SciName Finder™

Scientific names are necessary in food composition databases and scientific publications, to precisely identify plants and animals. A new internet site - SciName Finder™ (http://www.sciname.info/) - has recently been created as a tool to search scientific and vernacular/common names of plants and animals in authoritative sources. The database links into authoritative sources and currently contains 1,075,981 scientific and common/vernacular names. Danish Food Information has decided to provide access free of charge to other users.     

Harmonisation of food categorisation systems for dietary exposure assessments among European children

Within the European project called EXPOCHI (Individual Food Consumption Data and Exposure Assessment Studies for Children), 14 different European individual food consumption databases of children were used to conduct harmonised dietary exposure assessments for lead, chromium, selenium and food colours. For this, two food categorisation systems were developed to classify the food consumption data in such a way that these could be linked to occurrence data of the considered compounds. One system served for the exposure calculations of lead, chromium and selenium. The second system was developed for the exposure assessment of food colours. The food categories defined for the lead, chromium and selenium exposure calculations were used as a basis for the food colour categorisation, with adaptations to optimise the linkage with the food colour occurrence data. With this work, an initial impetus was given to make user-friendly food categorisation systems for contaminants and food colours applicable on a pan-European level. However, a set of difficulties were encountered in creating a common food categorisation system for 14 individual food consumption databases that differ in the type and number of foods coded and in level of detail provided about the consumed foods. The work done and the problems encountered in this project can be of interest for future projects in which food consumption data will be collected on a pan-European level and used for common exposure assessments.     

Harmonisation of food categorisation systems for dietary exposure assessments among European children

Within the European project called EXPOCHI (Individual Food Consumption Data and Exposure Assessment Studies for Children), 14 different European individual food consumption databases of children were used to conduct harmonised dietary exposure assessments for lead, chromium, selenium and food colours. For this, two food categorisation systems were developed to classify the food consumption data in such a way that these could be linked to occurrence data of the considered compounds. One system served for the exposure calculations of lead, chromium and selenium. The second system was developed for the exposure assessment of food colours. The food categories defined for the lead, chromium and selenium exposure calculations were used as a basis for the food colour categorisation, with adaptations to optimise the linkage with the food colour occurrence data. With this work, an initial impetus was given to make user-friendly food categorisation systems for contaminants and food colours applicable on a pan-European level. However, a set of difficulties were encountered in creating a common food categorisation system for 14 individual food consumption databases that differ in the type and number of foods coded and in level of detail provided about the consumed foods. The work done and the problems encountered in this project can be of interest for future projects in which food consumption data will be collected on a pan-European level and used for common exposure assessments.     

Use of Diet-tracking Websites as a Resource for Hard-to-Find Food Label Information: An Example Using Specialty Grocery Store Items

Many specialty foods cannot be found in research-focused food databases. However, some nutrient data can be found for many of these foods through individual website searches using brand and store names. Some popular diet-tracking websites contain data for over 3 million foods, data often entered by consumers, based on non-systematic searches. The reliability of these data to guide dietary data entry decisions are unknown. Five popular diet tracking websites were used to compare availability and accuracy of data for food items from a specialty grocery store that are currently unavailable in research-focused food databases.     

冷冻鱼糜的HACCP管理

<正> 随着科学技术的发展和人类文明的不断进步,消费者对于食品营养及安全性提出了更高的要求。水产品营养丰富、水分含量高,极易发生腐败变质。在水产品加工过程中实施系统与有效的卫生质量控制,是保障水产加工品卫生安全的关键。冷冻鱼糜在我国水产加工品中占有很大的比重,但冷冻鱼糜的质量却参差不齐。随着人民生活水平的提高     

HACCP在肉制品中的应用

<正> 近十年HACCP在食品中得到应用,并且得到了很快的发展,但还存在很多问题。HACCP中提出的一些要求比如:人流物流不能产生交叉污染,为了防止产生交叉污染就要对人流物流规定路线,就象交通路线分了人行道、慢车道和快车道,这样一来老的肉制品企业车间布局面临着改造。在应用HACCP时还产生很多问题,这是历史遗留下来的,也是老的肉制品企业HACCP应用趋于完善的一个过程。     

Food neophobia and willingness to try non-traditional foods for Koreans

Non-traditional ethnic foods are a new category of foods that have not been experienced by consumers. The objective of this study was to investigate the attitudes of consumers toward the familiarity and willingness to try non-traditional foods by food neophobia level, as well as to determine the relationship between non-traditional ethnic food experiences and food neophobia in Korea. Food neophobia was measured by the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS). The mean FNS score among Koreans was 33.5 (SD = 9.0). The high food neophobia group was less likely to have experiences with non-traditional foods in comparison to the low food neophobia group. Food neophobia significantly predicted the familiarity and willingness to try various non-traditional ethnic foods. Among the 12 non-traditional ethnic foods, the participants had the least familiarity and willingness to try African and Mongolian foods. In terms of the level of willingness, Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, Mexican, Turkish, Greek, Mongolian, African, Japanese and Italian foods showed significant differences among the food neophobia groups but Chinese and American foods did not. This study was a first and meaningful attempt to validate FNS in Asia for the delineation of consumer responses of various non-traditional food products.     

Harmonised procedures for producing new data on the nutritional composition of ethnic foods

Food composition databases provide important data that can be used in a variety of ways to improve the nutritional quality of food and the health of the populations. The multicultural nature of European populations, together with increased travel and the globalisation of the food supply, has led to an increase in the consumption of ethnic foods by both mainstream and ethnic populations. However, the information that is available on the composition of ethnic foods is currently incomplete and fragmentary which both prevents effective health and disease interventions and limits the provision of dietary advice and information. One of the aims of the ethnic foods work package within the European Commission’s FP6 Network of Excellence EuroFIR is the provision of new and reliable data on the nutritional composition of ethnic foods from seven EU Member States and Israel for inclusion in national food composition databases. To achieve this goal, specific standards and mechanisms were developed to sample and analyse foods to harmonise procedures. Given the anticipated usage of the data it was essential that they were representative of the foods consumed in the country or region and that proper sampling procedures of the foods were employed. The most important nutrients were prioritised and analysed by selected accredited laboratories. The analytical methods selected were appropriate to fulfil the requirements of the resulting data. Quality assurance measures (ISO 17025, CRMs, IQC) were in place and the data accurately reflected the composition of chosen foods. This paper describes the procedures for producing validated new data for inclusion in forthcoming publications.     

我国3岁及以上城市居民焙烤食品消费量及其游离糖摄入评估

目的 了解我国3岁及以上城市居民焙烤食品消费量、来源于焙烤食品游离糖摄入量及其供能比。方法采用多阶段分层与人口成比例的整群随机抽样方法,在我国18个省,采用非连续3天24小时回顾方法,收集13 083名3岁及以上城市居民的焙烤食物消费量。焙烤食品糖含量数据来源于国家食品安全风险评估中心开展的焙烤食品专项监测数据。采用简单分布评估方法计算我国3岁及以上城市居民通过焙烤食品的糖摄入量及供能比。结果 我国3岁及以上城市居民(一般人群)的焙烤食品消费率为24.11%,女性略高于男性,分别为25.69%和22.42%。随年龄增加,各年龄组焙烤食品消费率总体呈下降趋势,3～5岁组最高为39.09%,60岁以上组最低,为17.57%。一般人群焙烤食品平均消费量为10.25 g/d,女性(10.58 g/d)略高于男性(9.92 g/d);各年龄组焙烤食品平均消费量最高为13～17岁组(16.36 g/d),6～12岁组和3～5岁组次之,分别为15.22 g/d和13.25 g/d。一般人群通过焙烤食品游离糖的平均摄入量为1.54 g/d,平均供能比为0.37%(0.37%TE),女性(1.60 g/d,0.41%TE)高于男性(1.47 g/d,0.33%TE);各年龄组,13～17岁组游离糖摄入量最高,为2.21 g/d(0.52%TE),6～12岁组和3～5岁组摄入量次之,分别为2.14 g/d(0.59%TE)和1.94 g/d(0.65%TE)。焙烤食品消费人群平均供能比为1.53%TE(1.43%TE～1.67%TE),焙烤食品消费人群的高消费者(P₉₅)为3.86%。一般人群,通过面包和糕点摄入的游离糖平均值分别为0.68 g/d和0.73 g/d,远高于饼干(0.13 g/d)。结论 我国3岁及以上城市居民一般人群,女性的焙烤食品消费率、游离糖摄入量、游离糖供能比均高于男性,通过焙烤食品摄入的游离糖水平较低。焙烤食品减糖时,建议重点关注3～5岁、6～12岁、13～17岁人群,重点关注面包和糕点这两类食品。     

The precautionary principle and other non-tariff barriers to free and fair international food trade

International food trade and world population are growing rapidly. National legislation has been enacted and implemented in many countries to assure good quality and safe foods to meet increased demand. No country is fully self-sufficient in domestic food production to meet population demands, and all require some food imports. Current international food trade agreements call for free and fair food trade between all countries, developed and developing. National food legislation and food production, processing and marketing systems have evolved in most countries to ensure better quality and safer foods. At the international level the work of the FAO/ WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) and the World Trade Organization Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and related Uruguay Round agreements have been agreed to by over 140 countries with the aim to promoting the free and fair trade of good quality and safe foods between all countries. The SPS and TBT agreements rely on science-based Codex standards, guidelines, and recommendations as benchmarks for judging international food trade disputes. A number of non-tariff barriers to trade, often related to agricultural subsidies and other food trade payments in developed countries, continue to give rise to complaints to WTO. They also continue to prevent free and fair trade, particularly for developing countries in international food trade. A number of these non-tariff barriers to trade are briefly examined, along with other domestic and international food trade problems, and recommendations for improvements are made.     

Creating hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products using processing methods: Fact or fiction?

Wheat allergy is a potentiallylife-threatening disease that affects millions of people around the world. Food processing has been shown to influence the allergenicity of wheat and other major foods. However, a comprehensive review evaluating whether or not food processing can be used to develop hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products is unavailable. There were three objectives for this study: (1) to critically evaluate the evidence on the effect of fermentation, thermal processing, and enzyme or acid hydrolysis on wheat allergenicity so as to identify the potential for and challenges of using these methods to produce hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products; (2) to identify the molecular effects of food processing needed to create such products; and (3) to map the concept questions for future research and development to produce hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products. We performed literature research using PubMed and Google Scholar databases with various combinations of keywords to generate the data to accomplish these objectives. We found that: (1) food processing significantly modulates wheat allergenicity; while some methods can reduce or even abolish the allergenicity, others can create mega allergens; and (2) fermentation and enzymatic hydrolysis hold the most potential to create novel hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products; however, preclinical validation and human clinical trials are currently lacking. We also identify five specific research concepts to advance the research to enable the creation of hypo-/nonallergenic wheat products for application in food, medical, and cosmetic industries.     

Masticatory jaw movement recordings: A new method to investigate food texture

Food texture is known to influence several mastication parameters such as forces, muscular activities or mandibular displacement. This preliminary study was conducted to examine whether jaw movement recordings could be a reliable method to investigate food texture properties. Masticatory movements were recorded with an electromagnetic system. The subjects sat with their head in a magnetic field. Two coils were attached on the central upper and lower incisors. These receiver coils recorded a current when in the magnetic field. Five foods were chosen to display various rheological behaviours (meat, coconut, 2 cheeses and chocolate). All samples were prepared in standardised dominoe shape. Six replicates of each food were randomly presented and 8 subjects, free of any dental pathology, were asked to perform free style mastication. Durations, amplitudes and velocities of opening and closing phases of the masticatory cycles were measured. These movement parameters allowed discrimination between the foods. For all parameters there was significant variation between subjects. The main finding was the demonstration that mastication differed with the type of food chewed and thus this method of recording mandibular movements during mastication could be of a great interest for objective studies of food texture and to determine the basis of food texture perception.     

Information systems in food safety management

Information systems are concerned with data capture, storage, analysis and retrieval. In the context of food safety management they are vital to assist decision making in a short time frame, potentially allowing decisions to be made and practices to be actioned in real time. Databases with information on microorganisms pertinent to the identification of foodborne pathogens, response of microbial populations to the environment and characteristics of foods and processing conditions are the cornerstone of food safety management systems. Such databases find application in: Identifying pathogens in food at the genus or species level using applied systematics in automated ways. Identifying pathogens below the species level by molecular subtyping, an approach successfully applied in epidemiological investigations of foodborne disease and the basis for national surveillance programs. Predictive modelling software, such as the Pathogen Modeling Program and Growth Predictor (that took over the main functions of Food Micromodel) the raw data of which were combined as the genesis of an international web based searchable database (ComBase). Expert systems combining databases on microbial characteristics, food composition and processing information with the resulting "pattern match" indicating problems that may arise from changes in product formulation or processing conditions. Computer software packages to aid the practical application of HACCP and risk assessment and decision trees to bring logical sequences to establishing and modifying food safety management practices.In addition there are many other uses of information systems that benefit food safety more globally, including: Rapid dissemination of information on foodborne disease outbreaks via websites or list servers carrying commentary from many sources, including the press and interest groups, on the reasons for and consequences of foodborne disease incidents. Active surveillance networks allowing rapid dissemination of molecular subtyping information between public health agencies to detect foodborne outbreaks and limit the spread of human disease. Traceability of individual animals or crops from (or before) conception or germination to the consumer as an integral part of food supply chain management. Provision of high quality, online educational packages to food industry personnel otherwise precluded from access to such courses.