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Viral foodborne diseases have grown to be an important part of all foodborne illnesses that have been observed in recent years, and they are considered an increasing threat to the public's health. An increase in hepatitis E virus (HEV) cases that are not related to travel has been identified in surveillance studies carried out in developed countries in the EU. Hepatitis E genotype 3 virus was primarily associated with eating undercooked or uncooked pig meat or other wild animals, according to the research. The main reservoirs in nature are domestic pigs and wild boars. The main route of infection involves the fact that pigs infected with HEV enter the slaughterhouse as healthy animals (most often they do not have visual symptoms), and so their tissues and meat are used for human consumption. Currently, adequate heat treatment is the most effective way to prevent HEV infection from contaminating meat, liver and meat products. This virus is an ideal pathogen for full implementation of the One Health approach, where it is necessary to communicate, collaborate and coordinate in all sectors, including human health, animal health, environment, and other areas of expertise. Success in implementing the One Health approach would lead to controlling all links in this complicated chain and achieving the best health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to determine the microbiological status of 390 beef and pork minced meat samples collected over three years from 52 retailers in the territory of Belgrade. The numbers of aerobic colony counts, Escherichia coli, and the presence of Salmonella spp. are prescribed criteria for this group of meat semi-products. Salmonella spp. was confirmed in one sample of minced beef meat (0.8%), while unsatisfactory E. coli counts were only determined in pork meat samples (2.7%). In 2021, all samples complied with the microbiological criteria for minced meat The highest occurrence of positive samples was observed during the III quarter of 2022 (P=0.04) with a frequency of 9.3%. The level of contamination of minced pork with E. coli bacteria in the same quarter was significantly higher compared to the II quarter of 2022 (627±75 vs. 292±9 cfu/g, P=0.009). Improvement of process hygiene and revision of process control, along with permanent education of food staff on the principles of GMP and GHP, are necessary for maintaining food safety and public health. [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]

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]

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]

Sequencing technologies have revolutionized the characterization of microorganisms in the recent years to a level that was previously unimaginable. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) techniques have evolved from an expensive luxury typing method affordable only to a few institutions to a common tool for routine analysis in public health microbiology. In particular, improvements in pathogen source tracking, determination of phylogenetic relationship, antibiotic resistance and virulence-traits have improved outbreak investigation tremendously. In addition, WGS allows the easy establishment of global databases based on standardized nomenclatures facilitating international data exchange, cross-border outbreak investigation strain tracking and source identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food Allergy is a growing global public health concern. The presence of undeclared allergenic ingredients or the presence of traces of allergens due to contamination during food processing poses a great health risk to sensitised individuals. Celery and mustard belong to the group of 14 basic food allergens, and thus, they are potentially hazardous. Therefore, the objective of this mini-review is to evaluate the presence of celery and mustard in foods of animal origin in Serbia for the period 2021--2023. The present study provides a summary of qualitative detection of specific DNA sequences by real time PCR techniques conducted on 179 retail products of animal origin, i.e., coarse-ground cooked sausages, cooked sausages with meat pieces, fermented sausages, smoked products, chicken meat, dairy and meat alternatives, quick-frozen dough products and snacks. Celery DNA (the mannitol dehydrogenase gene region was used for specific celery identification in samples) was detected in 15 samples, while mustard DNA was detected in 14 samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]