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The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Disgust Scale-Revised (DS-R) in a large community sample in Italy. Participants (845 Italians, aged 20–46; 50.1% women) completed a battery of self-report questionnaires: the DS-R, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Big Five Observer, and the Padua Inventory. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a six-factor dimensionality of the DS-R in the Italian population. The six-factor structure was partially scalar invariant across gender groups. The data provided some evidence of the scale's reliability for the sample. Correlations of the DS-R score with the assessed personality dimensions were consistent with the disgust literature. The six-factor dimensionality of the Italian version of the DS-R included the Animal reminder factor, which has also been found in other cultures. The second factor, which we named "Contamination by food," only partially overlapped the Contamination factor of previous samples. The four remaining factors seemed to assess distinct facets of the Core disgust factor. This also emerged in previous studies. For these four, there was only a partial overlap between the Italian and other populations, suggesting the relevance of cultural differences in the assessment of disgust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manteca is a traditional milk product of southern Italy produced from whey deriving from Caciocavallo Podolico cheese-making. This study was undertaken to obtain more information about the microbiological properties of this product and particularly about the presence, metabolic activities, and technological significance of the different yeast species naturally occurring in Manteca. High numbers of yeasts were counted after 7 days ripening (104–105 cfu g−1) and then decreased to 102 at the end. A total of 179 isolates were identified and studied for their phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. The most frequently encountered species were Trichosporon asahii (45), Candida parapsilosis (33), Rhodotorula mucilaginosa (32), Candida inconspicua (29). Some of these yeasts showed lipolytic activity (32 strains) and proteolytic activity (29 strains), NaCl resistance up to 10% and growth up to 45°C (42 strains). Biogenic amines were formed by proteolytic strains, in particular phenylethylamine, putrescine and spermidine. Spermidine was produced by all the yeasts tested in this work, but only Trichosporon produced a great quantity of this compound. Histamine was not detectable. Caseinolytic activity was common to almost all strains, corresponding to the ability to efficiently split off amino-terminal amino acids. The highest and most constant activity expressed by all species was X-prolyl-dipeptidyl aminopeptidase. The findings suggest that the presence of yeasts may play a significant role in justifying interactions with lactic acid bacteria, and consequently with their metabolic activity in the definition of the peculiar characteristics of Manteca cheese. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Biologically appropriate raw food (BARF) diet is becoming more and more popular among pet owners in Europe. However, there are documented microbiological risks associated with raw feeding, and this study aimed to determine the presence of human pathogens in commercially frozen BARF products sold in Italy., Methods: Salmonella species, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter species were identified. The general microbiological quality of BARF products and hygiene were also evaluated. Sample size was limited and therefore the study may not be representative of a larger sample., Results: None of the tested samples showed total bacterial count (TBC) higher than the limit set to consider a sample unacceptable. However, 14 out of 21 samples showed TBC higher than the limit set to consider a sample marginally acceptable. A high percentage of samples were contaminated by the aforementioned pathogens, highlighting the need for pet owners to be aware of the risks of this feeding strategy both to themselves and to their pets., Conclusions: Considering that BARF diet meals can be prepared at home using the hands, as well as tools and spaces that could be shared, guidelines on safer handling of these pet food products should be recommended by veterinarians and nutritionists., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© British Veterinary Association 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Caciotta is the name used to define a type of Italian semi-hard cheese Caciotta-type cheese. Due to the short ripening time, pasteurization is necessary to eliminate the potential pathogenic bacteria, which may be present in raw milk, causing also the reduction of ripened cheese flavor. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of a selected wild Lactobacillus paracasei strain experimentally used as adjunct culture to enhance the flavour formation in a short-ripened caciotta-type cheese. An integrated polyphasic approach was used to compare the experimental and control Caciotta produced in a company located in Emilia Romagna region (Italy). It was demonstrated how the L. paracasei 4341 was able to develop in curd and cheese interacting with the acidifying commercial starter. The main acidifying starter species, were differently affected by the presence of the adjunct culture. Streptococcus thermophilus shown comparable behavior in all cheese-making step of control and experimental Caciotta, while Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp bulgaricus, growth was slowed down by the presence of the adjunct culture during the whole ripening time. The higher amount of volatile compounds and organic acids due to the adjunct L. paracasei 4341 lead to a clear differentiation of the experimental Caciotta respect to the control, in terms of aromatic profile, color, texture and sensorial perception., 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 © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Mozzarella (M), Grana Padano (GP) and Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) are three of the most important traditional Italian cheeses. In the three cheese manufactures the initial fermentation is carried out by adding natural whey cultures (NWCs) according to a back-slopping procedure. In this study, NWCs and the corresponding curds from M, GP and PR manufactures were analyzed by culture-independent pyrosequencing of the amplified V1-V3 regions of the 16S rRNA gene, in order to provide insights into the microbiota involved in the curd acidification. Moreover, culture-independent high-throughput sequencing of lacS gene amplicons was carried out to evaluate the biodiversity occurring within the S. thermophilus species. Beta diversity analysis showed a species-based differentiation between GP-PR and M manufactures indicating differences between the preparations. Nevertheless, all the samples shared a naturally-selected core microbiome, that is involved in the curd acidification. Type-level variability within S. thermophilus species was also found and twenty-eight lacS gene sequence types were identified. Although lacS gene did not prove variable enough within S. thermophilus species to be used for quantitative biotype monitoring, the possibility of using non rRNA targets for quantitative biotype identification in food was highlighted.

One hundred forty-one lactobacilli strains isolated from natural whey starter cultures and ripened Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses were tested for their susceptibility to 13 antibiotics, in particular, penicillin G, ampicillin, amoxicillin, oxacillin, cephalotin, cefuroxime, vancomycin, gentamicin, tetracycline, erythromycin, clindamycin, co-trimoxazole, and nitrofurantoin. The strains belonged to the species Lactobacillus helveticus, L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis, L. rhamnosus, and L. casei. The strains of the first two species were isolated from whey starter cultures, and the strains of the last two species were from the ripened cheeses. Significant differences among the strains in their antibiotic resistance were found in relation to the type of cheese and, especially, the strains from Parmigiano Reggiano were more resistant to gentamicin and penicillin G. The strains isolated in the ripened cheese were generally more resistant than those isolated from natural whey starter cultures; in particular, significant differences regarding oxacillin, vancomycin, cephalotin, and co-trimoxazole were observed. Finally, no significant difference in relation to the type of cheese was found among the thermophilic lactobacilli isolated from whey cultures, while the facultatively heterofermentative lactobacilli isolated from Parmigiano Reggiano showed higher resistance toward gentamicin and penicillin G than did the same species isolated from Grana Padano.