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Most probiotics are delivered in liquid media which tends to limit their shelf life thus, they are not convenient for the modern lifestyles. In this study, Limosilactobacillus reuteri DPC16 was encapsulated in 10% reconstituted skim milk (RSM), 10% gum Arabic, 10% maltodextrin, and a mixed wall material (2.5% whey protein isolate/2.5% gum Arabic/2.5% inulin/2.5% sucrose), (w/w). The mixture was then spray‐dried at 160°C/80°C and/or 180°C/100°C inlet/outlet temperatures. The spray‐dried DPC16 microcapsules were characterized for viable cells of the probiotic, aw, and morphology. Results showed that at the inlet/outlet temperatures of 160°C/80°C, RSM as an encapsulation wall material had the highest cell counts (98.06% ± 0.86%) with 0.196 ± 0.010 aw. Most of the powder particles (RSM) were spherical with dented surfaces. At 180°C/100°C, about 84% DPC16 cells survived in RSM capsules. Thus, RSM showed good potential as an encapsulating wall material to maintain high DPC16 cell viability during spray drying. Novelty impact statement: The encapsulation of Limosilactobacillus reuteri DPC16 using reconstituted skim milk (RSM) by spray drying at elevated inlet/outlet temperatures had lower encapsulation efficiency (EE), water activity, and smaller particle size of the microcapsules compared to RSM microcapsules spray‐dried at low temperatures. Mixed wall material comprising gum Arabic, whey protein isolate, inulin, and sucrose produced microcapsules with relatively high EE, low water activity, and some microcapsules with smoother surfaces which could improve powder solubility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationships of food safety knowledge, attitude and eating behavior of consumers during national lockdowns in the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 157 respondents completed the online survey using a structured questionnaire worldwide. Overall, the respondents exhibited good attitude and good knowledge towards public health including food safety especially on the importance of social distancing, mask wearing, well-balanced diet, physical exercise and personal hygiene, such as hand washing during the pandemic lockdowns. A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the relationships among food safety knowledge, attitude and behavior under the pandemic conditions. Results showed that attitude towards food safety under the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns positively affected the eating behavior of the respondents, which exhibited a high β (0.686) among the variables tested (p<0.05). Food safety knowledge was apparently not affected by the food safety behavior of the respondents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food control and regulatory system in China is beset by several challenges. While firms have to reduce their costs in pursuit of benefits, customers are increasingly focusing on safety and quality of food products. Although the Chinese government has developed more stringent regulatory measures, food safety incidents still occur, including abuse of food additives, adulterated products as well as contamination by pathogenic microorganisms, pesticides, veterinary drug residues, and heavy metals, and use of substandard materials. A national food safety strategy has been proposed to assure food safety from "farm to table." This paper begins with the analysis of current food regulatory systems and then discusses cogovernance of food safety management in China. We explore the practice in the city of Shenzhen where government intervention has strengthened food control, thereby creating an opportunity to form a coregulatory system. The review highlights that the current food safety regulatory system of multi‐agency structure can inevitably lead to insufficient incentives for business entities. Due to asymmetric information, lack of regulatory resources, and consumer advocacy, coregulation has been developed and is increasingly being promoted as an important instrument of food regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food control and regulatory system in Zimbabwe is beset by many challenges. The system is fragmented and consists of many entities in the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and in local authorities. There are no clear mechanisms to coordinate the activities of these different entities and, in practice, they act independently except in times of a national food safety challenge. This, therefore, makes it difficult to ensure food safety throughout the food chain. Lack of the requisite resources is a major contributory factor to weaknesses in the food control system. In view of the food safety challenges in Zimbabwe, the food control system in the country is currently being reviewed. This paper describes and compares the current system with the proposed food control system as outlined in the draft Food Control Bill 2011. Particular attention is given to the establishment and functions of a Food Control Authority of Zimbabwe which will replace the existing State authorities in the control and regulation of food. The proposed Food Control Bill 2011 has provisions for a coordinated approach to food safety which would strengthen and improve food regulation in Zimbabwe. It includes proposals to bring together all inspection and analytical services under the supervision of one organisation. However the priority given to enhancing the overall supply of food and the lack of resources to develop a modern food control system is leading to continuing delays in implementing an enhanced food control system for food safety and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the term "ecosystem" has garnered substantial attention in scholarly and managerial discourse, featuring prominently in academic and applied contexts. While individual scholars have made significant contributions to the study of various types of ecosystem, there appears to be a research gap marked by a lack of comprehensive synthesis and refinement of findings across diverse ecosystems. This paper systematically addresses this gap through a hybrid methodology, employing bibliometric and content analyses to systematically review the literature from 1993 to 2023. The primary research aim is to critically examine theoretical studies on different ecosystem types, specifically focusing on business, innovation, and platform ecosystems. The methodology of this study involves a content review of the identified literature, combining quantitative bibliometric analyses to differentiate patterns and content analysis for in-depth exploration. The core findings center on refining and summarizing the definitions of business, innovation, and platform ecosystems, shedding light on both commonalities and distinctions. Notably, the research unveils shared characteristics such as openness and diversity across these ecosystems while highlighting significant differences in terms of participants and objectives. Furthermore, the paper delves into the interconnections within these three ecosystem types, offering insights into their dynamics and paving the way for discussions on future research directions. This comprehensive examination not only advances our understanding of business, innovation, and platform ecosystems but also lays the groundwork for future scholarly inquiries in this dynamic and evolving field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemp hurd fiber, a low-value waste stream from the hemp industry, has potential downstream applications as an alternative to non-renewable plastics for single-use food service ware and packaging applications. Packaging paper substrates made from chemically pulped hemp hurd, mixed in varying ratios with bleached thermomechanical radiata pine pulp were developed and tested. Handsheets were characterized using several mechanical property tests including tensile strength, tearing resistance, burst strength, short-span compression, ring crush, together with Gurley air resistance, contact angle, and Cobb60 tests. Generally, addition of hemp hurd fibers significantly improved handsheet mechanical properties. Hot-pressing of the handsheets so as to approximate molded fiber thermoforming further enhanced their performance, with pure hemp hurd handsheets having the highest mechanical properties and barrier performance. A prototype was successfully thermoformed from hemp fiber, demonstrating overall feasibility of this fibre source for molded fibre objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensive poultry production due to public demand raises the risk of contamination, creating potential foodborne hazards to consumers. The prevalence and microbial load of the pathogens Campylobacter, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli was determined by standard methods at the farm level. After disinfection, swab samples collected from wall crevices, drinkers, and vents were heavily contaminated, as accumulated organic matter and dust likely protected the pathogens from the disinfectants used. The annex floor also showed high microbial concentrations, suggesting the introduction of pathogens from external environments, highlighting the importance of erecting hygiene barriers at the entrance of the main shed. Therefore, pathogen control measures and proper application of disinfectants are recommended as intervention strategies. Additionally, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was evaluated as a quantification tool. qPCR showed limitations with samples containing low microbial counts because of the low detection limit of the method. Thus, bacterial pre-enrichment of test samples may be necessary to improve the detection of pathogens by qPCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ice cream formulation was evaluated in which extracted chia seed gum (mucilage) (CSG) was used to replace a commercial stabiliser. The pH, viscosity of the ice cream mix, overrun, fat globule size distribution, destabilised fat index, meltdown rate and hardness of ice cream were determined in the prototype samples. The ice cream samples were also evaluated by a focus sensory group. The best ice cream according to the focus group contained 0.2% CSG (w/w) with an overrun of ∼103%, 41.0 ± 5.3% destabilised fat index, 40.7 ± 8.9 μm fat globule size (d 4,3), low meltdown rate (0.9 ± 0.1 g min−1) and hardness of 40.1 ± 7.2 N. The focus group results showed that the ice cream had desirable hardness, smooth texture and creamy mouthfeel without sensation of ice crystals and off-flavour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel RPA-IAC assay using recombinase polymerase and an internal amplification control (IAC) for Vibrio parahaemolyticus detection was developed. Specific primers were designed based on the coding sequence for the toxR gene in V. parahaemolyticus. The recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) reaction was conducted at a constant low temperature of 37 °C for 20 min. Assay specificity was validated by using 63 Vibrio strains and 10 non- Vibrio bacterial species. In addition, a competitive IAC was employed to avoid false-negative results, which co-amplified simultaneously with the target sequence. The sensitivity of the assay was determined as 3 × 103 CFU/mL, which is decidedly more sensitive than the established PCR method. This method was then used to test seafood samples that were collected from local markets. Seven out of 53 different raw seafoods were detected as V. parahaemolyticus-positive, which were consistent with those obtained using traditional culturing method and biochemical assay. This novel RPA-IAC assay provides a rapid, specific, sensitive, and more convenient detection method for V. parahaemolyticus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listeria-infecting bacteriophages (listeriaphages) can be used to control Listeria monocytogenes in the food industry. However, the sensitivity of many of seafood-borne Listeria strains to phages has not been reported. This research investigated the host ranges of three listeriaphages (FWLLm1, FWLLm3 and FWLLm5) by the formation of lytic zones and plaques on host lawns and in vitro lysis kinetics of listeriaphage FWLLm3. The study also predicted the phage titres required to lyse host cells. The host ranges of the phages were determined using 50 L. monocytogenes strains, of which 48 were isolated from the seafood industry and two from clinical cases. Of the 50 strains, 36 were tested at 25 and 30 ℃ and the remainder (14) at 15 and 25 ℃. Based on the formation of either discrete plaques or lytic zones (host kill zones), the host ranges of FWLLm1, FWLLm3 and FWLLm5 were about 87%, 81% and 87%, respectively, at 25 ℃. Six L. monocytogenes strains from the seafood environment were insensitive to all three phages, while the other seafood strains (42) were phage-sensitive. The adsorption rate constant (k value) of listeriaphage FWLLm3 was between 1.2 × 10−9 and 1.6 × 10−9 ml/min across four host strains in tryptic soy broth at 25 ℃. The cultures (at 3–4 log colony-forming unit (CFU/ml) were completely lysed (<1 log CFU/ml) when cultures were infected with FWLLm3 at > 8.7 log phage-forming units (PFU/ml) for 30 min. Re-growth of phage-infected cultures was not detected after 24 h. The effective empirical phage titre was similar to the calculated titre using a kinetic model. Results indicate the potential use of the three phages for controlling L. monocytogenes strains in seafood processing environments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Raw (fresh) and frozen poultry products are frequently associated with Staphylococcus aureus contamination. New Zealand is among the developed countries with high incidences of staphylococcal food poisoning. The study investigated the S. aureus isolates obtained from various stages of poultry production, to determine the primary source of contamination. Viable cell counts of S. aureus were enumerated using Petrifilm™ Staph Express Count Plates, and the isolates were confirmed by Gram-stain and coagulase-positive test. Sixty S. aureus isolates were further confirmed by PCR. The PCR analysis used primers that specifically amplifies a fragment of the femA gene, unique to S. aureus. The confirmed S. aureus strains were further examined for enterotoxigenicity by PCR. Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) was then used to identify sequence types (STs) of the sixty isolates of S. aureus. The relatedness of the sequence types was investigated by eBURST. In this study, it was observed that all samples from the processing plant and live chickens at the farm were contaminated by S. aureus. Fifty-nine (59) of the 60 isolates were enterotoxigenic carrying enterotoxin genes: seg , sei , seh , sek , sel , sem , sen , or seo. The sixty isolates were categorised into six different sequence types: ST5, ST2594, ST101, ST83, ST398, ST1; where ST5, ST83 and ST2594 belonged to the Clonal Complex (CC) 5 with ST5 being the clonal ancestor. The sources of S. aureus contamination in the final poultry products were linked to fresh mechanically separated meat, fresh skin, fresh skin-on-breast fillet, rubber fingers on mechanical pluckers, and live chickens at the farm. The skin of live chickens at the farm was most likely the origin of S. aureus contamination on equipment and final products. Not all identified S. aureus strains at the farm were observed in the final products. Therefore, further investigation on other potential contamination sources such as gloves and knives used at the processing plant, and feeders and drinkers at the farm level is recommended. • Swab samples collected from the processing plant and live chickens at the farm were contaminated by S. aureus. • Of the 60 S. aureus isolates from the main sampling sites, 59 were enterotoxic. • S. aureus ST5 was identified in microbiological samples collected in the processing plant and live chickens at the farm. • A major clonal complex CC5 was identified. • The source of S. aureus contamination in the final products was linked to the live chickens at the farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Gynura bicolor is a perennial plant and native to China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Myanmar. • G. bicolor pigment showed potential use as a natural food colorant. • G. bicolor can be used as a functional food and source of therapeutic pharmaceuticals. • G. bicolor extracts exhibit antioxidant activities and anti-hyperglycemic effects. Functional food plants are nature's gift to human beings to help them battle against various ailments for thousands of years. With the global pursuit of improving the quality of life, there is an increasing demand for functional plants in the world's diet. There is a long history of using Gyruna bicolor not only as a vegetable but also as a medicinal herb in East and Southeast Asia. It has been found in G. bicolor that there is a broad spectrum of nutrients and plant bioactives. G. bicolor has been acknowledged by local people as a useful source of medicine for several therapeutic treatments. This paper provides a comprehensive review of G. bicolor from updated research literature. Botanical characteristics, cultivation information, traditional uses, phytochemistry, nutrient values, as well as biological activities are discussed. The storage, processes, proposals for product development, and toxic assessment of G. bicolor are also covered. It is expected that the paper will encourage further research thereby contributing to open avenues for scientific applications of G. bicolor as a valuable plant with multiple health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]