., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous studies demonstrated conflicting results regarding the determinants of gastric emptying for fluids. Our aim was to compare gastric emptying times of fluids with different caloric and nutrient content., Methods: Healthy adult volunteers underwent gastric ultrasound assessment for 4 h after consuming beverages with different caloric and nutrient content using a crossover design (oat drink with 3% fat [310 kcal], mango juice [310 kcal], oat drink with 0.5% fat [185 kcal], and blackcurrant juice [175 kcal]). Gastric emptying time, gastric content volume, and the area under the curve (AUC) of gastric content volume-time profiles were calculated., Results: Eight females and eight males completed the study protocol. The mean (sd) gastric emptying times were 89 (32) min for blackcurrant juice, 127 (54) min for oat drink with 0.5% fat, 135 (36) min for mango juice, and 152 (40) min for oat drink with 3% fat. Gastric emptying times were slower for oat drink with 3% fat (P=0.007) and mango juice (P=0.025) than for blackcurrant juice. At 1 h after ingestion, gastric content volume was greater for mango juice (P=0.021) and oat drink with 3% fat (P=0.003) than for blackcurrant juice. The AUC was greater for oat drink with 3% fat than mango juice (P=0.029), oat drink with 0.5% fat (P=0.004), and blackcurrant juice (P=0.002), and for mango juice than blackcurrant juice (P=0.019)., Conclusions: Caloric and nutrient content significantly affected gastric emptying times. A high-calorie fruit juice (mango) exhibited delayed emptying times compared with a low-calorie fruit juice (blackcurrant)., Clinical Trial Registration: ISRCTN17147574., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Frequent intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) among US adults is a public health concern because it has been associated with increased risks for adverse health outcomes such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In contrast, drinking plain water (such as tap, bottled, or unsweetened sparkling water) instead of drinking SSBs might provide health benefits by improving diet quality and helping prevent chronic diseases. However, there is limited information on estimated expenditures on SSBs or bottled water among US households., Objective: This study examined differences in SSB and bottled water purchasing according to household and geographic area characteristics and estimated costs spent on purchasing SSB and bottled water from retail stores among a nationally representative sample of US households., Design: This study is a secondary analysis of the 2015 Circana (formerly Information Resources Inc) Consumer Network Panel data, which were merged with the US Department of Agriculture nutrition data using the US Department of Agriculture Purchase-to-Plate Crosswalk-2015 dataset (the latest available version of the Purchase-to-Plate Crosswalk at the time the study began), and the Child Opportunity Index 2.0 data., Participants/settings: A total of 63,610 households, representative of the contiguous US population, consistently provided food and beverage purchase scanner data from retail stores throughout 2015., Explanatory Variables: The included demographic and socioeconomic variables were household head's age, marital status, highest education level, race and ethnicity of the primary shopper in the household, family income relative to the federal poverty level, and presence of children in the household. In addition, descriptors of households' residential areas were included, such as the county-level poverty prevalence, urbanization, census region, and census tract level Child Opportunity Index., Main Outcome Measures: Annual per capita spending on SSB and bottled water and daily per capita SSB calories purchased., Statistical Analysis: Unadjusted and multivariable adjusted mean values of the main outcome measures were compared by household demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics using linear regression analysis including Circana's household projection factors., Results: Nearly all households reported purchasing SSBs at least once during 2015 and spent on average $47 (interquartile range = $20) per person per year on SSBs, which corresponded to 211 kcal (interquartile range = 125 kcal) of SSBs per person per day. About seven in 10 households reported purchasing bottled water at least once during 2015 and spent $11 (interquartile range = $5) per person on bottled water per year. Both annual per capita SSB and bottled water spending, and daily per capita SSB calories purchased was highest for households whose heads were between 40 and 59 years of age, had low household income, or lived in poor counties, or counties with a low Child Opportunity Index. Annual per capita spending was also higher for households with never married/widowed/divorced head, or at least 1 non-Hispanic Black head, and households without children, or those living in the South. Daily per capita SSB calorie purchases were highest for households where at least 1 head had less than a high school degree, households with at least 1 Hispanic or married head, and households with children or those living in the Midwest., Conclusions: These findings suggest that households that had lower socioeconomic status had higher annual per capita spending on SSBs and bottled water and higher daily per capita total SSB calories purchased than households with higher socioeconomic status., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The number of cases in which scopolamine (SCO) was used for both recreational and predatory purposes has increased dramatically in recent decades. Linked to this, there is a concern about obtaining SCO through thermal degradation of butylscopolamine (BSCO) - an active ingredient of Buscopan® - a drug sold without a medical prescription. In this study, mixtures containing SCO and BSCO were separated and detected on a microchip electrophoresis (ME) device with integrated capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C 4 D) using a running buffer composed of 40 mmol L -1 of butyric acid and 25 mmol L -1 of sodium hydroxide (pH 5.0). The separation was performed within ca. 115 s with a resolution of 1.3 and separation efficiency ranging from 1.4 × 10 5 to 1.5 × 10 5 theoretical plates m -1 . A detection limit of 1.1 μmol L -1 was achieved for both species and the developed method revealed satisfactory repeatability with relative standard deviation (RSD) values for forty-eight injections between 4.8 and 9.4% for peak areas and lower than 3.3% for migration times. Furthermore, inter-day precision was evaluated for sixteen injections (a sequence of four injections performed over four days), and RSD values were less than 6.6% for peak areas and 2.2% for migration times. Satisfactory recovery values (95-114%) were obtained for all evaluated beverage samples (cachaça, vodka, whiskey, beer, Coca-Cola, and grape juice) as well as for artificial urine samples (95-107%). Finally, the conversion of BSCO into SCO was observed after simple heating procedure of Buscopan® sample (not subject to medical prescription), which was successfully confirmed through analysis by capillary electrophoresis coupled to the mass spectrometry (CE-MS). Based on the reported results, the use of ME-C 4 D devices has demonstrated a huge potential for applications in the forensic chemistry field., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this work, an innovative green strategy has been developed for the analysis of twenty-seven endocrine disruptors, including bisphenols, alkylphenols and alkylphenol ethoxylates, phthalic acid esters and one adipate in tropical beverages. For this purpose, nine natural hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents based on the terpenoids camphor, thymol and menthol at different molar ratios were investigated for the first time as extractants for the liquid-liquid microextraction of the target analytes from coconut waters and Aloe Vera drinks. A mixture of camphor:thymol at molar ratio 1:2 (n/n) was selected as extraction solvent. Determination of the target analytes was carried out by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. After optimisation of the determination and extraction conditions, the methodology was validated achieving good results in terms of linearity, as well as recovery values in the range 75-111% and limits of quantification from 0.137 to 10.08 μg/L. Finally, the developed methodology was applied to the analysis of commercially available samples, finding the presence of diethyl phthalate., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare staining effect of various beverages on and surface nano-hardness of a resin coated and a non-coated fluoride releasing tooth-coloured restorative material. Materials and methods: Two restorative materials, Equia Forte Fil (coated with Equia Forte Coat) and Cention N (non-coated), were evaluated in this study. Fifty samples (n = 50) were prepared from each restorative material. Ten samples of each material were randomly placed in Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS) solution, Tea, Coffee and Coke solutions. Spectrophotometer readings were recorded after 24 hours of sample preparation followed by 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th day. Colour difference (ΔE) for each sample was calculated at the specified time intervals. The remaining ten samples of each restorative material were subjected to nano-hardness testing. Nano-hardness values at 1st day and 28th day were noted. Colour difference and nano-hardness values were statistically analysed. Results: By the 28th day, all samples from the solutions were stained. Equia Forte Fil coated with Equia Forte Coat samples showed better resistant to staining solutions than Cention N samples. Surface nano-hardness of both the materials increased from the 1st day to 28th day and were comparable. Conclusion: Over a period of time, changes in colour stability and nano-hardness, are inevitable. Cention N showed more potential to undergo surface discolouration than Equia Forte Fil. Both materials exhibited increased nano-hardness over a period of time. Cention N exhibited higher surface nano-hardness when compared to Equia Forte, by the 28th day. Clinical significance: Resin coated, high viscous and fluoride releasing glass ionomers can delay the staining effect by various beverages and exhibit better initial surface nano-hardness when compared to a non-coated alkasite based, fluoride releasing restoration.

Amaranth (AMA), a common food additive, is important to strictly control the content of food for the human body. In this paper, an innovative method based on intrinsic dual-emissive carbon dots (Y/B-CDs) was used to detect AMA. Y/B-CDs have two emission wavelengths at 416 and 544 nm with the excitation wavelength at 362 nm. The addition of AMA can rapidly quench the fluorescence of the two peaks with different degrees, and ratiometric detection can be achieved. Quantitative analysis showed two linear ranges of 0.1-20 μM and 20-80 μM, and detection limits are 42 and 33 nM, respectively. Moreover, good results were obtained for the detection of AMA in beverages and candy using Y/B-CDs. This suggests that the constructed sensor has the potential to detect AMA in real samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To examine the extent of nutrition-related claims on ready-to-drink (RTD) alcohol products to provide insights into the types and prevalence of claims across the category., Methods: Product type, alcohol content, and presence/type of nutrition-related claims (n=491) information was collected, March-May 2022. Chi-square analyses with pairwise z-tests were used to identify differences in claim prevalence by product type. Spearman's correlation was used to assess the relationship between alcohol content and number of claims., Results: Approximately half (52%) of RTDs displayed at least one claim, with the most common claims referring to naturalness (32%), sugar- (31%), and energy-content (32%). Hard seltzers displayed the most claims (96%, M=3.4 claims/product, SD=1.6). There was a moderate negative correlation between alcohol content and number of claims (r =-.43, p<.001)., Conclusion: Results show the extensive use of nutrition-related claims on RTDs in Australia, particularly for hard seltzers., Implications for Public Health: Nutrition-related claims have the potential to mislead consumers about the healthiness of alcohol products and more stringent regulation of nutrition-related claims is needed., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Breweries and beverage companies have recently been interested in creating innovative beer varieties that deviate from traditional beer styles, with either low-alcohol content <2.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) or the absence of alcohol altogether (<0.5% ABV). Traditional beers (up to 10% ABV) contain numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors preventing pathogens from proliferation or propagation. Physiochemical properties such as a low pH, presence of ethanol and hop acids, limited oxygen, and specific processing techniques, including wort boiling, pasteurization, filtration, cold storage, and handling, all contribute to microbial stability and safety. The potential change or absence in one or more of these antimicrobial hurdles can render the final product susceptible to pathogen survival and growth. In this study, the effect of pH, storage temperature, and ethanol concentration on the growth or die-off of foodborne pathogens in low and nonalcoholic beers was evaluated. pH and ethanol concentrations were adjusted from their initial values of 3.65 and <0.50% ABV to pHs 4.20, 4.60, and 4.80; and 3.20 ABV, respectively. The samples were inoculated with individual five-strain cocktails of E. coli O157:H7, S. enterica, and L. monocytogenes, then stored at two different temperatures (4 and 14°C) for 63 days. Microbial enumeration was performed using selective agar with incubation at 35°C. Results showed that nonalcoholic beers allowed for pathogen growth and survival, as opposed to the low-alcoholic ones. E. coli O157:H7 and S. enterica grew approximately 2.00 log  at 14°C, but no growth was observed at 4°C. L. monocytogenes was more susceptible and fell at, or below, the detection limit rapidly in all the conditions tested. The results show that storage temperature is critical in preventing the growth of pathogens. pH did not appear to have a significant effect on the survival of pathogens (p < 0.05). This challenge study demonstrates the need for beverage manufacturers to prioritize and maintain food safety plans along with practices specific to low- and nonalcoholic beer manufacturers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Tap water distrust and avoidance, indicators of water insecurity, are prevalent in marginalized United States populations. As future environmental challenges stress water resources, further understanding of the scope of water insecurity and its impact on diet quality is needed, particularly in vulnerable United States populations., Objectives: To evaluate associations between 3 potential indicators of water insecurity-1) perception of tap water safety for drinking, 2) perception of tap water safety for cooking, and 3) tap water avoidance-and dietary quality and beverage intake in lower-income United States adults., Methods: A cross-sectional, web-based survey was fielded to 1798 lower-income (<250% federal poverty guidelines) United States adults. Participants answered questions detailing tap water safety perceptions and avoidance, beverage intake, dietary intake (30-d prime diet quality score), and sociodemographic covariates. Sociodemographic differences in drinking water insecurity measures were evaluated using chi-square and Fisher-Freeman-Halton tests. Associations between water insecurity measures and dietary outcomes were assessed using generalized linear models adjusted for sociodemographic covariates, and effect modification by sociodemographic covariates was assessed., Results: Over half of the adults surveyed experienced some aspect of water insecurity. Measures of water security differed significantly by sociodemographic covariates (Ps < 0.05), with higher percentages of women and gender-nonconforming persons, minoritized racial and ethnic groups, lower-income groups, and food-insecure adults reporting indicators of water insecurity. Presence of any water insecurity was associated with lower diet quality (β = -1.07; 95% CI: -2.11, -0.03; P = 0.04), lower tap water intake (relative difference [RD] = 0.35; 95% CI: 1.28, 2.12; P < 0.0001), higher bottled water intake (RD = 1.64; 95% CI: 1.28, 2.12; P = 0.0001), and higher sugar-sweetened beverages intake frequency (frequency ratio = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.27; P = 0.03)., Conclusions: Water insecurity indicators are associated with poorer diet quality and beverage intake in a population of United States adults with lower-incomes. Addressing the intersection of water insecurity, food security, environmental impacts, and nutrition may help to improve the well-being and resiliency of vulnerable populations., (Copyright © 2023 American Society for Nutrition. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The health economic analysis incorporating effects on labour outcomes, households, environment, and inequalities (HEALTHEI) explores which food taxes would have greatest benefits to health, labour, and work outcomes; household expenditure; environmental sustainability; and inequalities within the UK food system. Work package 1 includes a rapid review and workshops, aiming to explore the effects of price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages to facilitate the specification of food taxes and research design., Methods: In this mixed-methods study, we first did a rapid review to examine relevant published evidence. A preplanned framework ensured a systematic approach, in which we searched PubMed, HMIC, Scopus, Google, Mintel/Mintel Food and Drink, and Business Source Ultimate for papers published in English from Jan 1, 2010, to Nov 2, 2022. This review was followed by three online workshops (in March, 2023), which used interactive padlets to explore food systems, food taxation policy, tax rationales, and a rapid review infographic. 14 stakeholders from non-governmental organisations (n=10), academia (n=2), the Civil Service (n=1), and a local authority (n=1) took part (gender or ethnicity were not recorded). A stakeholder recruitment grid was developed to ensure representation across public sectors and disciplines of public health, nutrition, environment, and economics., Findings: The rapid review identified six tax options with a broadly positive impact on consumption and health (high fat, high sugar, high salt, "junk food", sugar-sweetened-beverages, and meats plus sugar-sweetened beverages). It generated five core rationales for a food tax: change consumption, reduce or prevent harm, change product affordability, raise revenue, and industry impact. Using the workshop feedback, health inequalities, economics, ease of implementation and animal welfare were additional key areas for a so-called real-world application of tax. Stakeholders questioned the taxes in the current economic and political climate., Interpretation: The work highlights the need to develop an impactful food tax option that encompasses the five core rationales identified in the findings. The workshops identified key areas to explore further to understand the feasibility, impact, and logistics of implementing future food taxes. Being unable to deliver workshops in person due to difficulties of participants travelling to London was a limitation. However, switching online allowed for varied and well attended workshops., Funding: National Institute of Health Research (Ref: NIHR133927)., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Accumulation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage diminishes cellular health, increases risk of developmental and degenerative diseases, and accelerates aging. Optimizing nutrient intake can minimize accrual of DNA damage. The objectives of this review are to: 1) assemble and systematically analyze high-level evidence for the effect of supplementation with micronutrients and phytochemicals on baseline levels of DNA damage in humans, and 2) use this knowledge to identify which of these essential micronutrients or nonessential phytochemicals promote DNA integrity in vivo in humans. We conducted systematic literature searches of the PubMed database to identify interventional, prospective, cross-sectional, or in vitro studies that explored the association between nutrients and established biomarkers of DNA damage associated with developmental and degenerative disease risk. Biomarkers included lymphocyte chromosome aberrations, lymphocyte and buccal cell micronuclei, DNA methylation, lymphocyte/leukocyte DNA strand breaks, DNA oxidation, telomere length, telomerase activity, and mitochondrial DNA mutations. Only randomized, controlled interventions and uncontrolled longitudinal intervention studies conducted in humans were selected for evaluation and data extraction. These studies were ranked for the quality of their study design. In all, 96 of the 124 articles identified reported studies that achieved a quality assessment score ≥ 5 (from a maximum score of 7) and were included in the final review. Based on these studies, nutrients associated with protective effects included vitamin A and its precursor β-carotene, vitamins C, E, B1, B12, folate, minerals selenium and zinc, and phytochemicals such as curcumin (with piperine), lycopene, and proanthocyanidins. These findings highlight the importance of nutrients involved in (i) DNA metabolism and repair (folate, vitamin B 12 , and zinc) and (ii) prevention of oxidative stress and inflammation (vitamins A, C, E, lycopene, curcumin, proanthocyanidins, selenium, and zinc). Supplementation with certain micronutrients and their combinations may reduce DNA damage and promote cellular health by improving the maintenance of genome integrity., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)