The study aims to understand slow food festivals relationship between the attributes and satisfaction, as well as the impact of visitor satisfaction on festival image and word of mouth. In addition, ...the relevance of the FESTPERF variable structure - reinforced with a festival image as a novel variable - is examined in the specific context of the slow food event. The fit and validity of the model were tested using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling was conducted to test the relationships between the model variables, while multi-group analysis was applied to explore the moderating effect of age. Food locality and taste and quality of food were found to be the main triggers of visitor satisfaction, while taste and quality of food, food service quality, programme content and accessibility and signage were found to be important antecedents of satisfaction among the younger population compared with older respondents.
Background & Objective(s): Foodborne illness is a serious health-related problem especially in hospitalized patients. The present study aimed to evaluate the bacterial contamination of meals served ...in a university hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. Methods: This cross-sectional study covered 280 samples of processed and non-processed food that were randomly taken from various wards, from a university hospital in Alexandria. All samples were exposed to aerobic plate count using pour plate method. Multiple tube dilution approach was used to detect and enumerate total coliforms, fecal coliforms, and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Results: The total plate count (TPC) of the 280 samples ranged from 2.2x102 to 4.4x1011 CFU/g. Tomatoes had the highest mean value 9.98x109 CFU/g, while bread exhibited the lowest mean value 2.5 x102 CFU/g. The fecal coliform (FC) count for processed and non-processed food showed unsatisfactory results in 24.3% and 42.0 % (reviewer 2 comment A6) respectively. E. coli were detected in 7.1 % of processed and 30.6% of non-processed samples. Conclusion: The considerable unsatisfactory level of E. coli in some of the tested samples is augmenting the need to improve food preparation, handling, storage, and distribution in the hospital.
Consumption of foods with low zinc (Zn) contents has contributed to the onset of malnutrition and physiological problems in the population. Seeking to improve the nutritional quality of the grains, ...foliar applications of Zn have been carried out. The aim of this study was to evaluate Zn-EDTA and Zn-Amino as alternatives to ZnSO
4
, in foliar application, to improve the nutritional quality of the common bean cultivar 'BRSMG Madrepérola'. An experiment was carried out in a greenhouse, in a factorial scheme (3 × 5 + 1) + (1 × 3), corresponding to three sources, five doses of foliar-applied Zn (2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0 and 20.0 mg dm
−3
), one control, without Zn application and three doses of KCl (0.0, 0.2 and 0.4%) along with the 5 mg dm
−3
dose of Zn, through foliar application of ZnSO
4
, in a randomized block design with four replicates. The foliar application of Zn-EDTA was found to be more effective than other sources in increasing the levels and quantities of zinc and other nutrients in common bean grains. Furthermore, increasing doses of Zn-EDTA resulted in lower phytotoxic effects in common beans when compared to doses of ZnSO
4
and Zn-Amino, with only a minimal reduction in grain yield at the dosage that promoted higher zinc contents in the grains. The foliar application of different doses and sources of zinc leads to increased zinc contents in grains, which could help improve their quality and nutritional value for human consumption, reducing zinc malnutrition.
Plant-based foods should be fresh, safe, and natural, with nutritional value and processed in sustainable ways. Among all consumed vegetables, Brassica vegetables are considered to be the most ...important ones. As they are eaten in large quantities and frequently, they may constitute an important source of nutrients and bioactive compounds in a daily diet. This work is aimed at assessing the effect of technological processing (blanching and traditional cooking in water and in a convection steam oven) as well as the method of frozen storage (in PE-LD zipper bags and vacuum packing) on the content of selected components in purple cauliflower. The material was examined for the content of dry matter, vitamin C, total polyphenols, anthocyanins, thiocyanates, nitrates, and nitrites, as well as antioxidant activity. All technological processes caused significant changes in the contents of examined nutritive and non-nutritive compounds as well as in antioxidant activity or the level of selected chemical pollutions. A trend was also observed towards lower constituents’ losses as a result of convection steaming, compared to traditional cooking in water. Moreover, the reduction in the content of examined compounds was smaller in vacuum-packed and frozen-stored vegetables then in those stored in zipper PE-LD bags.
Evaluating food intake quality may contribute to the development of nutrition programs. In Mexico, there are no screening tools that can be administered quickly for the evaluation of this variable. ...The aim was to determine the reproducibility of a mini-survey designed to evaluate the quality of food intake (Mini-ECCA) in a Mexican population. Mini-ECCA consists of 12 questions that are based on Mexican and international recommendations for food and non-alcoholic beverage intake, with the support of photographs for food quantity estimation. Each question scores as 0 (unhealthy) or 1 (healthy), and the final score undergoes a classification procedure. Through the framework of a nutritional study, 152 employees of the municipal water company in Guadalajara, Mexico (April⁻August 2016), were invited to participate. The survey was administered in two rounds (test and retest) with a 15-day interval between them. We calculated the Spearman correlation coefficient, the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), and weighted kappa for score classification agreement (SPSS versus 14
< 0.05 was considered statistically significant). The survey obtained a "good" reproducibility (ρ = 0.713,
< 0.001), and an excellent concordance (ICC = 0.841 Confidence Interval 95% 0.779, 0.885). It can thus be said that the Mini-ECCA displayed acceptable reproducibility and is suitable for the purpose of dietary assessment and guidance.
"Hyperspectral imaging, as an emerging technology, acquires and analyzes a large amount of spectral and spatial information from a real scene in the form of three-dimensional images. The technology ...offers unprecedented capabilities, compared to conventional imaging and spectroscopy, for a wide range of applications from satellite remote sensing to biomedical imaging and to product quality and safety inspection. Image processing and analysis is thus at the core of the technology. With rapid developments both in hardware and software in recent years and increased demands for better quality and safer food products, we have witnessed expanding R&D activities and applications of hyperspectral imaging technology in objective, rapid, non-destructive and automated safety inspection and quality control for a variety of food and agricultural products and production. Hyperspectral Imaging Technology in Food and Agriculture is focused on major recent advances in research and applications of hyperspectral imaging technology in food and agriculture. The book begins with the fundamentals of the technology, followed by a comprehensive coverage of food quality and safety evaluation in meats, fruits, vegetables, grains and other foods, as well as remote sensing for crop production. This book is written by international peers who have academic and professional credentials, with each chapter addressing a particular topic or specific application of the technology. The book provides the engineer and technologist working in the food and agricultural industry with critical, comprehensive and readily accessible information on hyperspectral imaging technology. It also serves as an essential reference source to undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in universities and research institutions"--Back cover.
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