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Foodstuffs
Selected AbstractsCredible Commitment in Non-Independent Regulatory Agencies: A Comparative Analysis of the European Agencies for Pharmaceuticals and FoodstuffsEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 5 2004Sebastian Krapohl Usually, these agencies evolve from EU committees and take over most of their structures. Accordingly, like most EU committees and the Commission, regulatory agencies are not independent, but act under the control of the member states. The question is, how far do they indicate a credible commitment of the Member States to long-term policy goals like health and consumer protection. This article compares the institutional structures and decision-making rules of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products and of the newly established European Food Safety Authority, in order to clarify the extent of credible commitment that the Member States show through the setting-up of these agencies. It concludes that the commitment of the Member States in the foodstuff sector is not as deep as in the pharmaceutical sector, and that the creation of the European Food Safety Authority will not lead to a success story similar to that of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products. [source] Risk Regulation in the Single Market: The Governance of Pharmaceuticals and Foodstuffs in the European Union , By S. KrapohlJCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 4 2009CEYHUN ELCI No abstract is available for this article. [source] Importance of a canteen lunch on the dietary intake of acrylamideMOLECULAR NUTRITION & FOOD RESEARCH (FORMERLY NAHRUNG/FOOD), Issue 5 2007Frédéric Mestdagh Abstract A food and drink intake survey was carried out among university students and staff members. Consumption data were collected on days when the participants took hot lunch in a university canteen. The dietary acrylamide exposure was calculated through a probabilistic approach and revealed a median intake of 0.40 ,g/kg bw/day [90% confidence interval: 0.36,0.44], which is in accordance with previous exposure calculations. Biscuits (35.4%), French fries (29.9%), bread (23.5%), and chocolate (11.2%) were identified to be the main sources of dietary acrylamide. Foodstuffs consumed in between the three main meals of the day (so called snack type foods) contributed the most to the intake (42.2%). The exposure was lower in an intervention group which received free portions of fruit and vegetables, indicating that a nutritionally balanced diet may contribute to a decreased acrylamide intake. French fries had a significant impact on the acrylamide intake, due to the frequent consumption in the canteen. This demonstrates the important responsibility of caterers and canteen kitchens in the mitigation of acrylamide exposure through reduction of acrylamide in their prepared products, in particular in French fries. [source] Toxicological Assessment of Furocoumarins in FoodstuffsMOLECULAR NUTRITION & FOOD RESEARCH (FORMERLY NAHRUNG/FOOD), Issue 3 2007Gerhard Eisenbrand [source] ChemInform Abstract: Medicinal Foodstuffs.CHEMINFORM, Issue 48 2001Part 24. Abstract ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a "Full Text" option. The original article is trackable via the "References" option. [source] Comparative mechanisms of zearalenone and ochratoxin A toxicities on cultured HepG2 cells: Is oxidative stress a common process?ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY, Issue 6 2009Emna El Golli Bennour Abstract Zearalenone (ZEN) and Ochratoxin A (OTA) are structurally diverse fungal metabolites that can contaminate feed and foodstuff and can cause serious health problems for animals as well as for humans. In this study, we get further insight of the molecular aspects of ZEN and OTA toxicities in cultured human HepG2 hepatocytes. In this context, we have monitored the effects of ZEN and OTA on (i) cell viability, (ii) heat shock protein (Hsp) 70 and Hsp 27 gene expressions as a parameter of protective and adaptive response, (iii) oxidative damage, and (iv) cell death pathways. Our results clearly showed that both ZEN and OTA inhibit cell proliferation. For ZEN, a significant induction of Hsp 70 and Hsp 27 was observed. In the same conditions, ZEN generated an important amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Antioxidant supplements restored the major part of cell mortality induced by ZEN. However, OTA treatment downregulated Hsp 70 and Hsp 27 protein and mRNA levels and did not induce ROS generation. Antioxidant supplements did not have a significant effect on OTA-induced cell mortality. Using another cell system (Vero monkey kidney cells), we demonstrated that OTA downregulates three members of HSP 70 family: Hsp 70, Hsp 75, and Hsp 78. Our findings showed that oxidative damage seemed to be the predominant toxic effect for ZEN, while OTA toxicity seemed to be rather because of the absence of Hsps protective response. Furthermore, the two mycotoxins induced an apoptotic cell death. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2009. [source] Effect of the side chain size of 1-alkyl-pyrroles on antioxidant activity and ,Laba' garlic greeningINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 10 2008Dan Wang Summary Previous studies showed that 1-alkyl-pyrroles not only occur in fresh food products postulated as a natural antioxidant but also might be involved in garlic greening. In the present study, a series of 1-alkyl-pyrroles with different side chain size were synthesised to study the relationship of structure and antioxidative activity and their effects on ,Laba' garlic greening. The antioxidative activity of these compounds was evaluated by the method of scavenging ABTS, and DPPH,. Results showed that increasing the size of R groups on the side chain, the antioxidative activity decreased gradually against the two radicals. The 1-alkyl-pyrroles generally exhibited stronger scavenging activities against ABTS, than DPPH,. In contrast, their corresponding amino acids except for tyrosine showed almost no antioxidative activities while pyrrole exhibited much weaker activity as compared with the 1-alkyl-pyrroles, suggesting that the 1-alkyl-pyrroles donate H-atom from pyrrole moiety rather than side chain to quench the two radicals. On the other hand, all 1-alkyl-pyrroles can turn newly harvested garlic green but to a different extent. All these results suggested that these pyrrole derivatives occurring in foodstuff played an important role in either protecting foodstuff from oxidation or acting on pigment precursors during ,Laba' garlic greening. [source] Classification of leaf imagesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMAGING SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 1 2006Chia-Ling Lee Abstract There are tremendous content-based retrieval systems. Most of them are applied to general image databases. Some were proposed for specified databases such as texture databases, ancient paintings, document image databases, digital mammography, face image databases, etc. However, there are fewer for plant databases. Plants are used in various fields such as in foodstuff, medicine, and industry. Recently, plant is important for environment protection. On the other hand, the problem of plant destruction becomes worse in the few years. We should train people to know about plants, in turn, to treasure and protect them. In addition to the limited number of expert botanists, the convenient content-based retrieval system for plant is necessary and useful, since it can retrieve related information and knowledge from plant database for the query leaf so as to facilitate fast learning of plants. In this study, a leaf database is constructed and a classification method for leaves is proposed. Most approaches for leaf classification in literature used contour-based features. The proposed method tries to use region-based features. The reasons are that region-based features are more robust than contour-based features since significant curvature points are hard to find. Those features adopted include aspect ratio, compactness, centroid, and horizontal/vertical projections. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been demonstrated by various experiments. On the average, our method has the classification accuracy for 1-NN rule as 82.33% and the recall rate for 10 returned images as 48.2%, while the contour-based method has 37.6% and 21.7%, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 16, 15,23, 2006 [source] ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT FLORAL ORIGIN HONEYS FROM TURKIYEJOURNAL OF FOOD BIOCHEMISTRY, Issue 2010ESRA ULUSOY ABSTRACT The bioactivities of phenolic extracts of nine Turkish honeys from different floral sources were investigated. The antioxidant properties of the extracts were assessed by ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging activity and cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) assay. The total phenolic contents measured by Folin,Ciocalteau method varied from 66 to 223 mg/g extract as gallic acid equivalent. The antioxidant activities found with CUPRAC, expressed as trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, ranged from 124.8 to 532 µmol/g, those determined with DPPH· expressed as IC50 ranged from 84 to 296 µg/mL, and those determined with FRAP expressed as trolox equivalent were in 33,166 µmol/g range. The antioxidant activities showed a marked correlation with total phenolics. In the antimicrobial tests using six bacteria and a yeast, Escherichia coli was moderately sensitive to each extract. There was no correlation between antimicrobial activity and total phenolic contents. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Honey has functional properties and promotes human health, and such properties depend largely on the floral source. Although studies on screening the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of raw honey samples have been done densely, studies on phenolic compounds of honey are very limited. The present study demonstrates that honey phenolic compounds are partially responsible for honey antioxidant activity, displaying the relevance of honey as both healthy foodstuff and source of antioxidant. [source] Synthesis of deuterated herbicidal ZJ0273, ZJ0702, ZJ0777, and SIOC0163JOURNAL OF LABELLED COMPOUNDS AND RADIOPHARMACEUTICALS, Issue 4 2010Zheng-Min Yang Abstract ZJ0273 (propyl 4-(2-(4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yloxy)benzylamino)benzoate), ZJ0702 (isopropyl 4-(2-(4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yloxy)benzylamino)benzoate), ZJ0777 (2-bromo- N -(2-(4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yloxy)benzyl)aniline), and SIOC0163 (5-bromo- N -(2-(4,6-dimethoxypyrimidin-2-yloxy)benzyl)pyridin-2-amine) are active ingredients in oilseed rape herbicides. The middle aromatic ring-deuterated form of ZJ0273 was synthesized from (2H6)phenol and have been successfully used as tracer in its metabolism and degradation study. The methoxyl-deuterated forms of four ingredients were synthesized from (2H4)methanol, respectively, and they could be used as internal standards in quantitation of herbicide residue in rapeseed and its downstream foodstuff by using HPLC-MS/MS. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF COHESION AND ADHESION FOR SENSORY STICKINESS OF SEMISOLID FOODSJOURNAL OF TEXTURE STUDIES, Issue 6 2004B. DUNNEWIND ABSTRACT Sensory stickiness (sticky mouthfeel) was hypothesized to result from the viscoelastic and adhesive properties of a foodstuff. The objective of the present study was to investigate the relative importance of these two properties. Measurements consisted of compression , decompression cycles on a texture analyzer, with product, type of surface, the presence or absence of saliva and compression regime as variables. Products included commercial mayonnaises, custard desserts and warm sauces, varying in apparent viscosity (at shear rate of 10 s,1) between 0.3 and 18.3 Pa.s. Fairly good models were obtained, predicting sensory stickiness with R2 = 0.85,0.92. The predictive value of the mathematical models did not increase when the surface characteristics approached those of the human tongue (use of porcine lingual mucosa). Different surfaces or the use of saliva resulted in differences in the absolute values of the parameters, but their relative values when comparing different products did not change. The parameters appearing in the predictive models represented product characteristics only. The type of surface was not an important factor in determining differences in sensory stickiness between these samples. For the products used in this study, adhesion was large enough to prevent detachment of the sample from the surfaces, i.e., adhesion was not limiting. Variations in perceived stickiness could be explained with R2 = 0.86, based on only two product characteristics: consistency and ,long behavior' (the extent to which necking occurs during decompression). This was better than the correlation between sensory stickiness and apparent viscosity (R2 = 0.77),, confirming, the relevance of ,long behavior' for sensory stickiness. [source] Development of a bulgur-like product using extrusion cookingJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 7 2003Hamit Köksel Abstract In this study we (1) developed a new bulgur-like foodstuff using a durum wheat cultivar and an extrusion technique, (2) investigated the physicochemical properties of the extrudates produced and (3) sensorially evaluated the end-product after cooking. Durum wheat was processed in a laboratory-scale co-rotating twin-screw extruder with different levels of moisture content of the feed (367, 417 and 455,g,kg,1), screw speed (150 and 200,rpm) and feed rate (2.4 and 2.9,kg,h,1) to develop the bulgur-like product. The effects of extrusion conditions on system variables (die pressure and specific mechanical energy (SME)), physical properties (die swell and bulk density), pasting properties (peak, trough and final viscosities) and cooking and sensory properties of the bulgur-like products were determined. The results indicated that increased feed moisture content resulted in significant decreases in the die pressure and SME values of the extruded durum wheat products. As the moisture content and screw speed increased, the changes in die swell values were not significant. The lowest die swell and highest bulk density values were obtained at the highest feed moisture content. The extrusion variables also affected the pasting properties of the extrudates. Significant increases in each of the pasting properties occurred when the moisture content of the feed was increased. Some of the sensory properties (bulkiness, firmness, stickiness and taste,aroma) improved significantly as the feed moisture content increased, indicating better quality. Increased feed moisture content significantly improved cooking quality as determined by a decrease in colorimetric test results. Extrusion seems to be promising for the production of dry, relatively inexpensive bulgur-like products with acceptable sensory properties. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry [source] The Symbolic Function of Food as Iconic Representation of Culture and Spirituality in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival (ca 1205)ORBIS LITERARUM, Issue 4 2007Dr Albrecht Classen As recent cultural-historical studies have demonstrated, a careful analysis of food preparation and consumption can reveal much about a specific culture or society. Moreover, as this paper argues, a focus on a protagonist's attitude toward and reflection of foodstuff and meals can shed important light on his/her intellectual, cultural, and spiritual development. To test this thesis, this paper investigates how Parzival in Wolfram von Eschenbach's eponymous romance operates with food, how he performs in courtly society during banquets, and how his growing education and maturation is demonstrated through his changing behavior with regard to food at large. We can draw the significant conclusion that the growth of this hero is powerfully reflected through his relationship with food. [source] Nutritional Value of Cassava for Use as a Staple Food and Recent Advances for ImprovementCOMPREHENSIVE REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND FOOD SAFETY, Issue 3 2009Julie A. Montagnac ABSTRACT:, Cassava is a drought-tolerant, staple food crop grown in tropical and subtropical areas where many people are afflicted with undernutrition, making it a potentially valuable food source for developing countries. Cassava roots are a good source of energy while the leaves provide protein, vitamins, and minerals. However, cassava roots and leaves are deficient in sulfur-containing amino acids (methionine and cysteine) and some nutrients are not optimally distributed within the plant. Cassava also contains antinutrients that can have either positive or adverse effects on health depending upon the amount ingested. Although some of these compounds act as antioxidants and anticarcinogens, they can interfere with nutrient absorption and utilization and may have toxic side effects. Efforts to add nutritional value to cassava (biofortification) by increasing the contents of protein, minerals, starch, and ,-carotene are underway. The transfer of a 284 bp synthetic gene coding for a storage protein rich in essential amino acids and the crossbreeding of wild-type cassava varieties with Manihot dichotoma or Manihot oligantha have shown promising results regarding cassava protein content. Enhancing ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase activity in cassava roots or adding amylase to cassava gruels increases cassava energy density. Moreover, carotenoid-rich yellow and orange cassava may be a foodstuff for delivering provitamin A to vitamin A,depleted populations. Researchers are currently investigating the effects of cassava processing techniques on carotenoid stability and isomerization, as well as the vitamin A value of different varieties of cassava. Biofortified cassava could alleviate some aspects of food insecurity in developing countries if widely adopted. [source] Coping Strategies Developed as a Result of Social Structure and Conflict: Kosovo in the 1990sDISASTERS, Issue 2 2000Kate Ogden The end of 1989 brought with it political and economic decisions which resulted in Kosovo being stripped of its autonomy and the Albanian population being expelled from their jobs. These facts combined with ethnic tensions created a decade of conflict and oppression affecting hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Thousands of Kosovars moved overseas to seek work to support families at home, altering the way of life of the population of Kosovo irredeemably. The loss of income had serious repercussions on food security throughout the 1990s; possibilities of purchasing food were diminished, control on goods in 1998 reduced availability of foodstuffs, conflict affected accessibility to markets and shops and consequently food intake and nutritional status was compromised. The most vulnerable were those who had no family members overseas. Mass displacement of population due to ethnic cleansing during the war of spring 1999, further jeopardised food security status. Destruction at this time rendered large parts of Kosovo useless and resulted in a shift in the determinant of vulnerability in the post-war period: destruction of houses, land, livestock and agricultural products as well as loss of family members, became a far more pertinent indicator of food insecurity. The strong and clear links between conflict, socio-economic issues and food security are highlighted and discussed in this paper. [source] Subsistence and sales: the peasant economy of Württemberg in the early seventeenth centuryECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 2 2006PAUL WARDE This article examines the engagement of peasant cultivators with the grain market in Germany in the seventeenth century. It demonstrates a differentiated propensity to sell in regard to different grains; a preference among cultivators for retaining subsistence foodstuffs; the importance of payment in kind in the labour market; and the lack of a clear-cut social structural divide between grain sellers and buyers among those who cultivate arable land. It is thus argued that the analytical concept of ,the peasant' retains its use in understanding this society, but that attitudes displayed by the peasantry to ,the market' must be clearly set in the context of the specific product markets and practices to retain any analytical value. [source] Cover Picture: Electrophoresis 13'2010ELECTROPHORESIS, Issue 13 2010Article first published online: 30 JUN 2010 Issue no. 13 is a special issue on "Food and Beverage Analysis" comprising 23 contributions distributed over four distinct parts. Part I "presents six review papers, five of them are focused on the use of capillary electromigration techniques for detecting enantiomers, nucleosides, nucleotides, pesticides and contaminants in foods as well as foodborne pathogens". The sixth review deals with the application of two-dimensional electrophoresis to investigate food allergens. A series of original contributions on the use of CE, CEC and MEKC in the analysis of food constituents are grouped in Part II. Part III presents "Works on the detection of genetically modified foods by CGE and the analysis of antibiotics and antioxidants by microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography". Finally, Part IV is on the use of CE-MS to analyze endocrine disruptors and polyphenols in different food matrices, and on the speciation analysis of arsenic and selenium compounds in different foodstuffs by capillary electrophoresis-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. [source] Determination of iodine and bromine compounds in foodstuffs by CE-inductively coupled plasma MSELECTROPHORESIS, Issue 22 2007Jing-Huan Chen Abstract A CE-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (CE-ICP-MS) method for iodine and bromine speciation analysis is described. Samples containing ionic iodine (I, and IO3,) and bromine (Br, and BrO3,) species are subjected to electrophoretic separation before injection into the microconcentric nebulizer (CEI-100). The separation has been achieved in a 50,cm length×75,,m id fused-silica capillary. The electrophoretic buffer used is 10,mmol/L Tris (pH,8.0), while the applied voltage is set at ,8,kV. Detection limits are 1 and 20,50,ng/mL for various I and Br compounds, respectively, based on peak height. The RSD of the peak areas for seven injections of 0.1,,g/mL I,, IO3, and 1,,g/mL Br,, BrO3, mixture is in the range of 3,5%. This method has been applied to determine various iodine and bromine species in NIST SRM 1573a Tomato Leaves reference material and a salt and seaweed samples obtained locally. A microwave-assisted extraction method is used for the extraction of these compounds. Over 87% of the total iodine and 83% of the total bromine are extracted using a 10% m/v tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution in a focused microwave field within a period of 10,min. The spike recoveries are in the range of 94,105% for all the determinations. The major species of iodine and bromine in tomato leaves, salt, and seaweed are Br,, IO3,, I,, and Br,, respectively. [source] Activation of JNK and PAK2 is essential for citrinin-induced apoptosis in a human osteoblast cell lineENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Yu-Ting Huang Abstract The mycotoxin citrinin (CTN), a natural contaminant in foodstuffs and animal feeds, exerts cytotoxic and genotoxic effects on various mammalian cells. CTN causes cell injury, including apoptosis. Previous studies by our group showed that CTN triggers apoptosis in mouse embryonic stem cells, as well as embryonic developmental injury. Here, we investigated the precise mechanisms governing this apoptotic effect in osteoblasts. CTN induced apoptotic biochemical changes in a human osteoblast cell line, including activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and caspase-3 and p21-activated protein kinase 2 (PAK2) activation. Experiments using a JNK-specific inhibitor, SP600125, and antisense oligonucleotides against JNK reduced CTN-induced activation of both JNK and caspase-3 in osteoblasts, indicating that JNK is required for caspase activation in this apoptotic pathway. Experiments using caspase-3 inhibitors and antisense oligonucleotides against PAK2 revealed that active caspase-3 is essential for PAK2 activation. Moreover, both caspase-3 and PAK2 require activation for CTN-induced apoptosis of osteoblasts. Interestingly, CTN stimulates two-stage activation of JNK in human osteoblasts. Early-stage JNK activation is solely ROS-dependent, whereas late-stage activation is dependent on ROS-mediated caspase activity, and regulated by caspase-induced activation of PAK2. On the basis of these results, we propose a signaling cascade model for CTN-induced apoptosis in human osteoblasts involving ROS, JNK, caspases, and PAK2. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2009. [source] Effects of insecticide exposure on feeding inhibition in mayflies and oligochaetesENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 8 2007Alexa C. Alexander Abstract The present study examined the effects of pulse exposures of the insecticide imidacloprid on the mayfly, Epeorus longimanus Eaton (Family Heptageniidae), and on an aquatic oligochaete, Lumbriculus variegatus Müller (Family Lumbriculidae). Pulse exposures of imidacloprid are particularly relevant for examination, because this insecticide is relatively soluble (510 mg/L) and is most likely to be at effect concentrations during runoff events. Experiments examined the recovery of organisms after a 24-h pulse exposure to imidacloprid over an environmentally realistic range of concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, and 10 ,g/L). Effects on feeding were measured by quantifying the algal biomass consumed by mayflies or foodstuffs egested by oligochaetes. Imidacloprid was highly toxic, with low 24-h median lethal concentrations (LC50s) in early mayfly instars (24-h LC50, 2.1 ± 0.8 ,g/L) and larger, later mayfly instars (24-h LC50, 2.1 ± 0.5 ,g/L; 96-h LC50, 0.65 ± 0.15 ,g/L). Short (24-h) pulses of imidacloprid in excess of 1 ,g/L caused feeding inhibition, whereas recovery (4 d) varied, depending on the number of days after contaminant exposure. In contrast to mayflies, oligochaetes were relatively insensitive to imidacloprid during the short (24-h) pulse; however, immobility of oligochaetes was observed during a 4-d, continuous-exposure experiment, with 96-h median effective concentrations of 6.2 ± 1.4 ,g/L. Overall, imidacloprid reduced the survivorship, feeding, and egestion of mayflies and oligochaetes at concentrations greater than 0.5 but less than 10 ,g/L. Inhibited feeding and egestion indicate physiological and behavioral responses to this insecticide. [source] Biomagnification and polychlorinated biphenyl congener distribution in an aquatic predator-prey, host-parasite systemENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 5 2007Maria E. Persson Abstract Biomagnification and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener distribution was examined in a predator-prey, hostparasite system, in which Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) preyed upon sprat (Sprattus sprattus). Eubothrium crassum was an intestinal parasite in salmon that also "preyed upon" sprat, because the parasites gained access to foodstuffs via the host (salmon) gut. Salmon contained significantly higher concentrations of total PCBs compared to both parasites and prey (sprat), but no difference in PCB concentration was found between sprat and E. crassum. Salmon biomagnified several PCB congeners from their diet (sprat), whereas parasites did not, despite the fact that both salmon and their parasites ingested the same prey. Differences in nutrient uptake mechanisms between the host and their parasites, in addition to the lack of a gastrointestinal tract in the cestode, may explain the lack of biomagnification in E. crassum. No difference was found in PCB congener distribution between parasites, salmon, and sprat, and none of the animal types showed a preference for accumulating more or less lipophilic congeners (congeners with a high or low octanol/water partition coefficient [KOW]). Biomagnification factors for individual congeners in salmon did not increase with KOW; rather, they were constant, as shown by a linear relationship for congener concentration in prey and predator. [source] Cytochrome P450 2D6 and glutathione S-transferase M1 genotypes and migraineEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION, Issue 4 2000Mattsson Background Migraine is thought to be a disease of the brain and trigeminovascular system. Migraine patients often claim that stress, food, and beverages trigger their attacks. Chemical substances in these foodstuffs with the property of triggering migraine attacks have not yet been characterised. Cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) and glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1) are thought to be present in the brain. They metabolise numerous environmental compounds. The genes exhibit genetic polymorphism that is associated with altered enzyme activity. The aim of this study was to determine if the genotypes of these two enzymes are associated with migraine. Materials and methods The study included 100 female patients and 245 female controls from the general population. Genomic DNA was isolated from whole blood. Allele specific PCR methods were used to identify the normal CYP2D6*1 allele and the mutated CYP2D6*3 and CYP2D6*4 alleles. Initially all samples were genotyped only for GSTM1 plus (+) and GSTM1 null (,) variants. All samples positive for GSTM1 were further analysed for the presence of allelic variants GSTM1*A and GSTM1*B. Results None of the CYP2D6 and GSTM1 genotypes was associated with migraine. We observed an odds ratio (OR) for the poor metaboliser genotype of CYP2D6 of 1.4 (95% CI = 0.5,3.6) and for the GSTM1 null genotype of 1.0 (95% CI = 0.6,1.5). Conclusion The results of this study indicate that deficient metabolism because of mutated CYP2D6 alleles or GSTM1 allele variants is not important in the aetiology of migraine. [source] Thalidomide, BSE and the single market: An historical-institutionalist approach to regulatory regimes in the European UnionEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2007SEBASTIAN KRAPOHL In the last decade, the regulatory regime for pharmaceuticals has functioned without raising public concerns. The establishment of a European agency for pharmaceuticals in the early 1990s has been evaluated positively by both producers and consumers, and there have been no large scandals so far. At the same time, the food sector was subject to a whole range of crises, of which the BSE scandal was certainly the most significant one. In reaction to this, the regulatory regime for foodstuffs was reformed by setting up the European Food Safety Agency in 2002. This article adopts an historical-institutionalist approach, and thus tries to give an explanation for the striking differences between the two regulatory regimes. Accordingly, the development of supranational regulatory regimes is distinguished by two critical junctures: a crisis of consumer confidence and the establishment of a single market. It is crucial which of these occurred first. If a crisis of consumer confidence leads to the establishment of national regulatory authorities, these authorities act as stakeholders, which could be an obstacle for harmonization, but also ensures a necessary commitment to health and consumer protection once a single market is set up. If national regulatory authorities are missing, it might be easier to set up a single market, but a regulatory deficit is more likely to occur and, in case of a crisis, the whole regulatory regime has to be established at the supranational level. [source] Maximum Residue Limits of Veterinary Medicinal Products and Their Regulation in European Community LawEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 2 2003Robert Ancuceanu This paper proposes a legal analysis of a legal and empirical tool (maximum residue limits (MRLs)) designed to protect the consumers of animal foodstuffs, as it is regulated in European Community law. After introducing the concept of MRLs in its legal context, MRLs are defined and the need for harmonisation in this field is explained. Then the main rules governing the establishment of MRLs at a Europe-wide level are expounded, an important place being devoted to some problems occurred in the cases decided by the European Court of Justice: is it possible to establish an MRL only for certain therapeutic indications? What about the intention of placing on the market in the establishment of an MRL? Is the procedure for the establishment of MRLs a tight or lax one? The answer to some of these questions involves more general aspects of European Community law. [source] Survival of human enteric viruses in the environment and foodFEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, Issue 4 2004Artur Rze Abstract Human enteric pathogenic viruses can enter the environment through discharge of waste materials from infected persons, and be transmitted back to susceptible persons to continue the cycle of disease. Contamination of food with viruses may also promote disease outbreaks. A number of studies have investigated the survival characteristics of several enteric viruses in various environments and foodstuffs, to help explain the transmissibility of these pathogens. This review deals with published work on enteric virus survival on fomites, and in waters, soil, and foods; the results of these studies have illustrated the robust survival of viruses in these environments. Much information is lacking, however, especially for foodstuffs and soils, and no detailed information is available concerning the survival of noroviruses, the most significant foodborne type. [source] Coordination complexes of functionalized pyrazines with metal ions: reagents for the controlled release of flavourant molecules at elevated temperaturesFLAVOUR AND FRAGRANCE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2006Colin Baillie Abstract The potential for stabilization of volatile flavourant molecules such as functionalized pyrazines by coordination to metal ions, and the application of the resultant coordination complexes as controlled release agents at elevated temperatures were explored. New complexes containing the flavourant molecules 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (TMP), 2-ethyl-3-methylpyrazine (EMP) and 2-acetylpyrazine (ACP) with copper(II) and copper(I) salts were prepared and structurally characterized. Representative examples of known copper(II) and calcium(II) complexes containing pyrazine carboxylic acids were also prepared. The complexes were examined by thermal analysis techniques and demonstrated, by a combination of thermogravimetric (TGA) and pyrolysis GC,MS analyses, to act as convenient reagents for the release of the parent pyrazine at elevated temperatures. Thus, pyrolysis GC,MS revealed that the complex [Cu3Cl3(EMP)2]n cleanly releases EMP in 96.5% selectivity at 200 °C. Of particular significance is that the calcium complex [Ca(3-aminopyrazine-2-carboxylate)2·H2O], under ramped pyrolysis conditions, was shown to undergo decarboxylation prior to the release of 2-aminopyrazine (AMP), as essentially the only volatile component, in the temperature range 600,800 °C. This finding provides a precedent for the application of complexes of pyrazinecarboxylate salts with metal ions (of which an almost infinite number of combinations is potentially available) as controlled release agents of the parent pyrazine molecule at elevated temperatures, suitable for exploitation by the foodstuffs, flavour and fragrance industries. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Consumption of foods and foodstuffs processed with hazardous chemicals: a case study of BangladeshINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 6 2008Md. Motaher Hossain Abstract Determining the best way to persuade consumers to consume more healthy foods is challenging. In Bangladesh, however, daily newspapers consistently show that various hazardous chemicals (e.g. calcium carbide, sodium cyclamate, cyanide and formalin, etc.) are mixed with or added to foods and foodstuffs. These chemicals are very dangerous to humans. This present study examines the reasons behind the use of hazardous chemicals in foods as well as the extent to which food producers/sellers use such chemicals. In addition, this study assesses consumer perceptions of and attitudes towards these contaminated food items and explores how adulterated foods and foodstuffs affect consumer health. The empirical data were collected from 110 consumers, 25 sellers or producers, seven doctors and seven pharmacists in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. This study shows that nearly every consumer (93.7%) is aware that various foods and foodstuffs contain hazardous chemicals, and that 95.5% of consumers are aware that these adulterated foods and foodstuffs are harmful to their health. This paper explores the myriad reasons why consumers nevertheless feel compelled to consume such chemically treated foods. [source] Technology options for new nutritional conceptsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DAIRY TECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2002Hannu Korhonen Recent advances in the food and nutrition sciences support the concept that the diet has a significant role in the modulation of various functions in the body. The diet and/or its components may contribute to an improved state of well-being, a reduction of risks related to certain diseases and even an improvement in the quality of life. These new concepts have led to the introduction of a new category of health-promoting foodstuffs, i.e. functional foods. The concern about health embraces a number of driving issues, needs and opportunities which may be approached by designing specific diets from various food raw materials. These tailor-made products provide physiological benefits that are targeted at particular consumer groups. The functionality of functional foods is based on bioactive components, which may be contained naturally in the product but usually require formulation by appropriate technologies in order to optimise the desired beneficial properties. To this end, it is often necessary to develop and apply novel technologies, e.g. membrane separation, high hydrostatic pressure and supercritical fluid extraction techniques. Also the minimal processing concept could be employed in this context. This review discusses the current technological options available and the future challenges faced in the area. Particular attention is paid to the exploitation of bovine colostrum and milk-derived bioactive compounds for the development of functional foods. [source] Refrigerated transport and environmentINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 10 2004S. K. Chatzidakis Abstract The regulations and the technical specifications for international carriage of perishable foodstuffs and for the special equipment to be used for such carriage are prescribed in the international ATP Agreement. The refrigerated special equipment has to be checked for quality conformity with the ATP standards, at officially designated national ATP test stations. Some of the alternatively proposed ATP testing procedures for checking of the in-service and second-hand refrigerated transport equipment are incomplete and can give incorrect test results. The consequence is increase in energy consumption and an increased environmental pollution through CO2 emission. This study analyses the ATP testing procedures for in-service equipment, investigates the impact on the environmental and gives some proposals for improvement. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Computational energy analysis of an innovative isothermal chamber for testing of the special equipment used in the transport of perishable productsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 10 2004S. K. Chatzidakis Abstract This paper describes an improved numerical simulation study of an isothermal chamber recently constructed at Zografou Campus of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) for the testing of special equipment used for transporting perishable foodstuffs in accordance with the United Nations ATP agreement. Using a transient finite difference model, a simulation is developed for a modern ATP test chamber and a typical specimen refrigerated vehicle to be tested. The simulation results are compared to experimental measurements taken under real conditions by a data acquisition system and a refrigerated semi-trailer as specimen. Proportional,integral control is employed for the regulation of the cooling and heating system. The impact of various parameters on the time required to reach the set-point temperature (tset) is investigated and the energy consumption is simulated for a period of 22 h. In particular, the impact of specimen insulation thickness and the thickness of the chamber insulation floor are considered in detail. The total energy consumption increases by approximately 16% when the concrete floor layer thickness is increased from 8 to 16 cm for typical initial conditions and desired chamber and specimen temperatures of 32.5 and 7.5°C, respectively. Using a floor insulation of 6 cm extruded heavy strain-resistant polystyrene reduces the energy consumption by at least 13%. Specimen insulation thickness increase from U -value of 0.35 W m,2 K to 0.75 W m,2 K result to an increase in energy consumption by a percentage of 28%. Thermal capacity, temperature of car body and specimen dimensions are also treated as variables that affect the total duration of an ATP test and its total energy consumption. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||