| 1. |
- Mogren, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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The hurdle approach-A holistic concept for controlling food safety risks associated with pathogenic bacterial contamination of leafy green vegetables. A review
- 2018
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Microbiology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-302X. ; 9:AUG
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Consumers appreciate leafy green vegetables such as baby leaves for their convenience and wholesomeness and for adding a variety of tastes and colors to their plate. In Western cuisine, leafy green vegetables are usually eaten fresh and raw, with no step in the long chain from seed to consumption where potentially harmful microorganisms could be completely eliminated, e.g., through heating. A concerning trend in recent years is disease outbreaks caused by various leafy vegetable crops and one of the most important foodborne pathogens in this context is Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). Other pathogens such as Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia enterocolitica and Listeria monocytogenes should also be considered in disease risk analysis, as they have been implicated in outbreaks associated with leafy greens. These pathogens may enter the horticultural value network during primary production in field or greenhouse via irrigation, at harvest, during processing and distribution or in the home kitchen/restaurant. The hurdle approach involves combining several mitigating approaches, each of which is insufficient on its own, to control or even eliminate pathogens in food products. Since the food chain system for leafy green vegetables contains no absolute kill step for pathogens, use of hurdles at critical points could enable control of pathogens that pose a human health risk. Hurdles should be combined so as to decrease the risk due to pathogenic microbes and also to improve microbial stability, shelf-life, nutritional properties and sensory quality of leafy vegetables. The hurdle toolbox includes different options, such as physical, physiochemical and microbial hurdles. The goal for leafy green vegetables is multi-target preservation through intelligently applied hurdles. This review describes hurdles that could be used for leafy green vegetables and their biological basis, and identifies prospective hurdles that need attention in future research.
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| 2. |
- Sircar, Srilata, et al.
(författare)
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Gender issues in contemporary research on agriculture for food security - Knowledge gaps and key issues across the AgriFoSe2030 themes
- 2018
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Agriculture in low- and middle-income countries faces considerable challenges, ranging from increased food demand to climate change impacts, with rapidly evolving scope and complexity. At the same time, the opportunities to address these challenges are significant, which brings optimism that effortsin agricultural research can succeed. One major barrier, however, threatens to inhibit the impacts of agricultural research: the low level of gender equity in low- and middle-income countries. This is problematic on many levels and across entire crop and livestock value chains, all the way to landscape management.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Boqvist, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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EHEC utmaning från jord till bord
- 2015
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Ingår i: SVAvet. - 0281-7519. ; , s. 16-16
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Ehec sprids vanligen via gödselförorenade livsmedel. Flera olika livsmedel har rapporterats orsaka sjukdomsutbrott, till exempel opastöriserad mjölk och yoghurt, kallrökt salami, medvurst, rostbiff och hamburgare, men även vegetabilier som sallad och groddar, samt opastöriserad äppeljuice gjord på fallfrukt.
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| 5. |
- Boqvist, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Escherichia coli O157:H7 reduction in hamburgers with regard to premature browning of minced beef, colour score and method for determining doneness
- 2015
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Ingår i: International Journal of Food Microbiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1605 .- 1879-3460. ; 215, s. 109-116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigated the effect of premature browning (PMB) on the survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in beef hamburgers after cooking with respect to interior colour of the hamburger and recommendations to cook hamburgers to a core temperature of 71 degrees C. Assessment of doneness by visual inspection or measurement of internal temperature was compared in terms of survival and the increased relative risk of illness due to PMB was estimated. At the last consume-by-day, hamburgers made from minced meat packaged in 80/20 O-2/CO2 (MAP hamburger) and from meat minced at retail packaged in atmospheric condition (control hamburger) were inoculated with a gfp-tagged strain of E. coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7gfp+). Hamburgers were cooked for different times during assessment of the core temperature every 30 s and cut in halves after cooking. Doneness was evaluated based on visual judgement of the internal colour using a score chart (C-score) from 'uncooked' (score 1) to 'tan with no evidence of pink' (score 5). An alternative five point score chart (TCC-score) including texture of the meat, clarity of meat juice and internal colour was also developed. Enumeration of viable E. coli O157:H7gfp+ in cooked hamburgers was based on fluorescent colonies recovered from plates. Results showed that MAP hamburgers developed PMB when compared with controls (P = 0.0003) and that the shortest cooking time for the highest C-score was 6 and 11 min for MAP and control hamburgers, respectively. The mean temperature in the MAP hamburger was then 60.3 degrees C. The TCC-score reduced the difference between MAP and control hamburgers. It was also shown that the survival of E. coli O157:H7gfp+ was highest in MAP hamburgers. The predicted absolute risks for illness were highest for MAP hamburgers for all C-scores and the relative risk associated with PMB increased with doneness. For a C-score of 4 (slightly pink) the predicted relative risk for illness was 300 times higher for MAP hamburger than for controls. A variable pathogen reduction was observed when cooking hamburgers to temperatures of 70-76 degrees C (the 5th and 95th percentile range was around 33 log CFU). The lower reductions, at the 5th percentile, may, depending on initial contamination levels, not be enough to ensure sufficient and safe inactivation of E. coli O157:H7. Efforts to inform consumers about PMB in minced meat packaged in high oxygen packages (>= 60% O-2) are needed with the aim to make consumers use thermometers correctly or at least not determine doneness based only on meat colour. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 6. |
- Boqvist, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Food safety challenges and One Health within Europe
- 2018
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Ingår i: Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-605X .- 1751-0147. ; 60
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- This review discusses food safety aspects of importance from a One Health perspective, focusing on Europe. Using examples of food pathogen/food commodity combinations, spread of antimicrobial resistance in the food web and the risk of transmission of zoonotic pathogens in a circular system, it demonstrates how different perspectives are interconnected. The chosen examples all show the complexity of the food system and the necessity of using a One Health approach. Food safety resources should be allocated where they contribute most One Health benefits. Data on occurrence and disease burden and knowledge of source attribution are crucial in assessing costs and benefits of control measures. Future achievements in food safety, public health and welfare will largely be based on how well politicians, researchers, industry, national agencies and other stakeholders manage to collaborate using the One Health approach. It can be concluded that closer cooperation between different disciplines is necessary to avoid silo thinking when addressing important food safety challenges. The importance of this is often mentioned, but more proof of concept is needed by the research community.
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| 7. |
- Boqvist, Sofia
(författare)
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Isolation of Leptospira interrogans serovar Hardjoprajitno from a calf with clinical leptospirosis in Chile
- 2015
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Ingår i: BMC Veterinary Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1746-6148. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Although Leptospira isolation has been reported in Chilean cattle, only serological evidence of serovar Hardjo bovis infection has been routinely reported. The present report provides characterization of the pathological presentation and etiology of a clinical case of leptospirosis in a calf from the Los Rios Region in Chile.Case presentation: In a dairy herd in southern Chile, 11 of 130 calves died after presenting signs such as depression and red-tinged urine. One of these calves, a female of eight months, was necropsied, and all the pathological findings were consistent with Leptospira infection. A urine sample was submitted to conventional bacteriological analysis together with highly specific molecular biology typing tools, in order to unravel the specific Leptospira specie and serovar associated with this clinical case. A significant finding of this study was that the obtained isolate was confirmed by PCR as L. interrogans, its VNTR profile properly matching with L. interrogans Hardjoprajitno as well as its specific genomic identity revealed by secY gen.Conclusion: Leptospira interrogans serovar Hardjoprajitno was associated with the investigated calf clinical case. This information adds to the value of serologic results commonly reported, which encourage vaccination improvements to match circulating strains. In addition, this finding represents the first case report of this serovar in Chilean cattle.
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| 8. |
- Boqvist, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Prevalence of and factors associated with Brucella sero-positivity in cattle in urban and peri-urban Gulu and Soroti towns of Uganda
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Veterinary Medical Science. - : Japanese Society of Veterinary Science. - 0916-7250 .- 1347-7439. ; 77, s. 557-564
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brucellosis is a key zoonosis of major public health, animal welfare and economic significance, and is endemic in livestock in Uganda. A cross-sectional epidemiological study was carried out to estimate the sero-prevalence of brucellosis and identify factors associated with sero-positivity in cattle in urban and pen-urban Gulu and Soroti towns of Northern and Eastern Uganda, respectively. A total of 1007 sera and data on biologically plausible risk factors from 166 herds and their spatial locations, were collected from cattle reared in urban and pen-urban Gulu and Soroti towns of Uganda. The sera were analyzed using indirect ELISA and sero-positive reactors confirmed by competitive ELISA. Multivariable models were used to investigate for risk factors. The overall animal-level and herd-level sero-prevalence was 7.5% (76/1007, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 6.15-9.4%) and 27.1% (45/166, 95% CI: 20.9-34.3%), respectively. Herd-level sero-prevalence was significantly (P<0.001) higher in Soroti than Gulu. In Gulu town, sero-positivity increased with an increase in herd size (P=0.03) and age (P=0.002), and was higher in cattle brought in from western Uganda (P<0.0001). In Soroti town, introduction of new cattle into a herd was significantly (P=0.027) associated with herd sero-positivity. There was a geographically differential risk (clustering) of Brucella sero- positivity in herds in Soroti, while sero-positivity was homogeneously distributed in Gulu. The data highlight brucellosis occurrence and major risk factors for its transmission in cattle in urban and pen-urban areas.
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| 9. |
- Cassi, Xavier Fernandez, et al.
(författare)
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The house cricket (Acheta domesticus) as a novel food: a risk profile
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of insects as food and feed. - 2352-4588. ; 5, s. 137-157
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Novel foods represent sustainable alternatives to traditional farming and conventional foodstuffs. The house cricket (Acheta domesticus) is considered as one of the most promising reared insects due to their attractive nutritional profile and lower feed conversion ratio compared to other animals. However, putative health hazards associated with consumption of crickets have previously not been investigated. The present study assesses the risks of A. domesticus reared in closed systems controlled by the implementation of hazard analysis and critical control points and good farming practices. Due to the novelty of the topic, data scarcity has been a limiting factor, hence comparative evidence from closely related species belonging to the order Orthoptera (e.g. grasshoppers, locusts, and other cricket species) have been included. The present risk profile identified as main hazards: (1) high total counts of aerobic bacteria; (2) presence of spore-forming bacteria post thermal processing; (3) accumulation of cadmium and other heavy metals; and (4) a possible increase of allergenic reactions due to exposure to insects and insect derived products. Important data gaps regarding edible crickets and their safety as novel foods have been highlighted in the future perspective section, representing aims for future research. Identified data gaps include: (1) farming conditions of the insects being studied; (2) data on the impact of thermal processing of the products prior to consumption; (3) fungal communities and mycotoxins-producing fungi in reared crickets; and (4) heavy metals not fully assessed (chromium, aluminium and arsenic) and other chemical hazards produced during processing (i.e. heterocyclic aromatic amines, acrylamide). The present risk profile explores food safety risks related to consumption of A. domesticus, thereby constituting an example of chemical and microbial hazards risk profiling on edible insects, covering rearing to consumption.
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| 10. |
- Chenais, Erika, et al.
(författare)
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African swine fever in Uganda: qualitative evaluation of three surveillance methods with implications for other resource-poor settings
- 2015
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Veterinary Science. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2297-1769. ; 2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Animal diseases impact negatively on households and on national economies. In low-income countries, this pertains especially to socio-economic effects on household level. To control animal diseases and mitigate their impact, it is necessary to understand the epidemiology of the disease in its local context. Such understanding, gained through disease surveillance, is often lacking in resource-poor settings. Alternative surveillance methods have been developed to overcome some of the hurdles obstructing surveillance. The objective of this study was to evaluate and qualitatively compare three methods for surveillance of acute infectious diseases using African swine fever in northern Uganda as an example. Report-driven outbreak investigations, participatory rural appraisals (PRAs), and a household survey using a smartphone application were evaluated. All three methods had good disease-detecting capacity, and each of them detected many more outbreaks compared to those reported to the World Organization for Animal Health during the same time period. Apparent mortality rates were similar for the three methods although highest for the report-driven outbreak investigations, followed by the PRAs, and then the household survey. The three methods have different characteristics and the method of choice will depend on the surveillance objective. The optimal situation might be achieved by a combination of the methods: outbreak detection via smartphone-based real-time surveillance, outbreak investigation for collection of biological samples, and a PRA for a better understanding of the epidemiology of the specific outbreak. All three methods require initial investments and continuous efforts. The sustainability of the surveillance system should, therefore, be carefully evaluated before making such investments.
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