Search

The effects of two preparation methods, two packaging materials, and modified atmosphere condition, on the bacteriological quality and safety of precooked lasagna, were studied. Microbiological analyses focused on Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, spores of sulphite-reducing clostridia, and on mesophilic and psychrotrophic aerobic bacteria, total coliforms and lactic acid bacteria. In total, 81 samples were examined, for up to 28 days. No pathogenic microorganisms were detected. After 28 days, spoilage-hygiene markers levels were non-compliant to reference standards. In conclusion, lasagna prepared with hot method in polyethylene packages were acceptable for up to 21 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School catering services are characterized by a significant level of inefficiency regarding the food processed but not consumed during meals. This work analyses the meal supply in primary schools in Italy in order to highlight new areas of inefficiency upstream of the food chain. A lack of conformity of food portions with nutritional guidelines can potentially lead to a double negative externality: overweight children and food waste. Data were collected between April and June 2017 from the municipality website of each regional capital (RC) of the 20 Italian regions. From the tendering process for primary school meal provision, data on the portions (in grams) of the most representative food categories were extracted and classified. To evaluate the degree of homogeneity amongst different regions, the average, minimum and maximum values, standard deviations and relative standard deviations of each individual food category were estimated. To verify the adherence to nutritional recommendations, ANOVA was performed for multiple comparisons combined with Duncan's multiple range test, with significance set at a p value < 0.05. The specific benchmarks for the evaluation of meal portion sizes were calculated based on the National Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intake Levels. The results (Table 1) show a great variability of food portions amongst the RCs analyzed. Food categories with highest relative standard deviations values were cooked and raw vegetables (0.29 and 0.35 respectively) that indicate great levels of heterogeneity in food portions amongst Italian regions. Conversely, pasta and rice portions were more uniform (0.10 and 0.13), although on average above than the recommended portion. The only food categories characterized by a smaller mean portion than recommended are fish, raw vegetables and cooked vegetables. The educational role of eating at school can contribute to raising children's awareness about one of the most urgent environmental challenges - food waste - by introducing the best strategies for waste reduction, reuse and recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines an evaluation card and a reference procedure used in Italy to test grading of meals supplied to school refectories by the Municipality of Milan, using children as the consumers. Factors that may affect hedonic rating of school meals by children; Problems associated with the testing of school meals by children; Requirements for sensory evaluation with children.

BC is a nutraceutical that can modulate intestinal microbiota. This study investigates the effects of BC diet supplementation on luminal and mucosa-associated microbiota in the jejunum, caecum, and colon of rabbits. Twenty-one New Zealand White female rabbits were divided into three experimental groups ( n = 7) receiving a commercial feed (CTRL group) and the same diet supplemented with 2.5% and 5% BC (2.5% BC and 5% BC groups, respectively), from 35 (weaning) to 90 days of age (slaughtering). At slaughter, the digestive tract was removed from each animal, then both content and mucosa-associated microbiota of jejunum, caecum, and colon were collected and analysed by Next Generation 16SrRNA Gene Sequencing. Significant differences were found in the microbial composition of the three groups (i.e., beta-diversity: p < 0.01), especially in the caecum and colon of the 2.5% BC group. The relative abundance analysis showed that the families most affected by the BC administration were Clostridia UCG-014, Barnesiellaceae, and Eggerthellaceae. A trend was also found for Lachnospiraceae, Akkermansiaceae, and Bacteroidaceae. A functional prediction has revealed several altered pathways in BC groups, with particular reference to amino acids and lactose metabolism. Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratio decreased in caecum luminal samples of the 2.5% BC group. These findings suggest that BC supplementation could positively affect the intestinal microbiota. However, further research is needed to establish the optimal administration dose.

Even though SARS-CoV-2's primary transmission pathway is person-to-person, the role played by surfaces and food contact materials in carrying viral RNA should be further explored. For this purpose, the study aimed to investigate the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 using the strain ATCC® VR-1986HK™ on flow pack polyethylene (FPP) and polystyrene food trays (PFT). Samples of FPP and PFT were contaminated with heat-inactivated SARS-CoV-2 and were incubated at a temperature of 24 ± 1 °C and at controlled relative humidity (RH 65%). The experimental design included analyses at the time 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and after every 24 h until the viral RNA was no longer detectable. The results showed a significant decrease ( P  < 0.001) in viral copy numbers on PFT within 3 h (24% reduction) and, at 72 h, the viral RNA had fallen below the limit of detection. Regarding the FPP, it was necessary to wait 24 h for a significant decrease ( P  = 0.015) in the viral load (14% reduction), while the detection threshold was reached at 96 h. These findings showed that the viral RNA persists longer on flow pack polyethylene samples than on polystyrene food trays, thus highlighting the importance of material characteristics in the persistence of SARS-CoV-2., Competing Interests: All authors declare no competing interests., (© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) contain one or more carbon-bound hydrogens substituted by fluorine. Since the 1950s, these compounds have been used to manufacture fat- and water-resistant fabrics, paper and food containers, and to produce photographic films, firefighting foams, detergents and insecticides. The widespread use and global distribution of PFASs, have led to their accumulation in the environment. Food, particularly fish and other seafood, is considered the main route of human exposure to PFASs. Consequently, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommends that more data be collected, to build a database on the contamination levels of the individual PFASs in food, to evaluate a reliable chronic risk to the European consumers. This requires high-sensitivity analytical methods, to increase the number of quantifiable samples and, thereby, improve the credibility of exposure assessments. In this context, the aim of the present research is to develop and validate a sensitive and specific method based on high-performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS) analysis, to monitor the presence of 16 PFASs in Italian eels (Anguilla anguilla) from the Italian Lake Garda. The detection limits (CCα) and detection capability (CCβ) in the order of pg g -1 , the recoveries between 80 and 101% and the other validation parameters fulfilled the requirements of Commission Decision 657/2002/EC. The identification and quantification of PFASs, up to 11 in the same sample, showed a similar distribution among 90 eels. Perfluorooctane sulphonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) were the analytes more frequently found in the eel samples (94 and 82%, respectively)., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Italy, with a cultivated area of 218,000 ha, is a European leader of rice production. In particular Lombardy region accounts for 40% of total rice cultivation and the case study in object accounts for 3.2% of Lombardy total rice area (2773 ha). Starting from 2012, through a regional project titled Buono, Sano e Vicino (good, healthy and close), Riso e Rane rural district supported local rice farmers in developing innovation in rice production and promoting an alternative supply chain to increase farmers bargaining power and promote new market strategies. More specifically, the innovation introduced is a new biotech method for variety certification, named DNA controllato (DNA tested). In the first step of the project, the attention was focused on an Italian traditional variety of rice: Carnaroli rice. Thanks to a commercial agreement with one of the most important large retailers in Lombardy, the Riso e Rane rice is offered for sale both in the traditional and wholegrain version. In this context, this work aims to evaluate the determinants of consumer's quality perception of this product, through a preference study of the commercial rice package. Preliminary results reveal that consumers perceive information about origin, local food-system and tradition more easily than DNA tested certification. In conclusion, this work contributes to evaluate the role of bio economy applications to the food sector and offers new insights for the debate about the relationships between tradition and innovation.

Purpose: Over the last decades, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in elementary school children has steadily increased worldwide. This phenomenon is also linked to food habits. The main purpose of our study was to understand the role that environmental factors may play in this context; in particular, we investigated how and to what extent family food habits and children lifestyle are associated with the spread of children obesity., Methods: One hundred and nine primary schools, with 6-11-year-old children (n = 14,500), were recruited for this cross-sectional study in Milan (Italy). Children anthropometric data were measured and reported by parents; citizenship, fruit and vegetable consumption data of both parents and children were collected. Time spent watching television and doing physical activity was also investigated in children., Results: The study revealed that children's vegetable (not fruit) consumption was positively associated with physical activity, while negatively associated with time watching TV; in particular, fewer hours spent watching television were a stronger protective factor than more hours spent doing physical activity. Moreover, the parental feeding style was associated with children's attitudes toward consumption of fruit and vegetable. Family characteristics (family size and level of parents' education) and children gender were associated to the risk of being overweight/obese., Conclusions: Our findings support the relevance of environmental factors in childhood food consumption and BMI distribution among children in an urban city. This is the reason why we stress the need to design ad hoc interventions, which should be developed in accordance with the socio-economic peculiarities of a cosmopolitan city suburb.

Most of the acute intestinal diseases are caused by foodborne pathogens with infants and elderly people being at major risk. The aim of this study was to develop a procedure to simultaneously detect 20 foodborne pathogens in complex alimentary matrices such as milk, cheese and meat. The list of targets include, among the others, Listeria spp., Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Escherichia coli spp., Campylobacter spp., Clostridium spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. The accuracy of detection was determined by using ATCC strains as positive and negative controls. The achieved sensitivity of each of assays was 1 pg of genomic DNA, which was equivalent to ∼1 cfu. The working ranges of the TaqMan(®) Real-time PCR assays, when used quantitatively on cheese and meat samples inoculated with serial dilution of Listeria spp., Listeria monocytogenes, S. aureus, Salmonella enterica, Shigella boydii, E. coli O157:H7, Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter coli, Yersinia enterocolitica, Enterobacter sakazakii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 10(8) cfu/g to 10(4) cfu/g. No matrix interferences were observed., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Aims: The study aims to assess the prevalence of obesity, overweight and underweight in children enrolled in government primary schools (6-11 years of age) in the city of Milan, Italy., Methods: One hundred and nine schools were randomly selected for the study. A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and June 2008. A survey was conducted using 16,588 questionnaires completed by parents. Anthropometric data (reported) of both parents and children and information on levels of physical activity and time children spent watching television (TV) were obtained., Results: In the total sample, parents are predominantly (75.0 %) of normal weight (M: 55.2 %; F: 79.1 %), 16.8 % are overweight (M: 36.9 %; F: 12.6 %), 4.0 % are obese (M: 6.6 %; F: 3.5 %) and 4.2 % are underweight (M: 1.3 %; F: 4.8 %). Among children, 68.7 % are of normal weight (M: 68.2 %; F: 69.2 %), 14.7 % are overweight (M: 15.3 %; F: 14.2 %), 4 % are obese (M: 4.5 %; F: 3.4 %), 11.8 % are underweight (M: 11.2 %; F: 12.5 %) and 0.8 % are severely thin (M: 0.9 %; F: 0.7 %). Children practice physical activity once or twice/week (48.3 %), three to four times/week (38.9 %) or five to seven times/week (8.9 %), while 3.9 % of children do not do any exercise. Most children (85.3 %) watch TV from 30 min to 2 h/day., Conclusion: Contrary to the reported national average, the study shows the presence of only moderate levels of above-average weight and obesity among children. However, it remains important to monitor this phenomenon to raise awareness and to design programs of prevention throughout the country.

An investigation was carried out into the recovery from calf faeces of Bacillus coagulans spores added to the feed as probiotic. For this purpose, Bacillus coagulans spores (9 log₁₀ CFU g⁻¹) were given daily to 10 calves during the whole farming periods; another 10 calves acted as controls. Throughout the trial the faecal spore counts were significantly (P < 0.01) higher in the treated group than in the controls (averaging 2.1 x 10⁵ vs 3.7 x 10⁴ CFU g⁻¹). Bacterial cells were recovered from faecal samples and ribotyping matched the strain isolated from faecal sample to the clone administered to the animals. In addition, the recovered cells were found to maintain their functionality aspects of acid production, survival in artificial gastric juice and in the presence of bile, and attachment to human intestinal epithelial cells. The results further elucidate the fate of spore formers administered to calves, and this will help in the development of new species-specific nutritional strategies.