Quantitative risk assessment model to investigate the public health impact of varying Listeria monocytogenes allowable levels in different food commodities: A retrospective analysis.

Invasive listeriosis is a potentially fatal foodborne disease that according to this study may affect up to 32.9 % of the US population considered as increased risk and including people with underlying conditions and co-morbidities. Listeria monocytogenes has been scrutinized in research and surveillance programs worldwide in Ready-to-Eat (RTE) food commodities (RTE salads, deli meats, soft/semi-soft cheese, seafood) and frozen vegetables in the last 30 years with an estimated overall prevalence of 1.

The power, potential, benefits, and challenges of implementing high-throughput sequencing in food safety systems.

The development and application of modern sequencing technologies have led to many new improvements in food safety and public health. With unprecedented resolution and big data, high-throughput sequencing (HTS) has enabled food safety specialists to sequence marker genes, whole genomes, and transcriptomes of microorganisms almost in real-time. These data reveal not only the identity of a pathogen or an organism of interest in the food supply but its virulence potential and functional characteristics.

Prevalence of Listeria Species and Listeria monocytogenes on Raw Produce Arriving at Frozen Food Manufacturing Facilities.

Abstract: The ubiquity of Listeria monocytogenes in the environment affects the food industry and presents concerns for frozen food facilities. This study determined the prevalence and numbers of Listeria species and L. monocytogenes on raw produce arriving at frozen food facilities.

Blinding Protocols for Acquisition of Potentially Sensitive Food Safety Information.

Abstract: Difficulties associated with addressing research problems can revolve around the collection of data from private entities. Potential issues can arise when collecting food samples or food safety data from industry or third-party sources because of concerns about distribution or exposure of potentially sensitive information. Industry is cautious of its involvement in research projects because issues associated with production levels, capital investment, regulatory inquiries, unwarranted publicity, or other legal aspects can arise depending on the nature of information gathered, and information may be inadvertently released into the public domain.

Evaluating Environmental Monitoring Protocols for spp. and in Frozen Food Manufacturing Facilities.

Food processors face serious challenges due to contamination. Environmental monitoring is used to control from the processing environment. Although frozen foods do not support the growth of the moist and cold conditions in frozen food production environments are favorable for growth of .

Advances in the understanding of dairy and cheese flavors: symposium introduction.

A symposium titled "Advances in the Understanding of Dairy and Cheese Flavors" was held in September 2013 at the American Chemical Society's 246th National Meeting in Indianapolis, IN, USA. The symposium, which was sponsored by the Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, was to discuss the state of the art in the detection and quantitation of flavor in dairy products. The authors of two of the presentations have been selected to expand on their talks by submitting full papers about their research.

Virus assay using antibody-functionalized peptide nanotubes.

Robust trace-level detection of viruses is crucial to meet urgent needs in fighting the spread of disease or detecting bioterrorism events. We report a new method for rapid and highly sensitive detection of viruses utilizing fluorescent antibody nanotubes. When viral pathogens were mixed with these antibody nanotubes, the nanotubes rapidly aggregated around the viruses to form a networking structure.

Overexpression of Lactobacillus casei D-hydroxyisocaproic acid dehydrogenase in cheddar cheese.

Metabolism of aromatic amino acids by lactic acid bacteria is an important source of off-flavor compounds in Cheddar cheese. Previous work has shown that alpha-keto acids produced from Trp, Tyr, and Phe by aminotransferase enzymes are chemically labile and may degrade spontaneously into a variety of off-flavor compounds. However, dairy lactobacilli can convert unstable alpha-keto acids to more-stable alpha-hydroxy acids via the action of alpha-keto acid dehydrogenases such as d-hydroxyisocaproic acid dehydrogenase.