Taste Panellists' Evaluations in Official Cheese Competitions: Analysis for Improvement Proposals.

Sensory analysis is a tool for determining cheese quality by tasting during official competitions, which are useful for revitalising the local cheese sector. This work aims to acquire information about the outcomes of official cheese tastings on Gran Canaria Island (Spain) and analyse this information to improve the sampling methodology, as a possible reference for similar events held elsewhere worldwide. The results of four consecutive tasting competitions were studied over 4 years.

Does the Consumer Sociodemographic Profile Influence the Perception of Aspects Related and Not Related to Food Safety? A Study in Traditional Spanish Street Markets.

Street food markets are important for local economic development, but they must also meet visitors' demands while operating. Since consumers' trust is based on their perception on different aspects of these markets, the aim of this work was to study which factors most affected their purchase decision criteria. A total of 950 surveys were collected in 21 street markets (Canary Islands, Spain), recording data from the consumers' estimation on food safety-related items (i.

A Bayesian spatio-temporal analysis of mortality rates in Spain: application to the COVID-19 2020 outbreak.

Background: The number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 in Spain has been highly controversial since it is problematic to tell apart deaths having COVID as the main cause from those provoked by the aggravation by the viral infection of other underlying health problems. In addition, overburdening of health system led to an increase in mortality due to the scarcity of adequate medical care, at the same time confinement measures could have contributed to the decrease in mortality from certain causes. Our aim is to compare the number of deaths observed in 2020 with the projection for the same period obtained from a sequence of previous years.

Identification of the Pseudomonas fluorescens group as being responsible for blue pigment on fresh cheese.

New cases of blue cheese discoloration has led to recent research to identify the causal agent and factors that favor blue pigment appearing. Nonetheless, very few reports have described the source of contamination and the measurements to eradicate the microbiological source on cheese farms by determining the relation between blue discoloration on fresh cheese and the Pseudomonas fluorescens group. Thus, 60 samples from a cheese farm (cheese, equipment surfaces, tap water, and raw and pasteurized milk) were analyzed by phenotypical, MALDI-TOF, 16S rRNA sequencing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis tests to determine the causal agent.

Identification of the risk factors associated with cheese production to implement the hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) system on cheese farms.

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate, by statistical analyses, risk factors on cheese farms that can influence the microbial contamination of their products. Various assessment tools, such as cheese production questionnaires, food handlers' knowledge testing, and hygiene assessment system surveys, were used on 39 cheese farms on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain. The microbiological status of 773 raw milk and cheese samples from the cheese farms was assessed by enumerating total viable counts and 4 pathogens: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp.

Microbiological evolution of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) in Canary Islands during ice storage.

This study analyses the microbiological changes with traditional methods for total mesophilic aerobic, psychrotrophic, Aeromonas sp., Pseudomonas sp., Shewanella putrefaciens, Enterobacteriaceae, sulfide-reducing Clostridium and Photobacterium phosphoreum in muscle, skin and gills of whole ungutted gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) stored in ice during 18 days.