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Different vegetable foods could unpredictably cause similar inflammatory reactions when speaking of human diets. Several unrefined carbohydrates and fresh oils, and also several pulses can be the cause of mild surplus oxidation. These situations appear in contrast with common knowledge speaking of foods and beverages with antioxidant or anti-inflammatory properties. For these and other reasons, vegan/vegetarian dietary lifestyles appear to be successful at present. However, intensive farming practices concerning fruits and vegetables worldwide have progressively caused a decline in the amount of protein, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin, and vitamin C in modern food products belonging to this ambit. As a result, organophosphorus pesticides are now detectable in fruits, vegetables, and wheat. Because of their inflammatory effects on the human body, and also considering their persistency in the environment, these molecules are of extreme interest. This worry is also present when speaking of chemical agents used for artificial ripening, with concern to fruits. The category of powdered juices can also contain different food additives with possible inflammatory, cytotoxic, and /or genotoxic effects. Several inflammatory molecules of natural origin exist: fructose, purines, and alkaloids. This chapter concerns the analytical detection of these chemical classes.

Out of several energy-rich organic compounds formed via photosynthesis in autotrophic organisms like plants, a few of them might prove inflammatory or cytotoxic molecules for humans if consumed regularly. Using previously stored chemical energy, chloroplasts convert atmospheric carbon dioxide mainly into glucose and a little fructose which—in the next step—are combined to yield sucrose, starch, cellulose, etc. Nitrogenous compounds, including proteins, are produced in the consequent step in plants. Purines are nitrogenous molecules that, on regular consumption, can create pathogenesis of gout and hyperuricemia in humans. The cytotoxic effects of foods rich in fructose and purines are well known. On the other hand, the plant defence system produces certain compounds which protect the plants against microorganisms and insects and, on regular consumption, might create inflammation in the human body. The set of plant defensive inflammatory molecules include a variety of alkaloids. In this chapter, an attempt is made to present an overview of natural inflammatory molecules—fructose, purines, and alkaloids—contained in fruits and vegetables.

Proteins and lipids are molecules that might be considered as soft targets for oxidative attack, whose modification in the body can increase the risk of inflammation due to mutagenesis. Effects of food processing additives with oxidant attitude are known. Consequently, oxidation during food processing may be a problem, especially when speaking of high-energy foods derived from cereals, with notable amounts of oxidation-sensible lipids and protein chains. The public health perspective with relation to some natural molecules which might lead to excessive oxidation reactions in the human body is extremely important. Consequently, some discussion should be dedicated to unsaturated fatty acids and some of the known polypeptides in cereal-based high-energy foods. Processed high-energy bars and other snacks derived from cereals are really ‘energetic’ if compared with whole cereal grains, and the palatability is directly proportional to the amount of sugars (sweetness) and fats/oils. However, other problems could occur when speaking of high-energy foods. Ultraprocessed foods are completely dissimilar from original foods, and these products contain a notable amount of oxidation-sensible molecules: lipids and proteins. Consequently, processing and non-processing factors could have some important public safety consequences. The aim of this chapter is to give some perspective to this ambit.

This chapter concerns the possible use of natural molecules from vegetable sources in food and pharma preparations, including also the ambit of cosmetic industries. This possibility has been often considered with success in the recent years because of ‘natural’ claimed properties. In general, polyphenols and other substances named as ‘natural’ additives or nutraceuticals are considered and advertised as good surrogates for synthetic additives because of the following claimed feature at least: antioxidant power. In this ambit, the main part of natural antioxidant agents of vegetable origin is secondary metabolites responsible for different plant features and—consequently—food features such as colours and aroma: Phenolics; terpenoids; some proteins; chain-breakers or scavengers and, last but not least, vegetable enzymes and several mineral elements. Because of the relationship between oxidative stress (cause) and pathophysiological effects (illness) on the human health, the use of new and non-synthetic compounds with antioxidant power should be preferred and recommended in the ambit of well-balanced dietary lifestyles. Consequently, therapeutic or economic accessibility to antioxidants may be difficult, unless vegetable plants and herbal extracts are considered as strong antioxidant foods. In conclusion, the consumption of antioxidant compounds from readily and easily available foods of vegetable origin should be recommended when speaking of public health issues, and the promotion of traditional medicine may explain partially interesting medicinal effects in this ambit.

This chapter discusses several features concerning the most interesting compounds with claimed and demonstrable antimicrobial action, provided these substances are of vegetable origin. This discussion concerns different types of molecules and materials, and some differences may be also evaluated when speaking of ambits of use. The available uses concern life and health extension, protection of crops, enhancement of durability values concerning food products, etc. Anyway, each antimicrobial power or feature has to be reliable on the basis of dedicated clinical experiments and in vivo or in vitro studies. The most powerful additive or antimicrobial contrasting agent cannot completely eradicate microbial survival and related effects, similarly to the inevitability of food perishability, in accordance with the Parisi’s First Law of Food Degradation. With relation to herbal extracts, antimicrobial properties are generally ascribed to more than ten classes, from the chemical viewpoint, including alkaloids, coumarins, phenolics, polyamines, tannins and terpenes. On the international ground, research on herbal extracts with some antimicrobial claim has been reported interesting results and reliable data. By the viewpoint of Indian researchers, several facts have been reported when speaking of Acacia nilotica, Datura stramonium, Azadirachta indica extracts, and two mixtures—triphala and mahasudarshan churna. Traditional herbal medicines and remedies in India are able to exhibit good antimicrobial properties. Recent efforts by Indian researchers still continue in this ambit.

This chapter discusses the importance of phenolic substances in vegetable products in India with reference to claimed antioxidant power. The most interesting compounds with claimed and demonstrable antioxidant power concern different molecules in the ambit of natural materials, especially when speaking of phenolics compounds. Antioxidant power is an interesting argument in the ambit of food and pharma industries, with important implications in the field of cosmetic applications. Antioxidant substances aim at the diminution of damages suffered by organic substrates caused by oxygen attack and consequent oxidative processes. In other terms, each substance able to delay oxidation has to be considered as an antioxidant agent. The importance of such a substance is correlated with the decrease of acute and chronic effects of oxidation on organic surfaces. The remarkable interest of antioxidant compounds of natural origin is quite recent in the industry, but ancient traditions ascribe antioxidant properties to selected plants and herbs in many world areas. The Indian perspective, by the viewpoint of the Ayurveda, is extremely interesting. At present, Indian researchers have made several works in the attempt of establishing reliable correlations between antioxidant power and the amount of bio-available polyphenols by herbal extracts. The variety and the large amount of different secondary metabolites may be considered the main reasons for unsatisfactory results when speaking of reliable correlations. On the other side, the use of vegetable polyphenols in the human diet and as a surrogate for synthetic phenolics in food processing should be promoted in the ambit of food safety.

The efficacy of herbal extracts has been often questioned due to presence of natural toxin loads like alkaloids and terpenes as well as farm-level applied synthetic crop protection chemicals called pesticides, if any, and fungal toxins like aflatoxins. In addition, the efficacy of synthetically prepared drugs is challenged on account of containing process by-products and exerting side effects. The midway therefore emerges as isolation of active ingredients from herbs or any food source. On the other side, Ayurveda underlines holistic approaches in development of medicine in which organic herbal powders—with or without aqueous herbal extracts—are utilised as drug ingredients. It has been observed that herbs holistically are more effective than the active ingredients isolated from them, if side effects too are considered along with time taken in recuperation. In general, the antimicrobial susceptibility tests do not always confirm the same therapeutic action of drugs (against particular microbial) corresponding to particular disease for which those are traditionally known and holistically underlined in Ayurveda. It might be concluded that the therapeutic system Ayurveda is still quite relevant.

Hepatitis cases have been reported in India in the past due to consumption of food contaminated by some aflatoxin, a mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus flavus and generally developed in food articles grown and/or stored in hot and moist environment. The main target organ of hepatic disease, caused by regular consumption of aflatoxin-contaminated foods, is liver which may suffer from jaundice and cancer in later stages. Milk is an ideal food for such patients provided it is free from aflatoxins. The Indian Food Safety and Standards Regulation, 2011 enlists aflatoxins among crop contaminants and naturally occurring toxins. In the European Union, food regulation ascertains much lower values for maximum aflatoxin contents in food articles than that the Indian food low does. Indian food business operators seldom have to face consequences due to high aflatoxin contents, particularly in samples of exported goods, despite the fact that detoxification (removal of aflatoxins from foods) to some extent is possible.

Indian agriculture continued following path of green revolution even in the twentieth century extensively utilising intensive farming practices with synthetic fertilisers and pesticides application leading to micronutrient mineral deficiencies in soil, water and food. At the same time, many countries—mostly European Nations—used to leave the path of conventional or intensive agriculture. The diversion or deviation from intensive agricultural practices today implies minimisation or elimination of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides in farms with the concomitant use of natural manures, mainly compost manure, and natural pesticides like neem leaf juice. This concept of organic farming works a little in the state of deforestation or loss of biodiversity due to mineral deficiencies in soil and water, while in ancient India soil fertility was considered as the function of biodiverse forestation. Indian crops partly suffer from immune system weakness and are prone to bacterial and fungal growth. India is on the way of following integrated farming practices along with organic farming; however, India sometimes faces certain difficulties because of the high number of rejections at EU borders, mostly due to the presence of Salmonella spp. or aflatoxins beyond limits. Therefore, discussions on environmental factors and land use polity are relevant in India.

Indian food trade is facing the problem of detection of several undesired and detrimental chemicals in food articles with additional food scandals, while Europe is stepping forward to effectively act against planned adulterations. The reasonable follow-up of ethics for biosphere protection from detrimental chemicals and of forest policy is obviously needed in India. Humans, being integral part of biosphere, should consume the same kind of food and water and air which all the creatures do; this statement is the fundamental postulate of ‘Integral Humanism’. The control of global warming should require adequate monitoring actions of free-flowing water in rivers. Spacious water dams on mountains for hydroelectricity generation and elongated canals for irrigation contribute to stagnation of water with release of the lightest greenhouse gas. Therefore, regular check-up of farming effluents for dissolved oxygen, pathogens, heavy metals and pesticides—as per analytical protocols—and land reforms to contract agricultural and housing tracts and expand forest-pasture tract are essentially required in India.

Botanical ingredients and herbs have been well known in India for both taste and cure aspects. Despite the fact that herbs and spices bear a toxin load in the forms of synthetic insecticides, fungi, microbial and allergens, the Indian therapy system ‘Ayurveda’ deals with herbal compositions for cure applications. Herbs and spices have been found to contain antimicrobial compounds. In detail, herbs with lower microbial load exhibit higher antimicrobial property and hence have food preservation concerns. Spices such as cinnamon, cloves, thyme, mustard and garlic are considered as food preservers and taste sources. Other spices such as long pepper, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper and thyme are extensively used in Ayurvedic medicine. Dense forest infrastructure is required in India for an effective soil and water conservation with concern to the elimination or minimisation of synthetic insecticides and aflatoxins in botanical ingredients for culinary and medicinal reliability.

The current usage of insecticides and pesticides in modern food industry and agriculture is surely evident in many industrialised countries such as India. Despite their use as crop protection chemicals, their toxic action has been remembered by environmentalists as well as food and agricultural scientists. Organic insecticides—mainly organochlorines, organophosphorus, carbamates and pyrethrins/pyrethroids—are extensively used for crop protection, but their limitation is correlated with safety consequences. Azadirachtin, the interesting natural insecticidal compound extracted from neem trees, may be a solution against environmental harms caused by synthetic insecticides and pesticides. Indian food business operators have to face consequences of the excessive use of insecticides in farms as rejections of export consignments. Countries possessing enough dense infrastructure, particularly European countries, are capable of keeping insecticide at minimum residue levels lower than India. Also for this reason, the Indian Country needs dense forestation.

This chapter contains a statistical evaluation of RASFF border rejection notifications. The study concerns the comparison between recorded notifications in two different temporal periods: the four-year 2008–2011 and the subsequent three-year 2012–2014 intervals. The analysis of product categories and hazard categories has been performed with the aim of defining the next ‘emerging concerns’ from the food safety viewpoint. Moreover, authors have analysed all calculated results with relation to a new risk classification (seven different risk typologies, including adulteration and fraud episodes, processing failures, allergens, and GMO). The comparison between alert and border rejection notifications has been also carried out and discussed in detail.

This chapter contains a statistical evaluation of RASFF alert notifications in general. The study concerns the comparison between recorded alerts in two different temporal periods, the broad 1979–1990 and the four-year 2011–2014 intervals. The analysis of product categories and hazard categories has been performed with the aim of defining the next ‘emerging concerns’ by the food safety viewpoint. Moreover, authors have analysed all calculated results with relation to a new risk classification (seven different risk typologies, including adulteration, and fraud episodes, processing failures, allergens, and GMO). In addition, the chapter discusses chemical risks and contaminants, including also allergens.

This chapter provides a general overview of the current food policy in the European Union from the consumers’ viewpoint. It describes the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) approach on the legal level and with reference to notification procedures. In particular, the chapter explains the definition of original notifications—alerts, border rejection episodes and information ‘for follow-up’ and ‘for attention’—and non-original notifications. The history of RASFF, which had originally been introduced in 1979, is briefly reviewed on the basis of the historical evolution of Food Policy in the European Union and food scares.

This chapter offers an outlook on the future of the rapid alert system for food and feed (RASFF) system and possible expectations. The influence of market needs on RASFF records is notable. In addition, the statistical study of RASFF documents (alerts and border rejection notifications above all) and the analysis of emerging trends may help the analysis of food safety risks in other ambits such as the new ‘Food Safety Modernization Act’ in the United States of America. In general, the scarcity of certain products in the RASFF area with the consequent and increasing need of imported materials seem to important factors when speaking of high-risk product categories and the correlated monitoring level. With concern to hazards, allergens and GMO appear as the ‘emerging’ hazard for the next years, while adulteration and fraud episodes appear to be recurrent menaces; as a result, a strict surveillance is required with the aim of overburdening the inspection capacity of official controls across the whole RASFF area.