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« An eye-opening investigation into the science, economics, history and production of ultra-processed food. It's not you, it's the food. We have entered a new 'age of eating' where most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food, food which is industrially processed and designed and marketed to be addictive. But do we really know what it's doing to our bodies? Join Chris in his travels through the world of food science and a UPF diet to discover what's really going on. Find out why exercise and willpower can't save us, and what UPF is really doing to our bodies, our health, our weight, and the planet (hint: nothing good). For too long we've been told we just need to make different choices, when really we're living in a food environment that makes it nigh-on impossible. So this is a book about our rights. The right to know what we eat and what it does to our bodies and the right to good, affordable food. »-- Résumé de l'éditeur

The second edition of Emerging Technologies in Food Processing presents essential, authoritative, and complete literature and research data from the past ten years.It is a complete resource offering the latest technological innovations in food processing today, and includes vital information in research and development for the food processing.

As global flows of goods, capital, information, and people accelerate competitive pressure on businesses throughout the industrialized world, firms have responded by reorganizing work in a variety of efforts to improve efficiency and cut costs. In the United States, where minimum wages are low, unions are weak, and immigrants are numerous, this has often lead to declining wages, increased job insecurity, and deteriorating working conditions for workers with little bargaining power in the lower tiers of the labor market. Low-Wage Work in the Wealthy World builds on an earlier Russell Sage Foundation study (Low-Wage America) to compare the plight of low-wage workers in the United States to five European countries—Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom—where wage supports, worker protections, and social benefits have generally been stronger. By examining low-wage jobs in systematic case studies across five industries, this groundbreaking international study goes well beyond standard statistics to reveal national differences in the quality of low-wage work and the well being of low-wage workers. The United States has a high percentage of low-wage workers—nearly three times more than Denmark and twice more than France. Since the early 1990s, however, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany have all seen substantial increases in low-wage jobs. While these jobs often entail much the same drudgery in Europe and the United States, quality of life for low-wage workers varies substantially across countries. The authors focus their analysis on the “inclusiveness” of each country’s industrial relations system, including national collective bargaining agreements and minimum-wage laws, and the generosity of social benefits such as health insurance, pensions, family leave, and paid vacation time—which together sustain a significantly higher quality of life for low-wage workers in some countries. Investigating conditions in retail sales, hospitals, food processing, hotels, and call centers, the book’s industry case studies shed new light on how national institutions influence the way employers organize work and shape the quality of low-wage jobs. A telling example: in the United States and several European nations, wages and working conditions of front-line workers in meat processing plants are deteriorating as large retailers put severe pressure on prices, and firms respond by employing low-wage immigrant labor. But in Denmark, where unions are strong, and, to a lesser extent, in France, where the statutory minimum wage is high, the low-wage path is blocked, and firms have opted instead to invest more heavily in automation to raise productivity, improve product quality, and sustain higher wages. However, as Low-Wage Work in the Wealthy World also shows, the European nations’ higher level of inclusiveness is increasingly at risk. “Exit options,” both formal and informal, have emerged to give employers ways around national wage supports and collectively bargained agreements. For some jobs, such as room cleaners in hotels, stronger labor relations systems in Europe have not had much impact on the quality of work. Low-Wage Work in the Wealthy World offers an analysis of low-wage work in Europe and the United States based on concrete, detailed, and systematic contrasts. Its revealing case studies not only provide a human context but also vividly remind us that the quality and incidence of low-wage work is more a matter of national choice than economic necessity and that government policies and business practices have inevitable consequences for the quality of workers’ lives.

High-intensity ultrasound was used to investigate the inactivation of microorganisms in raw bovine milk. Raw bovine milk with 4% of milk fat was treated with ultrasonic probe that was 12 mm in diameter and with 20 kHz frequency immerged in milk directly. In the ultrasound treatment, three parameters were varied according to the statistical experimental design. The centre composite design was used to design and optimise the experimental parameters: temperature (20, 40, and 60 deg C), amplitude (120, 90, and 60 microm), and time (6, 9, and 12 min). All analyses were performed immediately after sonication and after 3 days and 5 days of storage under refrigeration at 4 deg C. The factors that seem to affect substantially the inactivation of microorganisms in using ultrasound are the amplitude of the ultrasonic waves, the exposure/contact time with the microorganisms, and the temperature of the treatment. The results achieved indicate a significant inactivation of microorganisms under longer periods of the treatment with ultrasonic probe, particularly in combination of higher temperature and amplitude. The output optimal value of total bacteria count was defined by Statgraphics where the lowest bacteria count was 3.688 log CFU/mL for the following specific ultrasound parameters: amplitude 120 microm, treatment time 9.84 min, and temperature 45.34 deg C.

The aim of our work was to assess the possibility of detecting the changes in the baking quality of winter wheat with different levels of Fusarium spp. contamination using the new rheological system Mixolab, and to determine the correlations between the Mixolab characteristics and other quality parameters of wheat flour and grain. The standard technological characteristics (crude protein, Zeleny sedimentation index, wet gluten, falling number), loaf volume, shape features of bread (height and diameter), Mixolab characteristics, and deoxynivalenol content were determined in 3 winter wheat cultivars (Akteur - quality group E - elite; Eurofit - quality group A; Meritto - quality group B) with different levels of Fusarium spp. contamination (8 variants) in two years. Increasing intensity of Fusarium spp. contamination evidently worsened the rheological quality. Its negative effects on protein and mainly on the starch part of the grain were obvious in Mixolab curves. High correlations were found between Mixolab characteristics and standard technological parameters, as well as between Mixolab characteristics and the main baking criterion _ loaf volume.

Starches were isolated from three oat (Dzoker, Zvolen and Sampionka) and three barley (Barun, Zlatko and Vanessa) cultivars. The gelatinisation and retrogradation characteristics, pasting properties, swelling power, and solubility of the isolated starches were analysed. The gelatinisation onset temperatures varied from 59.4 deg C to 61.4 deg C for the oat starches (OS), and from 58.4 deg C to 62.2 deg C for the barley starches (BS). BS displayed a higher retrogradation enthalpy than OS after 7 and 14 days storage at 4 deg C. OS-Sampionka had the lowest retrogradation enthalpy while BS-Vanessa had the highest one after 7 and 14 days of storage. Significant differences in pasting properties were observed between the OS and BS. OS showed higher values of maximum viscosity than BS. It followed the order: OS-Dzoker more than OS-Sampionka more than OS-Zvolen more than BS-Vanessa more than BS-Zlatko more than BS-Barun. The breakdown viscosities of BS were considerably lower than those of OS. OS had higher swelling power and solubility values than BS. The higher swelling and solubility values of the oat starches in conjunction with lower retrogradation suggest different applications of these starches. The results showed that, while the barley starches are suitable for such applications where high stability is needed during heating and shearing (low breakdown values), the oat starches have a great potential for the applications where high stability during storage is needed (low retrogradation enthalpy values). In addition, the barley starches are suitable for those applications where high water binding is undesirable, while the oat starches are applicable where low amounts of starch need to bind high proportions of water.

Since 1980s, several methods for the determination of lignans in food samples have been developed depending on the types of lignans and foods analysed, but mostly on flaxseed as a reference food. In this work, specific steps in flaxseed preparation for lignan secoisolariciresinol analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method were examined. Ethanol extraction of lignan from defatted and non-defatted flaxseed before acid hydrolysis yielded significantly lower concentrations (5,172+/-49 microg/g; 5,159+/-83 microg/g, respectively), when compared to the direct acid hydrolysis (8,566+/-169 microg/g; 8,571+/-192 microg/g, respectively). In the analysed samples of defatted and dried flaxseed, no significant difference in lignan content was observed when compared to non-defatted flaxseed samples.

The effect of food processing on the DNA integrity was studied by means of PCR amplification of soybean, transgenic MON 810 and non-transgenic maize, bean, and pea. The degree of DNA degradation was checked by PCR and visualised by agarose gel electrophoresis. The conditions of technological treatment such as temperature, pH, pressure, and their combination may negatively influence the integrity of DNA in processed foods and hence PCR detection of food components. The DNA over 300 bp was amplifiable when mild processing parameters up to 100 deg C were performed at approximately neutral or low acidic pH. The autoclaving (12 deg C; 0.1 MPa) significantly reduced the size of amplifiable DNA in the time dependant manner and that was intensified by acidic pH. The maximum amplicons length achieved for highly processed matrices was 300 bp. The major impact on the DNA integrity was exerted by the combination of pressure, temperature, and low pH.

The levels of 3-chloropropane-1,2-diol (3-CPD) and fatty acid esters in raw potatoes, potato flakes, instant mashed potatoes, 2 potato dumplings, 32 French fries, and 61 potato crisps are reported. In a majority of the samples, free 3-CPD amount was under the limit of detection (less than 3 microg/kg) or under the limit of quantification (less than 9 microg/kg). Higher concentrations of free 3-CPD were found in potato flakes (37 microg/kg) and seven samples of potato crisps (10.4-46.2 microg/kg). Low concentrations of bound 3-CPD were present in raw potatoes (2 microg/kg), potato flakes (18 microg/kg), mashed potatoes (38 microg/kg) and potato dumplings (10-13 microg/kg). Higher levels of bound 3-CPD occurred in fried potato products. The amount of bound 3-CPD in pre-fried French fries was 27-64 microg/kg, in fried French fries its content was 100-258 microg/kg. In potato crisps, the bound 3-CPD amount was 98-2,201 microg/kg. A striking difference was observed between the levels of bound 3-CPD in crisps fried in rapeseed oil and in fractionated palm oil (palmolein). For that reason, the changes were studied of the bound 3-CPD levels in palm oil after heating and in blends of rapeseed and palm oil during frying. It was proven that the frying oils absorbed into the fried potato products represent the main source of bound 3-CPD.

Survey on cereal resources in Wallonia according to their different uses. Survey on cereal resources in Wallonia according to their different uses. More than 60% of the arable cropped area in Wallonia is dedicated to cereals. Cereal chains were initially aimed at ensuring food security but are now progressively oriented towards new non-food uses. Walloon cereal chains are now having to face up to new global challenges: to ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of vegetal and animal chains, to match society's expectations and to meet the biomass needs for energy uses and bio-based products. Within this framework, this research aims to evaluate the environmental and socio-economic sustainability of future scenarios of current and potential food and non-food uses for Walloon cereals. This paper, the first in a series of two, presents the current picture of Walloon cereal crops and their uses. Various steps are analyzed: production, collection, wholesale and processing. Four main uses characterize cereal processing: the so-called \"4Fs\", representing Food (human food uses), Feed (animal feed uses), Fuel (energy uses) and Fiber (material uses). Data collected from stakeholders in the Walloon cereal chain enabled us to assess cereal flows for the \"4Fs\", drawing a qualitative and a quantitative picture of Walloon cereal resources including the key elements of the cereal chains. This approach serves as a basis for a prospective exercise, described in a companion paper, which develops potential uses for Walloon cereal resources at the 2030 horizon.