Indian perspective in food traceability: A review

India is the second largest producer of fruit and vegetables in the world. Fruit production in India has increased 89% in the last decade. In the present paper It is exposed the necessity for a proper traceability in the Indian food industry, because the sector is demanding an adequate system due to the precarious nature of existing supply chain, and to reduce the numerous cases of food safety incidents and fraudulence. This work also presents the existing traceability techniques in India which include RFID, Holograms, Barcode, Nuclear techniques and other tracking media to monitor production process. Furthermore it is revealed the initiatives implementation from APEDA and its association with GS1 India in the form of Anarnet, Peanut.net, Meat.net, and Grapenet for the Indian farming products, as well as several ICTs initiatives that are actively working in many states of India.However the development of an effective food traceability system is affected by a numbers of factors like restrictive government marketing standardization, insecure policies and unstable actions for food safety, underdeveloped and unorganized infrastructure in market area and the supply chains, from the farmers to non-existent cold chain facilities and small local stores, and inadequate agricultural practices with large number of small and medium industries and famers. Therefore an effective food traceability system is not only an important tool to manage food quality and safety risks, but also to promote the development of effective supply chain management in India.     

An improved traceability system for food quality assurance and evaluation based on fuzzy classification and neural network

Currently, the food safety incidents happened frequently in china and the customer confidence declined rapidly, then the problems related to food quality and safety have attracted more and more social attention. Considering the concern with regard to food quality assurance and consumer confidence improvement, many companies have developed a traceability system to visualize the supply chain and avoid food safety incidents. In this paper, we proposed an improved food traceability system which can not only achieve forward tracking and diverse tracing like the existing systems do, but also evaluate the food quality timely along the supply chain and provide consumers with these evaluating information, to mainly enhance the consumer experience and help firms gain the trust of consumers. For the food quality evaluation, the method of fuzzy classification was used to evaluate the food quality at each stages of supply chain while the artificial neural network was adopted to derive the final determination of the grade of food quality according to all the stage quality evaluations. A case study of a pork producer was conducted, and the results showed that the improved traceability system performed well in food quality assurance and evaluation. In addition, implications of the proposed approach were discussed, and suggestions for future work were outlined.     

Sporeforming bacteria in beer: Occurrence,diversity, presence of hop resistance genes and fate in alcohol-free and lager beers

The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of sporeforming bacteria in different types of beers (n = 163) and to assess the presence of hor genes in the isolates. Additionally, the study aimed to evaluate the fate of five representative sporeforming bacteria harboring horA and horC genes in alcohol-free and lager beers. Two hundred and sixty (n = 260) sporeforming bacteria belonging to eight different genera were isolated from beers, i.e., Bacillus (n = 118), Paenibacillus (n = 89) and Brevibacillus (n = 41), Lysinbacillus (n = 6), Cohnella (n = 3), Rummeliibacillus (n = 1), Alicyclobacillus (n = 1), and Anoxybacillus (n = 1), respectively. A predominance of members within the Bacillus cereus sensu lato (n = 72; 27.1%), followed by B. megaterium (n = 18; 7%), P. validus (n = 16; 6.1%), P. humicus (n = 13; 5%), P. alginolyticus (n = 13; 5%) and Br. brevis (n = 13; 5%) was observed in beer samples analyzed. Only 5% (n = 14) out of 260 sporeforming bacterial isolates recovered from beers harbored one or both horA and horC genes. Only one (0.3%) isolate, i.e., Bacillus cereus sensu lato (identified as B. thuringiensis LMQA 206) presented both horA and horC genes. None of the five bacterial sporeforming strains harboring horA or horC genes inoculated was able to grow in the beers throughout the storage period studied, and no spoilage was detected. The results of this study indicated a widespread occurrence of sporeforming bacteria in several types of beers from different brands, highlighting that measures should be taken to reduce the occurrence of sporeforming bacteria considering stability and safety concerns.     

Testing improvements in the chocolate traceability system: Impact on product recalls and production efficiency

The primary aim of food traceability is to increase food safety, but traceability systems can also bring other benefits to production systems and supply chains. In the literature these benefits are extensively discussed, but studies that quantify them are scarce. In this paper we propose two hypothetical improvements of the traceability system within the chocolate production system and supply chain and we illustrate the resulting benefits by using a case study. Based on the case study, we quantify the influence of these improvements on production efficiency and recall size in case of a safety crisis by developing a simulation tool. These results are aimed to illustrate and quantify the additional benefits of traceability information, and could help food industries in deciding whether and how to improve their traceability systems.     

Traceability technologies for farm animals and their products in China

The history of traceability reveals that nomadic herders as early as 1000 BCE marked livestock with irons and ear incisions in order to protect against thefts. Nowadays, we build traceability systems to document the origin of foods, and in order to ensure safer foods when tracking and recalling products. A holistic traceability system includes, as a minimum, identification elements, databases and an information flow. The animal identification elements refers to body marks, ear tags, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, retina image recognition, or DNA fingerprinting. The product identification refers to barcodes (EAN UCC, PLU, and GS1), 2D barcodes (QR, VC, and DM) and RFID or Electronic Product Code (EPC). The present review describes existing and upcoming traceability technologies for farm animals and their products, to update the common methods for information collection and data inquiry, with the view to expound traceability policies and regulations between developed and developing countries. The benefits of the new technologies and their practical limitations are also discussed.     

Labelling accuracy in Tasmanian seafood: An investigation using DNA barcoding

Mislabelling of seafood products has been documented in numerous countries for over three-quarters of a century. With a trend towards increased consumption of seafood, the informed consumer demands accurately labelled products that provide full disclosure of composition. DNA barcoding can be used to accurately identify a seafood product to species based on its genetic signature, and so provides a means to test the authenticity and accuracy of seafood labelling. This can be especially useful for products such as fillets which have few or no unambiguous identifying characters, and can easily be mislabelled. We investigated labelling accuracy in seafood retailers in Tasmania, Australia. Thirty-eight seafood products were obtained from seafood retailers, sequenced for the barcoding gene region cytochrome oxidase subunit 1(CO1), and subsequently identified to species level by querying GenBank and Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) DNA sequence records. Results were compared with standard fish names (SFN) prescribed under the Australian Fish Names Standard (AFNS) and FishBase. Of the 38 samples, none were deemed to have been mislabelled under Australian regulation, although in some cases naming discrepancies and ambiguity may cause confusion for some consumers. Our work, while reflecting high standards in Tasmanian seafood, highlights the need for mandatory standard labelling across all seafood products so as to eliminate any possible misrepresentation.     

Cocoa Quality Index – A proposal

The definition of food quality has varied over time but has evolved so that current definitions are based on meeting customer demands. However, in order to better define food quality a more comprehensive evaluation based in key variables is required. This study aims to propose a Cocoa Quality Index (CQI). A better understanding of what affects cocoa quality will allow researchers and managers to improve their product, benefiting producers and consumers. The present analysis was based on known desired characteristics of the cocoa bean. Total fat, total acidity, total phenols, phenolic acids, organic acids, heavy metals, amino acids, caffeine, theobromine, pH, sugars and macro and micronutrients were the main variables included in the CQI for the Forastero cocoa beans. The analysis was run on beans from two separate sites in Bahia, an Oxisol and an Alfisol. CQI values from the two sites did not differ statistically, but the adopted qualitative classification identified that the Alfisol had a ‘good’ CQI (0.703) while the Oxisol was classified as ‘regular’ one (CQI = 0.652). The difference was due to the better edaphic characteristics of the Alfisol. Results suggested that improving the cocoa bean in Bahia will require that total fat, phenolic compounds and glucose be increases and that total phenols, heavy metals, organic acids and caffeine be decreased. The proposed CQI method can be adapted to other agricultural products.     

Baseline for consumer food safety knowledge and behaviour in Canada

Understanding consumers' food safety practices is helpful in reducing food-borne illness. A systematic literature search was conducted to establish a baseline of consumer food safety practices in Canada, identify research gaps and make recommendations for future research. To date, this is the first study examining Canadian populations which gathers survey results measuring consumer food safety practices from both peer-reviewed, published literature and non-peer-reviewed public opinion research reports. The search found 26 Canadian publications from 1998 to 2011. Questions covered frequency of food preparation, sources of food safety information, consumer confidence and assigned food safety responsibility, awareness of food safety, knowledge of high-risk groups and high-risk foods, and personal experience with food-borne illness. Food safety behaviours were evaluated according to the ‘clean’, ‘separate’, ‘chill’ and ‘cook’ principles emphasized by the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education's FightBAC^® Program. Overall, results differed considerably between studies due to variations in study designs, populations, survey questions and definitions of correct behaviour. However, the analysis provided a general indication of areas requiring targeted consumer food safety education such as increasing thermometer use when cooking meats, raising awareness of high-risk populations and knowledge of high-risk foods, and expanding messaging to the internet and social media. Consumer food safety studies in Canada were limited to self-reported behaviours. Future research could include observational studies to validate results from self-reported food safety practices, and provide more accurate information on consumer food handling practices. Finally, establishing a set of standard food safety questions that can be compared between future surveys would contribute to a comprehensive baseline against which future food safety interventions could be measured.     

HACCP – The difficulty with Hazard Analysis

HACCP is a key element of modern food safety management practice such that design, implementation, control and management of HACCP systems are crucial to the production of safe food products. Whilst it is widely accepted that food companies should apply HACCP, understanding of the factors impacting successful HACCP application is limited and this knowledge is important to the delivery of systems that will control all relevant food safety hazards. HACCP principle 1, Conduct a Hazard Analysis, forms a central pillar of any HACCP plan since hazards need to be identified, analysed and understood before effective control measures can be specified. However limited guidance is available to HACCP teams on exactly how to approach the application of this principle. This paper discusses an investigation into the application of HACCP principle 1 by HACCP teams operating within manufacturing sites of a multinational food company. Using a combination of HACCP knowledge testing and HACCP plan assessment, the study identified weaknesses in knowledge of significant hazard identification and errors in the hazard analysis process, including errors in application of structured risk evaluation methods. Findings suggest that this is an area of difficulty for HACCP teams and that further detailed guidance in the application of this HACCP principle is urgently needed.     

Natural mycotoxin contamination of maize (Zea mays L.) in the South region of Brazil

The natural co-occurrence of fungal metabolites in maize samples from the South region of Brazil was studied using an LC-MS/MS based multi-mycotoxin method. All maize samples (n = 148) were contaminated with fumonisin B₁ (FB₁) and fumonisin B₂ (FB₂). Aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) and aflatoxin G₁ (AFG₁) were detected in 38 and 11 samples, respectively, while zearalenone (ZEN) and deoxynivalenol (DON), which were first regulated in 2014, were found in 110 and 71 samples, respectively. Apart from regulated mycotoxins, a broad range of non-regulated metabolites, from Aspergillus, Fusarium, Alternaria, Penicillium and other microbes, were also detected in maize sample. Fusarin C, a possible carcinogenic compound to humans, produced by Fusarium species and not addressed by Brazilian legislation, was detected in 54.2% of maize samples. All analysed maize samples were found to be contaminated by at least ten different metabolites, with the largest number of metabolites found in the same sample being 51.