Disasters cause diseases, disrupt food supply systems, and expose people to food and nutritional instability. Malnutrition issues, recurrent infections, contaminated food, and inadequate access to ...essential resources make an already vulnerable population more vulnerable. For the first 15 days, emergency food assistance is of the utmost importance. Nutritional challenges become critical for vulnerable groups and patients for their specific dietary requirements. In addition, infections, foodborne illness, poor immunity is yet another challenge faced by affected population after any disaster.
Relevant literature was searched using Google Scholar, PubMed and other international organization databases using keywords such as “disaster and public health”, “nutrition during disaster”, “food selection in disaster”, “biscuits or food bars for disaster”, “phytochemicals”.
The current manuscript emphasizes on an analytical discussion of already available ready-to-eat foods that are now on the market as disaster relief products. Mortality during disaster is high in vulnerable groups due to their compromised immunity. These populations could be benefitted by providing a disaster relief food with additional immune-boosting nutraceutical properties such as phytochemicals, probiotics, and prebiotics. By providing disaster specific foods rich in probiotics, prebiotics and phytonutrients to the immune-compromised population, health consequences associated with disasters such as digestive issues, respiratory illnesses, and chronic diseases can be reversed.
Inclusion of phytochemicals and immunity boosting foods into the disaster relief program will help the population having compromised immunity or metabolic disorders to have better coping strength to the adverse disaster conditions. Although providing adequate amounts of macronutrients is the first practical consideration, phytonutrients and probiotics would be helpful to alleviate a variety of health complications during crises. Phytochemical-enriched ready-to-eat products can be used for additional immunomodulatory benefits in disaster relief. Food products having additional health benefits for disease-specific population should be developed and provided to them for better survival.
•Mortality during disaster is high in vulnerable groups due to their compromised immunity.•Vulnerable population could be benefitted by providing nutraceutical compounds enriched disaster relief foods.•Phytochemical-enriched ready-to-eat products can be used for additional immunomodulatory benefits in disaster relief.
A survey of fresh and minimally-processed fruit and vegetables, and sprouts was conducted in several retail establishments in the Lleida area (Catalonia, Spain) during 2005–2006 to determine whether ...microbial contamination, and in particular potentially pathogenic bacteria, was present under these commodities. A total of 300 samples—including 21 ready-to-eat fruits, 28 whole fresh vegetables, 15 sprout samples and 237 ready-to-eat salads containing from one to six vegetables—were purchased from 4 supermarkets. They were tested for mesophilic and psychrotrophic aerobic counts, yeasts and moulds, lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, presumptive
E. coli and
Listeria monocytogenes counts as well as for the presence of
Salmonella,
E. coli O157:H7,
Yersinia enterocolitica and thermotolerant
Campylobacter.
Results for the fresh-cut vegetables that we analyzed showed that, in general, the highest microorganism counts were associated with grated carrot, arugula and spinach (7.8, 7.5 and 7.4 log cfu g
−
1
of aerobic mesophilic microorganisms; 6.1, 5.8 and 5.2 log cfu g
−
1
of yeast and moulds; 5.9, 4.0 and 5.1 log cfu g
−
1
lactic acid bacteria and 6.2, 5.3 and 6.0 log cfu g
−
1
of Enterobacteriaceae). The lowest counts were generally associated with fresh-cut endive and lettuce (6.2 and 6.3 log cfu g
−
1
of aerobic mesophilic microorganisms; 4.4 and 4.6 log cfu g
−
1
of yeast and moulds; 2.7 and 3.8 log cfu g
−
1
lactic acid bacteria and 4.8 and 4.4 log cfu g
−
1
of Enterobacteriaceae). Counts of psychrotrophic microorganisms were as high as those of mesophilic microorganisms. Microbiological counts for fresh-cut fruit were very low. Sprouts were highly contaminated with mesophilic (7.9 log cfu g
−
1
), psychrotrophic microorganisms (7.3 log cfu g
−
1
) and Enterobacteriaceae (7.2 log cfu g
−
1
) and showed a high incidence of
E. coli (40% of samples). Of the samples analyzed, four (1.3%) were
Salmonella positive and two (0.7%) harboured
L. monocytogenes. None of the samples was positive for
E. coli O157:H7, pathogenic
Y. enterocolitica or thermotolerant
Campylobacter.
This study estimated the risk of listeriosis from Brazilian cheese consumption using quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). Risks associated to consumption of two cheese types were assessed: ...artisanal ripened semi-hard cheese (produced with raw milk) and refrigerated fresh soft cheese (produced with pasteurized milk). The semi-hard cheese model predicted Listeria monocytogenes growth or decline during ripening, while the soft cheese model predicted pathogen growth during refrigerated storage. Semi-hard cheese modeling scenarios considered L. monocytogenes starting concentration from −2.4 to 6 log CFU/mL in raw milk and three ripening times (4, 22 and 60 days). Soft cheese modeling scenarios considered L. monocytogenes starting concentration from −2.4 to 4 log CFU/mL in milk. The inclusion of anti-listerial lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in cheeses was also examined. Risk of listeriosis due to consumption of soft cheese was 6000 and 190 times greater than that of semi-hard cheese, for general and vulnerable populations, respectively. Aging semi-hard cheese reduced risk, and risk was influenced by L. monocytogenes starting concentration. Aging cheese with inhibitory LAB for 22 days reduced risk over 4 million-fold when L. monocytogenes was assumed to be 6 log CFU/mL in raw milk. The inclusion of inhibitory LAB also reduced risk of listeriosis due to soft cheese consumption, but not as much as for semi-hard cheese. QMRA results predicted that consumption of contaminated cheeses can carry a high risk of listeriosis, especially for vulnerable populations. Scenario analyses indicated that aging of semi-hard cheese and inclusion of antimicrobial LAB mix in semi-hard and soft cheeses are effective risk mitigation measures.
•Vulnerable population presented high risk of listeriosis due to cheese consumption.•Soft cheese showed higher risk of listeriosis than semi-hard cheese.•Scenario analysis indicated that aging of semi-hard cheese reduced risk.•Lactic acid bacteria with anti-listerial activity are effective in risk reduction.
The effect of fish diet and cooking modality was described for Gilthead sea bream juveniles (Sparus aurata). Three feeds were tested: a control diet containing fish meal (FM>26%) and fish oil (FO>6%) ...and two diets where FM and FO were replaced with more sustainable alternatives (FM<14%; FO<5%). Fillets were analyzed raw and after cooking at increasing intensities: sous-vide, boiling, roasting and microwave oven baking. The overall quality of fish fillets was assessed by measuring their appearance by Image Analysis, by characterizing their proximate composition, fatty acid profiles, quality indices, and their microstructural features by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and relaxometry. The analysis of experimental data suggested that fish diet specifically characterized the nutritional quality of cooked fillets by affecting their fatty acid profiles, irrespective of the cooking process. Appearance (color, image texture) and muscle microstructure were only influenced by the intensity of cooking, regardless of diet. As cooking intensity increased, water and oil distribution in myofibrils was progressively reorganized and muscle fibers shrunk, causing relevant microstructural changes, especially in roasted and microwave oven baked fillets. The paper provides a useful guide for the production of ready-to-eat meals derived from sustainable aquaculture processes and characterized by high sensory and nutritional quality.
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•Magnetic Resonance relaxometry and Image Analysis can guide fish fillet processing.•Fatty acids, color and muscle microstructure of fillets were differentially affected.•Diet affected nutritional quality while cooking mostly color and microstructure.•Combined effect of fish diet and processing on quality is studied for the first time.
Several biotic elicitors have been used in Brassicaceae species to enhance their phytochemical quality. However, there is no comparison between elicitors under controlled growth conditions. In order ...to draw general conclusions about the use of elicitors to enrich ready-to-eat sprouts in health-promoting glucosinolates, the aim of this study was to unveil the effect of the phytohormones methyl jasmonate (25 μM), jasmonic acid (150 μM), and salicylic acid (100 μM), the oligosaccharides glucose (277 mM) and sucrose (146 mM), and the amino acid dl-methionine (5 mM) as elicitors over 8-day sprouting Brassica oleraceae (broccoli), Brassica napus (rutabaga cabbage), Brassica rapa (turnip), and Raphanus sativus (China rose radish and red radish), representative species high in glucosinolates previously studied. Results indicated that the phytohormones methyl jasmonate and jasmonic acid and the sugars acted as effective elicitors, increasing the total glucosinolate contents of the sprouts, particularly, glucoraphanin (from 183 to 294 mg·100 g–1 in MeJA-treated broccoli sprouts), glucoraphenin (from 33 to 124 mg·100 g–1 and from 167 to 227 mg·100 g–1 in MeJA-treated China rose radish and red radish, respectively), and glucobrassicin (from 23.4 to 91.0 mg·100 g–1 and from 29.6 to 186 mg·100 g–1 in MeJA-treated turnip and rutabaga sprouts, respectively).
Abstract Our understanding of the use of caloric and noncaloric sweeteners in the US food supply is limited. This study uses full ingredient list and Nutrition Facts label data from Gladson Nutrition ...Database and nationally representative purchases of consumer packaged foods from Nielsen Homescan in 2005 through 2009 to understand the use of caloric sweeteners (including fruit juice concentrate) and noncaloric sweeteners in consumer packaged foods. Of the 85,451 uniquely formulated foods purchased during 2005 through 2009, 75% contain sweeteners (68% with caloric sweetener only, 1% with noncaloric sweetener only, 6% with both caloric and noncaloric sweeteners). Caloric sweetener are in >95% of cakes/cookies/pies, granola/protein/energy bars, ready-to-eat cereals, sweet snacks, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Noncaloric sweetener are in >33% of yogurts and sport/energy drinks, 42% of waters (plain or flavored), and most dietetic sweetened beverages. Across unique products, corn syrup is the most commonly listed sweetener, followed by sorghum, cane sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and fruit juice concentrate. Also, 77% of all calories purchased in the United States in 2005-2009 contained caloric sweeteners and 3% contained noncaloric sweeteners, and 73% of the volume of foods purchased contained caloric sweetener and 15% contained noncaloric sweetener. Trends during this period suggest a shift toward the purchase of noncaloric sweetener−containing products. Our study poses a challenge toward monitoring sweetener consumption in the United States by discussing the need and options available to improve measures of caloric sweetener and noncaloric sweetener and additional requirements on Nutrition Facts labels on consumer packaged foods.
The main objective of this study was to assess the environmental impact of two ready-to-eat canned meat products through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The analysis of both products, pork lean and ...meatballs with peas, was performed under a cradle-to-grave approach and 5 stages of their life cycle were included: meat production, food processing, distribution, use and final disposal.
The stages with the greatest environmental impact were meat production and food processing for both products. Both stages have a similar degree of contribution throughout the product life cycle. Within the food processing stage, canning and sterilization were the processes with higher impact. Three scenarios employing different canning material were evaluated. The results have shown that the replacement of tin by recycled aluminum can significantly reduce the impact of the products, reaching 94% in some impact categories. Although the type of canning material is a key aspect of the environmental impact, the efficiency of the containers (relationship between the amount of material and the amount of canned food) also shows an important influence on the impact of this process.
The impacts of sterilization are mainly due to the consumption of steam and electricity and it is a phase with great possibilities for technological improvement, among which the reuse of the water used in the process could be considered.
•Life Cycle Assessment tool was applied to two meat canned products.•Packaging and sterilization were the processes with higher environmental impact.•Environmental impact of new technological scenarios of canning and sterilization was evaluated.
The aim of the current study was to estimate the prevalence and serotype diversity of Listeria monocytogenes in various foods of Estonian origin such as meat, milk, fish, pastry, crop, culinary, ...fruit and vegetable with special reference to ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. In 2008–2010, a total of 554 (2.6%) of 21,574 food samples were positive for L. monocytogenes in Estonia. L. monocytogenes contamination was significantly (P < 0.001) higher in raw meat and raw meat products (18.7%), raw mixed salads (18.5%) and in raw milk (18.1%) compare to raw fish products (8.8%). Among RTE fish products, cold-smoked fish products were most frequently contaminated with L. monocytogenes (32.9%). Generally, the counts of L. monocytogenes in tested products remained under 10 colony forming units (CFU) per gram of product. Only 2.9% and 0.8% of the RTE fish products contained L. monocytogenes in range of 100–1000 CFU/g and >1000 CFU/g at the end of shelf life. The majority of tested isolates (73.6%) belonged to serotype 1/2a, followed by 1/2b (7.4%), 1/2c (7.4%), 4b (7.7%) and 4d (3.5%). Our findings showed that the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in various RTE food categories, in spite of higher prevalence among raw products, was generally low in Estonia.
► A total of 554 (2.6%) of 21,574 food samples were positive for Listeria monocytogenes in Estonia. ► Most often contaminated products were raw meat (18.7%), mixed salads (18.5%) and raw milk (18.1%). ► Among RTE fish products, cold-smoked fish products were most frequently contaminated. ► Generally, the counts of L. monocytogenes in tested products remained under 10 CFU/g. ► The majority of tested isolates (73.6%) belonged to serotype 1/2a.
The behaviour of Listeria monocytogenes was investigated in soft pasteurized milk cheese elaborated with different salt concentrations (1.17 and 0.30% w/w) and in cured raw sheep milk cheese over ...storage up to 189 days at different isothermal conditions. Commercial 25-g cheese samples were inoculated with a 4-strain cocktail of L. monocytogenes (serovars 4b, 1/2a, 1/2b and 1/2c) at approximately 104 CFU/g. The inoculated samples were stored at 4 and 22 °C and withdrawn at proper intervals for L. monocytogenes enumeration. The prevalence of the different serovar strains of L. monocytogenes was characterized on soft cheese samples over storage at 4 °C using multiplex PCR. Salt reduction did not affect the survival of L. monocytogenes in soft cheeses and a maximum of 1-log reduction was observed in both regular and low-salt cheeses after 189 days of storage at 4 °C. The pathogen showed greater survival capacity in both soft and cured cheeses during storage at 4 °C compared to the storage at 22 °C, where more than 2.5 log reductions were computed. The fate of L. monocytogenes was described through a Weibull model fitted to survival data. The time required for a first tenfold reduction of the L. monocytogenes population (δ) at 4 °C is around 150 days in soft and 72 days in cured cheeses. At 22 °C, the estimated δ values are at least 60% lower in both cheese types. Among the four L. monocytogenes serovars present in the inoculated cocktail, the serovar 4b strain was the most sensitive to refrigerated storage, while the prevalence of serovar 1/2c strain increased over time in soft cheeses. Overall, the data obtained in this study help to deepen knowledge into factors affecting L. monocytogenes behaviour on cheeses and evidenced the variability between serovars in terms of survival capacity, which may be considered when performing microbial risk assessments.
•Salt reduction did not affect the behaviour of Listeria monocytogenes in soft cheeses.•The pathogen showed greater survival capacity at 4 °C than at 22 °C in both types of cheeses.•The prevalence of the serovar 1/2c strain increased over storage time in soft cheeses.
Listeriosis is a foodborne disease, with a high mortality rate, that predominantly affects the elderly. Under European Union legislation, EC 2073/2005, food business operators are encouraged to ...undertake sampling to ensure that the food processing environment, and required to ensure that food products, are free of Listeria monocytogenes. To determine the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in smaller food processing facilities in Northern Ireland, 24 companies submitted six processing environment swabs and two food samples every two months for eighteen months (July 2015 to November 2016) for L. monocytogenes examination. The prevalence of L. monocytogenes was 4.6% in food samples, and 6.3% in processing environment swabs. Over the duration of the study, 96 isolates of L. monocytogenes were obtained, one from each positive sample, except for two meat samples that had >100 cfu/g, where two isolates were obtained from each sample. No seasonality in occurrence of L. monocytogenes was seen for food isolates but significantly higher numbers of positive processing environment swabs were found in the warmer months of May, July and September (p = .007). Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis revealed the presence of 27 pulsotypes; 9 pulsotypes were shared between different facilities and 9 were persistent. Based on a Combase predictive growth model, 77.5% (n = 130) of the foods tested were predicted to support the growth of L. monocytogenes. All of the isolates carried the pathogenicity genes inlA and actA and 71.4% carried qacH, which confers resistance to quaternary ammonium compounds which are frequently used in sanitizers. Whole genome sequencing of the isolates allowed multi-locus sequence typing to be undertaken. The data indicated that the sequence types identified included those with disease-causing ability, highlighting the disease-causing potential of the isolates.
•No Listeria monocytogenes were detected at 50% of the food processing facilities sampled.•At 4 °C none of the foods tested were predicted to support growth of Listeria monocytogenes.•There were 27 distinguishable pulsotypes in the 96 isolates tested.•Sequence types detected can cause listeriosis.
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