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Furan and its derivatives were identified in a small number of heat-treated foods back in the 60's and 70's. In May 2004, US Food and Drug Administration published a report on the occurrence of parent furan in a number of thermally treated foods. Since furan has been classified as possibly carcinogenic to human by IARC, a great concern has been addressed to the analysis of this substance naturally-occurring in food. This paper gives a short overview on the mechanistic pathways of the parent furan formation in food by degradation of amino acids and/or reducing sugars, and oxidation of ascorbic acid and polyunsaturated acids which can be induced by thermal or irradiation treatments; further, it deals with the metabolism and toxicology of furan as well as with the comparison of the methods of furan determination.

Reversed-phase liquid chromatography hyphenated with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LC-ICP-MS) was used for mercury speciation analysis in food samples. A short chromatographic column and a mobile phase containing 0.02 mol/l CH3COONH4 + 0.2% (v/v) 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) + 1% (v/v) CH3OH were applied. A repeated extraction of samples with hydrochloric acid/2-ME solution (1 mol/l HCl + 0.2% (v/v) 2-ME) was applied as the isolation step. The results were satisfactory for most food matrices (fish, shellfish, plant materials). Conversely, to analyse high-protein animal matrices, which contain mostly the inorganic form of mercury, a procedure including partial hydrolysis using hydrochloric acid should be used. For methylmercury and inorganic divalent mercury, the LOQ values of 0.3 and 2 ng/g, respectively, can be achieved if precautionary measures against contamination are fulfilled. The method was applied for the determination of methylmercury and inorganic divalent mercury in fish, vegetables, herbs and cereal products.

Food allergy is an adverse immune response to some proteins in some foods. Probiotic, health promoting bacteria have gained much importance because of their innumerable benefits, particularly in the treatment of diarrhea, hypercholesterolemia, atopic dermatitis, eczema, and gastrointestinal disorders by strengthening the immune system. The current paper reviews recent advances made in the treatment of food allergy through employing probiotic or synbiotic therapy. The results of several reports are very promising suggesting probiotics can influence the immune system to curtail the allergic responses.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the impact of metal pollution on the main seafood and assess the potential health risk from consuming the contaminated seafood in Taiwan. The results of geometric mean (GM) metal concentrations in various seafood showed that the copper, zinc, and arsenic concentrations in oysters were significantly (p < 0.001) higher than those in the other seafood by about 1,057, 74.3, and 56.2 times, respectively. The green color found in the oysters was due to high GM copper and zinc concentrations of 909 (ranging from 113-2,805) and 1,293 (ranging from 303-3,593) microg/g dry wt, respectively. In addition, using a maximum consumption rate of 139 g/day of oysters for individuals, calculations yield target hazard quotients (daily intake/reference dose) of below 1 for cadmium and mercury and high values of 1.61, 9. 33, and 1.77 for inorganic arsenic, copper, and zinc in adults, respectively. The various lifetime cancer risks for inorganic arsenic (maximum exposed individuals risk ranging from 9.93 x 10(-6) to 3.11 x 10(-4)) might be caused by consuming different seafood in Taiwan. The highest risk estimate for inorganic arsenic was 5.10 x 10(-4) for consumption of oysters by Machu Islands residents. The long-term exposure of metals through consumption of oysters, especially for some high-risk groups, could be dangerous. Taking inorganic arsenic for example, a 10(-6) upper limit on lifetime risk as the health protection standard would require maximum oyster residue levels of approximately 0.0076-0.056 microg/g wet wt, for consumption rates of 139-18.6 g/d. In the light of known risks to public health, the government should issue an immediate warning to the public to refrain from eating all seafood harvested from the Taiwan coastal areas, especially the Hsiangshan area and the Machu Islands.

The main aim of this paper was to compare the perception of food products quality in Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Food hygiene, product safety, taste, brand, quality mark and safety processes in food manufacturing were evaluated. A questionnaire survey and cluster analysis defining the consumer's perception typology were used. The computations were processed by using the statistical program SAS. The research results point at the food hygiene as the most important qualitative factor for the respondents in all three countries. On the other hand, the packing as a factor is considered as of either a less importance or an irrelevant one in terms of the product quality perception.

The plate diffusion method is a reference method in the Czech Republic for determination of residues of antimicrobial agents in raw materials and foodstuffs of animal origin. A new method using the E. coli strain ATCC 11303 for the detection of fluoroquinolones was introduced in 2008. The aim of this study was to determine the detection capability (CC beta) of this modified method using this E. coli strain for selected fluoroquinolones registered in the Czech Republic for treating diseases in cattle - danofloxacin, marbofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, and flumequine. When comparing the maximum residue limits for individual fluoroquinolones and the CC beta values determined, we can state that the method displays very good sensitivity to ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin (20 and 40 micro/l), marbofloxacin (70 microg/l), and danofloxacin (30 microg/l). The CC beta of the method for flumequine was not found in concentrations less or equal MRL. The method did not display sensitivity to flumequine even in a concentration equal to twelve times the MRL.

We used the discriminant analysis of curd cheese during storage by Fourier transform near infrared spectroscopy method (FT-NIRs). Olomouc curd cheese samples were stored at 5 and at 20 deg C during seven weeks. The spectra of samples were measured at the integration sphere in reflectance mode with the use of a compressive cell in the spectral range of 10 000-4000/cm with 100 scans. Ten principal components were used for all the calibration models. Great similarity between the samples stored at 5 and 20 deg C was found. Twelve samples stored at 20 deg C for 1 week and 2 samples stored at 20 deg C for 2 weeks were classified as samples stored at 5 deg C. Different results were found out by comparing the storage time. 100% variability was described between the spectra scanned in different weeks of storage at 5deg C and 99.9% variability was obtained for the samples stored at 20 deg C. Thus, the discriminant analysis of Olomouc curd cheese by FT-NIRs is a suitable method for the determination of ripening time.

La traditionnalité est un axe stratégique important dans le secteur alimentaire. Pourtant, sa définition et son opérationnalisation restent imprécises. Cette recherche conceptualise la traditionnalité perçue d'un produit alimentaire à l'aide de la Grounded Theory. A la suite du recueil des données empiriques auprès de tous les acteurs autour d'un produit traditionnel, producteurs, transformateurs, distributeurs, restaurateurs et consommateurs, un construit quadridimensionnel émerge : processuelle, identitaire, dynamique et rituelle. Cette conceptualisation propose un cadre de référence permettant aux managers d'un produit et aux producteurs de comprendre ce qui confère à leurs produits leur caractère traditionnel et comment le faire évoluer. Détails. Pas de chiffres.

The contamination levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctane sulfonamide (FOSA), which represent an important subgroup of the environmental contaminants known as perfluorinated compounds, were examined in 35 imported canned fish and seafood products (tuna, sardine, cod liver) obtained from the Czech retail market in 2009. An analytical procedure was employed based on a fast and simplified sample preparation using activated charcoal clean-up followed by a LC-MS/MS determinative step. The content of PFOS, which was the dominating pollutant, ranged from 0.7 microg/kg to 12.8 microg/kg, PFOA levels were in the range of 1.2 microg/kg to 5.1 microg/kg, FOSA was detected only at trace levels in two samples. Several products originating from the Baltic Sea were the most contaminated within the sample set.

We determined the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of enterococci isolated from raw foods of animal origin (pork, poultry meat, cow milk, ewe milk, ewe cheese). All samples were positive for enterococci. The lowest count of enterococci was found in pork (2.00 log CFU/square cm), while bryndza cheese contained the highest count (4.99 log CFU/g). Among the 349 Enterococcus isolates, 49% were E. faecalis, 29% E. faecium, and 13% Enterococcus spp. Tetracycline and gentamicin resistance were the most common. We found the highest tetracycline resistance levels (91%) in isolates from poultry samples. These isolates also displayed multidrug resistance to all antibiotics tested. The most common vancomycin-resistant species in poultry and milk was E. faecalis. In contrast, pork samples contained vancomycin-resistant E. faecium isolates. It is interesting to note that vancomycin resistance in pork and poultry samples was found only in combination with either four (28%) or all five (14%) of the tested antibiotics. Our results suggest that raw products of animal origin are possible reservoirs of multi-antibiotic resistant enterococci in the food chain.