State‐of‐the‐Art Chocolate Manufacture: A Review

The aroma, taste, shine, snap, smoothness, “melt‐in‐your‐mouth” sensation, and texture are all qualities that define chocolate, and all depend on how the cocoa and the chocolate itself are processed. Postharvest handling of the cocoa (fermentation, drying, cleaning, storage, and transport) and its transformation into chocolate (roasting, grinding, conching, tempering, molding, and the addition of core and other ingredients), as well as the packaging, storage, transport, and refrigeration of the finished product all have an important influence on the characteristics of chocolate. The aim of this review was to identify and study the key factors, including microbiological aspects that affect the quality of chocolate, from harvesting the beans right up to the manufacture of the finished products.     

In Vitro Toxicity Testing of Food Contact Materials: State‐of‐the‐Art and Future Challenges

Currently, toxicological testing of food contact materials (FCMs) is focused on single substances and their genotoxicity. However, people are exposed to mixtures of chemicals migrating from food contact articles (FCAs) into food, and toxic effects other than genotoxic damage may also be relevant. Since FCMs can be made of more than 8 thousand substances, assessing them one‐by‐one is very resource‐consuming. Moreover, finished FCAs usually contain non‐intentionally added substances (NIAS). NIAS toxicity can only be tested if a substance's chemical identity is known and if it is available as a pure chemical. Often, this is not the case. Nonetheless, regulations require safety assessments for all substances migrating from FCAs, including NIAS, hence new approaches to meet this legal obligation are needed. Testing the overall migrate or extract from an FCM/FCA is an option. Ideally, such an assessment would be performed by means of in vitro bioassays, as they are rapid and cost‐effective. Here, we review the studies using in vitro bioassays to test toxicity of FCMs/FCAs. Three main categories of in vitro assays that have been applied include assays for cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and endocrine disruption potential. In addition, we reviewed studies with small multicellular animal‐based bioassays. Our overview shows that in vitro testing of FCMs is in principle feasible. We discuss future research needs and FCM‐specific challenges. Sample preparation procedures need to be optimized and standardized. Further, the array of in vitro tests should be expanded to include those of highest relevance for the most prevalent human diseases of concern.     

Enhancement of Crystallization Processes by Power Ultrasound: Current State‐of‐the‐Art and Research Advances

Power ultrasound‐assisted crystallization, which is also called sonocrystallization, is a novel and effective method for enhancing crystallization processes compared to conventional processes. In both supercooled and supersaturated crystallization, power ultrasound can accelerate the nucleation rate and better control the formation and growth of crystals. Due to its high efficiency, power ultrasound has been applied in many fields. In this review, studies published in recent years on effects of power ultrasound in both supercooled and supersaturated crystallization processes are discussed, with focus on the widely accepted crystallization mechanism and modeling. The applications of power ultrasound in liquid ice crystallization, ice cream manufacture, fruit and vegetable preservation and sugar and food supersaturated crystallization are summarized, and challenges and trends for further development of the technology are presented.     

解读《食品容器、包装材料用添加剂使用卫生标准》

食品安全问题一直备受人们关注,然而食品包装作为食品的“隐形添加剂”,往往被人忽视。在生活中,很多包装材料及其使用的添加剂都可能含有有毒有害物质,由于这些物质的释放和迁移大部分是隐、慢性的,并且有些包装材料或使用的添加剂只有在一定时间、温度、湿度、酸碱度等条件下才会释放有毒有害物质,因此不易被察觉。从食品安全角度讲,食品包装有害物质存在的安全隐患会直接威胁到消费者的健康,导致各种慢性、亚慢性甚至癌症等疾病的发生。为了保护消费者的健康安全,保障食品包装行业的健康发展,2008年9月9日,中华人民共和国卫生部、中国国家标准化管理委员会发布了《食品容器、包装材料用添加剂使用卫生标准》（GB9685-2008）,该标准为强制性国家标准,于2009年6月1日起正式实施。     

Immersion Vacuum‐Cooling as a Novel Technique for Cooling Meat Products: Research Advances and Current State‐of‐the Art

In order to achieve a rapid cooling rate and to increase the industrial yield of the products without compromising their quality attributes, immersion vacuum‐cooling (IVC) is now widely applied for cooling of both small and large food items. However, the lower cooling rate compared with vacuum‐cooling has initiated numerous studies to improve this technique. Substantial efforts, such as combination of IVC with other cooling methods, using different initial water temperatures, or employment of agitation during IVC, have been made to optimize cooling parameters while also maintaining quality properties and complying with strict food safety requirements. This review presents and discusses the IVC evolution and recent developments directed at the ready‐to‐eat meat products industry. The principle of IVC and its applications are discussed first. Then future prospects and suggestions are covered, especially for the cooling of ready‐to‐eat meat products.     

色谱技术在牛奶中抗生素残留检测方面的应用

由于近期发生的三聚氰胺奶粉事件,目前牛奶及奶制品的安全问题是国家及社会关注的焦点问题之一。因而奶制品中有毒有害物质检测技术也成为当前食品检测领域的研究热点。针对抗生素残留问题是牛奶及制品安全方面的一大突出问题,本文以抗生素类别为划分综述了近年来色谱技术及其与质谱联用分离分析技术在奶制品中抗生素类残留检测中的应用,主要包括气相色谱、液相色谱及色谱质谱联用技术等。     

A Review of Poly(Lactic Acid)‐Based Materials for Antimicrobial Packaging

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) can be synthesized from renewable bio‐derived monomers and, as such, it is an alternative to conventional petroleum‐based polymers. Since PLA is a relatively new polymer, much effort has been directed toward its development in order to make it an acceptable and effective option to the more traditional petroleum‐based polymers. Commercially, PLA has received considerable attention in food packaging applications with a focus on films and coatings that are suitable for short shelf life and ready‐to‐eat food products. The potential for PLA to be used in active packaging has also been recognized by a number of researchers. This review focuses on the use of PLA in antimicrobial systems for food packaging applications and explores the engineering characteristics and antimicrobial activity of PLA films incorporated and/or coated with antimicrobial agents.     

Self‐Assembled Carbohydrate Polymers for Food Applications: A Review

The self‐assembled natural and synthetic polymers are booming. However, natural polymers obtained from native or modified carbohydrate polymers (CPs), such as celluloses, chitosan, glucans, gums, pectins, and starches, have had special attention as raw material in the manufacture of self‐assembled polymer composite materials having several forms: films, hydrogels, micelles, and particles. The easy manipulation of the architecture of the CPs, as well as their high availability in nature, low cost, and being sustainable and green polymers have been the main positive points in the use of them for different applications. CPs have been used as building blocks for composite structures, and their easy orientation and ordering has given rise to self‐assembled CPs (SCPs). These macromolecules have been little studied for food applications. Nonetheless, their research has grown mainly in the last 5 years as encapsulated food additive wall materials, food coatings, and edible films. The multifaceted properties (systems sensitive to pH, temperature, ionic strength, types of ions, mechanical force, and enzymes) of these devices are leading to the development of advanced food materials. This review article focused on the analysis of SCPs for food applications in order to encourage other research groups for their preparation and implementation.     

Gas Permeability and Thermal Behavior of Polypropylene Films Used for Packaging Minimally Processed Fresh‐Cut Potatoes: A Case Study

Abstract: This work reports an experimental study on the permeability and thermal behavior of commercial polypropylene (PP) film used for fresh‐cut potatoes packaging. The permeability was tested using oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, mix of these 3 gases, normally used for modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and Air, to understand if it would be possible to extend the shelf life of this food product designed for the catering field in respect to the packaging behavior. The temperature influence on permeability data, from 5 to 40 °C, was analyzed, before and after 4, 8, 12, 15, and 20 d of food contact, pointing out the dependence between temperature and gas transmission rate (GTR), solubility (S), diffusion coefficient (D), and time lag (t_L) parameters. The activation energies (E) of the permeation process were determined with the different gases used in the experiments. The thermal behavior of PP film was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG) to well understand its thermal stability. Fourier transformed‐infrared with attenuated total reflectance (FT‐IR/ATR) spectroscopy was also performed in order to study the influence of the food contact on the chemical characteristics of the polymer film. The results obtained were discussed and compared each other. Studied samples showed, for all investigated gases, an increase of gas permeability and S values at higher temperature. Heat resistance classification among the sample as it is and stored in modified atmospheres was made. Finally all performed experiments have showed good polymer stability for the shelf‐life storage potatoes under study. Practical Application: Study of packaging material was performed in a range of temperature, which can simulate the service condition to assess the suitability of a commercial polymer film for modified atmosphere packaging of fresh‐cut potatoes minimally processed designed for catering purpose.     

Looking Back to Look Forward: A Review of FDA's Food Additives Safety Assessment and Recommendations for Modernizing its Program

Scientists participating in 2 multistakeholder meetings in 2011 and in other events have identified a number of ways in which the methods the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses to assess the safety of chemicals in human food should be improved and updated. We evaluated whether FDA's current methods, including its decision‐making process, are outdated, as alleged by its critics. We examined a 1982 report by the Select Committee on GRAS Substances (SCOGS) that included suggestions to enhance food additive safety. FDA established SCOGS to review the safety of “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) substances in response to a directive by President Nixon. When evaluating FDA's response to SCOGS’ suggestions, we found that many remain unresolved and relevant today. Our analysis demonstrates that in many cases FDA has not kept pace with scientific developments. Although difficult to pinpoint, we concluded that this situation became more significant after 1997, when FDA launched the voluntary GRAS notification program aimed at enticing manufacturers to inform the agency of their own safety decisions. Looking forward, we recommend that the agency convene an unbiased and independent expert workgroup to conduct a comprehensive review of FDA's science and decision making and develop a path to modernize food additives safety assessment. Areas of concern include toxicology test guidelines, tools used to predict health outcomes, conflict of interest in manufacturers’ decisions, lack of a reassessment strategy, and lack of a definition of harm.     

Evaluation of Micronutrient Sensors for Food Matrices in Resource‐Limited Settings: A Systematic Narrative Review

In resource‐limited settings, mass food fortification is a common strategy to ensure the population consumes appropriate quantities of essential micronutrients. Food and government organizations in these settings, however, lack tools to monitor the quality and compliance of fortified products and their efficacy to enhance nutrient status. The World Health Organization has developed general guidelines known as ASSURED (Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User‐friendly, Rapid and Robust, Equipment‐free, and Deliverable to end‐users) to aid the development of useful diagnostic tools for these settings. These guidelines assume performance aspects such as sufficient accuracy, reliability, and validity. The purpose of this systematic narrative review is to examine the micronutrient sensor literature on its adherence towards the ASSURED criteria along with accuracy, reliability, and validation when developing micronutrient sensors for resource‐limited settings. Keyword searches were conducted in three databases: Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus and were based on 6‐point inclusion criteria. A 16‐question quality assessment tool was developed to determine the adherence towards quality and performance criteria. Of the 2,365 retrieved studies, 42 sensors were included based on inclusion/exclusion criteria. Results showed that improvements to the current sensor design are necessary, especially their affordability, user‐friendliness, robustness, equipment‐free, and deliverability within the ASSURED criteria, and accuracy and validity of the additional criteria to be useful in resource‐limited settings. Although it requires further validation, the 16‐question quality assessment tool can be used as a guide in the development of sensors for resource‐limited settings.     

Continuous Versus Discontinuous Ultra‐High‐Pressure Systems for Food Sterilization with Focus on Ultra‐High‐Pressure Homogenization and High‐Pressure Thermal Sterilization: A Review

High‐pressure thermal sterilization (HPTS) and ultra‐high‐pressure homogenization (UHPH) are two emerging sterilization techniques that have not been implemented in the food industry yet. The two technologies apply different acting principles as HPTS uses isostatic pressure in combination with heat whereas UHPH uses dynamic pressure in combination with shear stress, cavitation, impingement, and heat. Both technologies offer significant benefits in terms of spore inactivation in food production with reduced thermal intensity and minimized effects on sensory and nutritional profiles. These benefits have resulted in relevant research efforts on both technologies over the past few decades. This state of the art of the discontinuous HPTS‐based and the continuous UHPH‐based sterilization concepts are assessed within this review. Further, various basic principles and promising future preservation applications of HPTS and UHPH for food processing, that are also applicable in the pharmaceutical, biochemical, and biotechnological sectors, are summarized. In addition, the applications and limitations of these technologies in terms of optimizations needed to overcome the identified challenges are emphasized.     

A Review: Biological and Technological Functions of Barley Seed Pathogenesis‐Related Proteins (PRs)

The mature barley seed proteome is dominated by proteins involved in stress responses, including the Pathogenesis‐Related proteins (PRs). PRs are currently classified into 17 families. The biochemistry of the PRs families, whose members are constitutively present in barley seed, is surveyed in this paper. These proteins are assumed to protect dormant and germinating seeds against pathogenic microorganisms and pests. The current knowledge on PRs structural and functional properties is summarized in an attempt to illustrate their importance in barley seed innate resistance. At the same time, a platform to understand PRs technological function in cereal foods and in beverage processing and quality is provided.     

Lactic Acid Bacteria as Antifungal and Anti‐Mycotoxigenic Agents: A Comprehensive Review

Fungal contamination of food and animal feed, especially by mycotoxigenic fungi, is not only a global food quality concern for food manufacturers, but it also poses serious health concerns because of the production of a variety of mycotoxins, some of which present considerable food safety challenges. In today's mega‐scale food and feed productions, which involve a number of processing steps and the use of a variety of ingredients, fungal contamination is regarded as unavoidable, even good manufacturing practices are followed. Chemical preservatives, to some extent, are successful in retarding microbial growth and achieving considerably longer shelf‐life. However, the increasing demand for clean label products requires manufacturers to find natural alternatives to replace chemically derived ingredients to guarantee the clean label. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), with the status generally recognized as safe (GRAS), are apprehended as an apt choice to be used as natural preservatives in food and animal feed to control fungal growth and subsequent mycotoxin production. LAB species produce a vast spectrum of antifungal metabolites to inhibit fungal growth; and also have the capacity to adsorb, degrade, or detoxify fungal mycotoxins including ochratoxins, aflatoxins, and Fusarium toxins. The potential of many LAB species to circumvent spoilage associated with fungi has been exploited in a variety of human food and animal feed stuff. This review provides the most recent updates on the ability of LAB to serve as antifungal and anti‐mycotoxigenic agents. In addition, some recent trends of the use of LAB as biopreservative agents against fungal growth and mycotoxin production are highlighted.     

Food‐Grade Covalent Complexes and Their Application as Nutraceutical Delivery Systems: A Review

Food proteins, polysaccharides, and polyphenols are 3 major food constituents with distinctly different functional attributes. Many proteins and polysaccharides are capable of stabilizing emulsions and foams, thickening solutions, and forming gels, although they differ considerably in their abilities to provide these functional attributes. Many plant polyphenols exhibit beneficial physiological functions, such as antitumor, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiviral properties. Proteins, polysaccharides, and polyphenols can form complexes with each other, which leads to changes in the functional and nutritional properties of the combined systems. Recently, there has been considerable interest in understanding and utilizing covalent interactions between polyphenols and biopolymers (proteins and polysaccharides). The binary or tertiary conjugates formed may be designed to have physicochemical properties and functional attributes that cannot be achieved using the individual components. This article provides a review of the formation, characterization, and utilization of conjugates prepared using proteins, polysaccharides, and polyphenols. It also discusses the relationship between the structural properties and functionality of the conjugates, and it highlights the bioavailability of bioactive compounds loaded in conjugate‐based delivery systems. In addition, it highlights the main challenges to be considered when preparing and analyzing conjugates. This article provides an improved understanding of the chemical reactions that occur between major food ingredients and how they can be utilized to develop biopolymer‐based delivery systems with enhanced functional attributes.