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Among 24 foodborne parasites ranked by FAO/WHO, 15 are associated with food of non-animal origin (FoNAO). Control of these hazards is essential for food safety. Control measures to inactivate parasites in FoNAO are reviewed. Preventing contamination is key to ensuring the safety of fresh produce. However, additional control measures can further reduce the likelihood of occurrence of infectious parasites in FoNAO. Key Findings and Conclusions: The efficacy of treatments depends on parasite species, developmental stage, matrix, and application conditions. Conventional pasteurization (72 °C; 15 s) inactivates parasites in most matrices, although some parasites are more heat resistant, and this may be an inappropriate method for many FoNAO that are intended for eating fresh and raw. Freezing at −20 °C for 2 days inactivates most, but not all, parasites, and some are highly resistant to freezing. Parasites generally survive chemical disinfection, making its application at effective doses often unsuitable at an industrial scale. Ozone and chlorine dioxide are the most promising in terms of efficacy and dosage, nevertheless challenges remain in their application especially for the most fragile produce. High-pressure processing is an efficient technology, providing good inactivation of parasites. Further research should focus on standardizing experimental approaches for evaluation of inactivation techniques and development of methods to measure parasite inactivation in food matrices. • Various parasites can be transmitted to people via foods of non-animal origin (FoNAO). • Potential methods for inactivation of transmission stages in FoNAO are reviewed. • Thermal methods may not be appropriate for FoNAO; some parasites survive freezing. • Chemical methods have mostly been characterised in simple matrices rather than food. • Standardised evaluation methods are lacking, making comparisons difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective packaging solutions are pivotal in addressing sustainability challenges associated with food consumption. Sustainable packaging must not only reduce ecological impact but also ensure food quality preservation, minimize the risk of foodborne diseases, and contribute to mitigating the accumulation of plastic waste. While paper-based food packaging is environmentally friendly, it is susceptible to mold growth when exposed to specific humidity and temperatures, potentially leading to spoilage and safety concerns. This study introduces an innovative modeling approach employing survival analysis to estimate time to visible mold growth on paper-based materials used in food-contact packaging under varying environmental conditions. The objective is to establish an alternative statistical framework for assessing the impact of relative humidity and temperature on mold proliferation. This approach is particularly relevant to novel sustainable packaging materials in the food industry, especially when dealing with censored data. Survival heatmaps are developed to simplify the visualization of spoilage likelihood, measured by time to visible growth at a given confidence level. Although the survival model is proposed for paper-based materials, there are no theoretical limitations to its extension for use with other materials within and beyond the food industry. • Proposed survival heatmaps to simplify spoilage likelihood visualization. • Investigated spoilage characteristics of novel paper-based packaging. • Addressed challenges of censored data in mold growth modeling. • Proposed a conservative predictive model to assess spoilage timelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their acidic pH, carbonated beverages can be contaminated by spoilage microorganisms. Thermal treatments, before and/or after carbonation, are usually applied to prevent the growth of these microorganisms. However, the impact of CO 2 on the heat resistance of spoilage microorganisms has never been studied. A better understanding of the combined impact of CO 2 and pH on the heat resistance of spoilage microorganisms commonly found in carbonated beverages might allow to optimize thermal treatment. Five microorganisms were selected for this study: Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris (spores), Aspergillus niger (spores), Byssochlamys fulva (spores), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (vegetative cells), and Zygosaccharomyces parabailii (vegetative cells). A method was developed to assess the impact of heat treatments in carbonated media on microbial resistance. The heat resistances of the five studied species are coherent with the literature, when data were available. However, neither the dissolved CO 2 concentration (from 0 to 7 g/L), nor the pH (from 2.8 to 4.1) have an impact on the heat resistance of the selected microorganisms, except for As. niger , for which the presence of dissolved CO 2 reduced the heat resistance. This study improved our knowledge about the heat resistance of some spoilage microorganisms in presence of CO 2. • A new method was developed to assess the impact of CO 2 on heat resistance. • Only thermal resistance of Aspergillus niger is affected by CO 2 addition. • No impact of pH (between pH 2.8 and 4.1) on heat resistance was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]