The politics and science behind GMO acceptance

The question of nutritional quality has arisen in the International Community over the last few years along with other important issues such as population aging, multipopulation societies, and political conflicts. The nutritional issue is questioned both quantitatively and qualitatively. It is well known that the planet faces enormous problems with food that is available. Nowadays 20% of the population consumes approximately 80% of the produced energy and natural resources. During the last 15 years, a series of food scares and crises (BSE, dioxin, foot and mouth disease, bird flu) have seriously undermined public confidence in food producers and operators and their capacity to produce safe food. As a result, food safety has become a top priority of the European legislative authorities. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is the new food safety concern which despite the intense reactions from Non Governmental Organizations and consumer organizations have entered our lives with inadequate legislative measures to protect consumers from their consumption. The GMO issue will be the issue for discussion in the long run not only for the European Community but also for the international community as far as scientific, economical, political, ideological, ethical, and human issues are concerned. These issues are discussed in this paper along with a case of study of GM fish.     

Implementation of quality control methods (physico-chemical, microbiological and sensory) in conjunction with multivariate analysis towards fish authenticity

Nowadays authenticity of foods and fish in particular has become of crucial importance because of high number of adulteration cases. Authenticity control has gained ground thanks to the development of several rapid physico‐chemical and microbiological methods aiming at distinguishing one species from another based on solid scientific evidence. It has been proven that despite the precision and accuracy of robust analytical and protein and DNA‐based techniques, detection of authenticity could not be claimed without resorting to multivariate analysis. This review summarizes both the most advanced and state of the art used techniques for detecting fish and seafood authenticity (both in terms of species and geographical origin). Another issue reported in this review is the preservation of fish and seafood through the implementation of old and novel techniques (ice, modified atmosphere packaging). Several informative tables were included in this paper referring to the employed quality control and sensory analysis methods and multivariate analysis for fish and seafood.     

Effect of natural colourants and nitrites on colour attributes of frankfurters

The colour attributes in a control and six more treatments of frankfurters (18% fat) produced with natural colourants and two levels of NaNO(2) (0 and 150 mg/kg) were studied. The following natural colourants, permitted by the EU 94/36 guideline, were used: E 100 curcumin (CU), E 120 carminic acid (CA), E 150a caramel (CR), E 160a beta-carotene (BC), E 160g paprika-extract (PE) and E162 betanin (B). CA, B, BC and PE significantly increased the redness of batter, while BC, PE and CU increased (p<0.05) the yellowness. NaNO(2) decreased (p<0.05) the redness of batters in all treatments. Frankfurters with CA had the highest a* value followed by those with BC, PE and B. BC, PE and B increased the yellowness of frankfurters. NaNO(2) increased (p<0.05) the redness of frankfurters in all treatments. The storage of frankfurters for 4 weeks had no effect on redness and yellowness of frankfurters. Exposure either for 2 h in sunlight or for 4 h in artificial light had no significant effect on redness and yellowness of frankfurters from all treatments. Canned frankfurters (117°) with B had the greatest decrease in redness while those with BC the greatest increase in yellowness. Frankfurters with B were the most acceptable from the consumers according to their colour followed by those with PE. Frankfurters with B had also the highest score for overall acceptability, followed by those with CA and nitrites. By employing discriminant analysis on the data, equations were derived for the identification of the natural colourant used in the production of frankfurters. Results from frankfurters, produced with 0, 3.6, 14.4 and 28.8 mg of pure B kg and 100 and 150 mg/kg NaNO(2), have shown that the level of NaNO(2) can be reduced from 150 to 100 mg/kg with appropriate increase in B level and frankfurters with 14.4 mg B/kg were the most acceptable from the consumers according to their colour.     

The effect of storage of canned vegetables on concentration of the metals Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, Sn, Al, Cd and Ni

The increase in the concentration of Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, Sn, Al, Cd and Ni over a 2 year's time of strongly corrosive acidic vegetables (pickles) and weakly corrosive vegetables (peas, green beans, haricot beans, mushrooms) has been determined. The results show a considerable increase in Fe, Cu, Pb and Sn content with time, particularly for pickles, while the change in Al, Cd, Zn and Ni content was rather negligible.     

Functional foods: a survey of health claims, pros and cons, and current legislation

Functional foods stand for a new category of remarkably promising foods bearing properties (i.e., low cholesterol, antioxidant, anti-aging, anticancer, etc.) that have already rendered them quite appealing. There are many classes offunctionalfoods (pro- and pre-biotics, dietary fiber, low fat, etc.), and their definition is occasionally confused with that of nutraceuticals and novel foods. Consumers' main skepticism regarding functional foods resides in the veracity of health claims and in the low and often inadequate control of their claimed properties. Legislation concerning this matter is progressing at an extremely low pace and currently only Japan, the U.K., U.S.A., and Scandinavian countries have managed to make notable progress. Moreover, the labeling of functional foods is far from informative, providing scanty information about nutritional value, storage, and cooking recipes. It is anticipated that technological advances in the food industry, in conjunction with extensive clinical trials and governmental control, will eventually guarantee the credibility of health claims and ensure consumers' confidence in functional foods.     

Impact of irradiation on fish and seafood shelf life: a comprehensive review of applications and irradiation detection

Irradiation is one of the most important and effective methods towards food preservation despite the consumer lack of trust and aversion towards this method. Irradiation effectiveness greatly depends on the dose provided to food. This review aims at summarizing all available information regarding the impact of irradiation dose on the shelf life and microflora and sensory and physical properties of fish, shellfish, molluscs, and crustaceans. The synergistic effect of irradiation in conjunction with other techniques such as salting, smoking, freezing, and vacuum packaging was also reported. Another issue covered within the frame of this review is the detection (comparison of methods in terms of their effectiveness and validity) of irradiated fish and seafood. The information related to fish and seafood irradiation and its detection is presented by means of 11 comprehensive tables and 9 figures.     

IMPLEMENTATION OF HAZARD ANALYSIS CRITICAL CONTROL POINT (HACCP) SYSTEM TO THE NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE INDUSTRY

Non-alcoholic beverages, particularly, bottled water and fruit juices (carbonated and non-carbonated) are the most widespread food industries worldwide. The industry objective is to process at the lowest possible cost while maintaining the organoleptic stability and quality of the final product. The latter can be achieved through strict adherence to quality (ISO 9001/2) and safety (HACCP) management systems. The flow diagrams for the production of bottled water, several juices (orange, lemon, apple), carbonated drinks, coffee and tea are shown accompanied with a synoptical implementation of the HACCP system (critical control points, critical limits, preventive and corrective actions).