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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents an increasing issue worldwide, spreading not only in humans and farmed animals but also in wildlife. One of the most relevant problems is represented by Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESβLs) producing Escherichia coli because they are the cause of important infections in human. Wild boars (Sus scrofa) as a source of ESβLs attracted attention due to their increasing density and their habits that lead them to be at the human-livestock-wildlife interface. The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge about the ESβLs E. coli strains carried by wild boars living in a particularly high-density area of Northern Italy. The analysis of 60 animals allowed to isolate 16 ESβL-producing E. coli strains (prevalence 23.3%), which were characterised from a phenotypical and molecular point of view. The overall analysis revealed that the 16 isolates were all not only ESβL producers but also multidrug resistant and carried different types of plasmid replicons. The genome analysis performed on a subset of isolates confirmed the heterogeneity observed with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and highlighted the presence of two pandemic sequence types, ST131 and ST10, with different collections of virulence factors. The genomic context of ESβL genes further evidenced that all of them were surrounded by transposons and insertion sequences, suggesting the possibility to exchange AMR genes. Overall, this study shows the worrying dissemination of ESβL-producing E. coli in wild boars in Northern Italy, suggesting the role of these animals as a spreader of AMR and their inclusion in surveillance programmes, to shed light on the "One Health" complex interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process DENTIS RECYCLING ITALY (EU register number RECYC214), which uses the Starlinger PET direct iV+ technology. The input is hot caustic washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes mainly originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, with no more than 5% PET from non-food consumer applications. The flakes are extruded to pellets, which are then crystallised, preheated and treated in a solid-state polycondensation (SSP) reactor. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the three steps, extrusion, crystallisation and SSP, are critical in determining the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the performance of these critical steps are temperature, gas flow, pressure and residence time. The challenge test demonstrated that this recycling process is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is below the conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process is not of safety concern, when used at up to 100% for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs for long-term storage at room temperature, with or without hotfill. The final articles made of this recycled PET are not intended to be used in microwave and conventional ovens and such uses are not covered by this evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The composition of the bacterial consortia of the smear Italian cheeses and their role on quality and safety is still poorly understood. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the bacterial communities present on the surface of five traditional Italian cheeses, Casera Valtellina, Scimudin, Formaggio di Fossa, Gorgonzola and Taleggio. DGGE analysis performed using total DNA obtained from cheese surfaces enabled us to identify the dominant bacterial populations. Bands showing different intensity and identified as Staphylococcus, Micrococcus, Psychrobacter, Enterococcus and Brevibacterium species were detected on the surface of cheeses. The cluster analysis showed that Gorgonzola, Taleggio and Formaggio di Fossa cheeses present high similarity in their surface bacterial composition while major differences in the DGGE profiles were observed in Scimudin and Casera. The molecular taxonomical identification among the Gram positive isolates, reveals the presence of the following bacterial genera: Staphylococcus, Micrococcus, Macrococcus, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Carnobacterium, Leuconostoc, Brevibacterium, Corynebacterium, Brochothrix, Bacillus. The combination of culture dependent and independent techniques allowed us to obtain information about the bacterial species covering the surface of five different traditional Italian cheeses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Artisanal and industrial sausages were analyzed for their aerobic, heat-resistant microflora to assess whether new emerging pathogens could be present among Bacillus strains naturally contaminating cured meat products. Sixty-four isolates were characterized by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR and fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism (fAFLP). The biotypes, identified by partial 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, belonged to Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus pumilus, and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens species. Both RAPD-PCR and fAFLP analyses demonstrated that a high genetic heterogeneity is present in the B. subtilis group even in strains harvested from the same source, making it possible to isolate 56 different biotypes. Moreover, fAFLP analysis made it possible to distinguish B. subtilis from B. pumilus strains. The strains were characterized for their toxigenic potential by molecular, physiological, and immunological techniques. Specific PCR analyses revealed the absence of DNA sequences related to HBL, BcET, NHE, and entFM Bacillus cereus enterotoxins and the enzymes sphingomyelinase Sph and phospholipase PI-PLC in all strains; also, the immunological analyses showed that Bacillus strains did not react with NHE- and HBL-specific antibodies. However, some isolates were found to be positive for hemolytic and lecithinase activity. The absence of toxigenic potential in Bacillus strains from the sausages analyzed indicates that these products can be considered safe under the processing conditions they were produced; however, great care should be taken when the ripening time is shortened, particularly in the case of traditional sausages, which could contain high amounts of Bacillus strains and possibly some B. cereus cells.