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Issue 2 2008, Past issues / 13 June 2008 / Maddalena Querci, Hermann Broll and Guy Van den Eede, European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, Biotechnology and GMOs Unit
GMO detection and analysis in its broader sense is an integral part of GMO development, breeding programmes and of subsequent seed verification programmes. It is applied in both the export and import of grain/agricultural products, for regulatory compliance of approved and unapproved events in different countries, for labelling requirements, quality assurance and for product authenticity and traceability.
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Issue 1 2008, Past issues / 28 February 2008 / D. De Smet, S. De Saeger and C. Van Peteghem, Ghent University, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Laboratory of Food Analysis, Belgium
This article highlights the possibility of using molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the selective extraction of mycotoxins in food, instead of immunoaffinity columns which are based on the binding of an analyte, to the corresponding antibody. An overview of MIPs, developed for mycotoxin analysis, will be presented.
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Issue 1 2008, Past issues / 28 February 2008 / Marjeta Candek-Potokar, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia and Maja Prevolnik, University of Maribor, Faculty of Agriculture, Maribor, Slovenia
Meat quality has many different meanings. To some, quality refers to aspects of the carcass in respect to weight, fat cover and distribution, muscling/conformation and bruising. To others, quality refers to aspects such as chiller assessment attributes ie. meat colour, intermuscular fat colour and marbling. In pork, the attention of both industry and consumers is largely focused on the water holding capacity of meat.
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Issue 1 2008, Past issues / 28 February 2008 / Dr. Peter Rinke, Sure Global Fair International E.V. and Dr. Manfred Spraul, Bruker-BioSpin GmbH
Important tasks of the fruit juice industry are to protect the good and healthy image for its whole product range and protect the market against any unserious producers. In order to assure fair competition, safe products and consumer satisfaction, the fruit juice industry has installed independent and centralised control bodies under the umbrella of EQCS (European Quality Control System). SGF (SGF INTERNATIONAL E.V. – SURE GLOBAL FAIR) is the biggest member association of and its department, SGF/IRMA (International Raw Material Assurance) and is in charge of controlling the supply market in more than 50 countries worldwide. Facing a very large number of control samples, conventional analyses are limited to spot checks and more or less arbitrary choices of specific aspects to control, due to high costs. Systematic so called “full analyses” are too expensive for any control organisation and for the companies’ own entrance controls. Besides safety controls, the analytical scope should cover the addition of external sugar, water, flavour compounds or cheaper fruit types than the declared ones1,2.
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Issue 1 2008, Past issues / 28 February 2008 / Dr. Mark Buecking, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Germany
The determination of organic trace compounds in food analysis is of major importance for food quality and food safety aspects. Both the separation of the analyte from potential inferences in the food matrix, as well as the qualitative and quantitative determination of the target compound, are vital steps in analytical food chemistry.
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Issue 1 2008, Past issues / 28 February 2008 / Dr. John D. Marugg, Nestlé Research Centre, Quality and Safety Department, Microbiological Safety Group, Switzerland
Food manufacturers face challenges in optimising speed and efficiency, reducing product inventory, simultaneously responding to microbiological and chemical contaminants and entering the production process, via ingredients or the environment. Currently, most official or reference methods for pathogen or contaminant detection are laborious, costly, and often take a long time (3-7 days or longer) to obtain results. The application of rapid methods allows for an easy and fast response in the monitoring of raw materials and production environments, reducing the turn-around-time along the supply chain.
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Issue 2 2007, Past issues / 23 May 2007 / Dr Geneviève Gésan-Guiziou, INRA, Agrocampus Rennes, UMR1253, "Dairy and Egg Science and Technology" joined research unit, Rennes, France
In the last 30 years, membrane processes have become major tools in the food industry.1,2 This industry represents the second sector of membrane applications, after water treatment, and on equal terms with pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications.
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Issue 1 2007, Past issues / 7 March 2007 / Vegard H. Segtnan, Jens Petter Wold and Martin Høy, Matforsk AS, Norway and Jens T. Thielemann and Jon Tschudi, SINTEF ICT, Norway
Most solid foods are heterogeneous on one level or another. Minced meat or an intact piece of meat, for example, will have smaller or larger local regions that are almost pure fat, pure lean meat or pure connective tissue. For such heterogeneous foods the distribution of the local differences is approximately the same throughout the sample.
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Issue 1 2007, Past issues / 7 March 2007 / S. Monbaliu, S. De Saeger and C. Van Peteghem, Ghent University, Laboratory of Food Analysis
This article focuses on the main principle of the liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) determination of mycotoxins in foodstuffs. It also provides an overview of recent developments in mycotoxin analysis.
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Issue 1 2007, Past issues / 7 March 2007 / Dr. Mansel Griffiths, Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety, Canada
There are many naturally bioluminescent organisms existing in nature and the mechanisms whereby some of these creatures emit light have been fully characterised1. These include the luciferin-luciferase system of bacteria, insects (fireflies and click-beetles) and the jellyfish Aequorea victoria. In essence, bioluminescence involves the conversion of chemical energy into light energy by an enzyme, commonly termed luciferase.
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Issue 4 2006, Past issues / 6 November 2006 / Nicoletta Sinelli, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Milano
The evaluation of shelf life of perishable foods is a key aspect of modern production and distribution. Food ‘freshness’ is one of the most required attributes by consumers and is strongly influenced by storage conditions – temperature abuse being one of the main factors affecting the shelf life (Labuza, 1982; Singh, 1994).
Fresh dairy products are ‘living’ products that continue to ripen during marketing, with a shift in chemical and sensory properties. An important commercial goal for soft and un-ripened dairy products is to keep them fresh i.e. to maintain some peculiar sensory characteristics such as a white and ‘brilliant’ colour, creamy visual texture and spreadability, milky aroma and flavour and low acidity. All these characteristics undergo slight changes during the early phases of the lipolytic and proteolytic processes caused by the natural microflora.
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Issue 4 2006, Past issues / 6 November 2006 / Bruce W. Moss, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute, Northern Ireland
When fresh food is purchased it may be possible to obtain a small sample for tasting, for example, cheese at a dairy counter. In the majority of cases, however, the only indicator of final eating quality is the appearance of the food. Consumers have associations based on previous experience, for example red apples tend to be soft textured and sweet whereas green apples tend to be crisp and sour. The consumer may also be aware of blemishes or other marks which give an indication of freshness. If the food supplier could obtain an indicator of quality from appearance this would be highly desirable.
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Issue 4 2006, Past issues / 6 November 2006 / Graeme Jardine, Microbiology Laboratory Manager, RHM Group Ltd
Technological advances in the field of food microbiology are a common occurrence. A great deal of research and validation is put into improving established methodologies and utilising new rapid approaches to isolation and detection. However, established ‘conventional testing’ is still the main stay of most food microbiology laboratories with the age old traditions of putting samples on petri dishes. RHM Technology is one of a small number of UK labs that have employed a high-tech approach to this area of testing, in order to bring improved service level and cost benefit.
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Issue 3 2006, Past issues / 11 August 2006 / Katervina Demnerová and Kamila Zdenvková, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Institute of Chemical Technology Prague and Jaroslava Ovesná, 2Reference Laboratory for the Identification of Genes in Genetically Modified Organisms, Research Institute of Crop Production, Prague-Ruzynev
Genetically modified organisms (GMO) are the products of modern biotechnologies. The name GMO was first used years ago to describe micro-organisms that had genes from other species transferred into their genetic material by the transformation. Applied to crops, the term refers to any genetic plant type that has had one or more genes from a different species transferred into its genetic material using accepted techniques of genetic engineering and where such introduced genes have been shown to produce a gene product (a protein).
Global GMO production
GMOs appeared on the market for the first time in the USA in 1994. According to the latest statistics, the global area with commercially grown transgenic plants is 81.0 million ha by 8.25 million farmers from 17 countries on 6 continents (Clive, 2005). The global market value of GM crops is estimated at 4.70 billion USD, which represents 16% of the global seed market. The main GM crops grown worldwide are soybean, maize, oilseed rape and cotton (Table I), while more than 45 other crops were approved as safe for human health and the environment. The most important countries in commercial growth of GM crops are USA (59% from all cultivated area), followed by Argentina (20%), Canada (6%), Brazil (6%), China (5%), Paraguay (2%), India (1%), South Africa (1%), then Uruguay, Australia, Romania, Mexico, Spain and the Philippines (less than 1%, but with areas greater than 50,000 ha). A new generation of GM crops, related to the production of medicines, developed on the basis of gene transfer into plant or animal species, increasingly comes into consideration.
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Issue 3 2006, Past issues / 11 August 2006 / P A Voysey, Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association
Listeria monocytogenes is a pathogenic bacterium and one of six species belonging to the genus Listeria. This species is the only one believed to be pathogenic to man; however, not all L. monocytogenes serotypes have been linked with illness. The bacterium is very common in the environment. It has been found in at least 37 mammalian species, as well as 17 species of birds and possibly some species of fish and shellfish. It can be isolated from soil, silage and other environmental sources. L. monocytogenes is quite hardy and resists the effects of freezing, drying and heat remarkably well for a bacterium that does not form spores.
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