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Cow's milk and egg allergies are two of the most common food allergies. Manufacturers of food products containing milk or eggs or their derivatives as an ingredient are required by European Union regulations to list their presence on the ingredient label. Under European Union legislation, member states are mandated to carry out food safety monitoring programs to verify compliance with food labeling requirements. Through the Regional Integrated Plan for Food Safety, the Piedmont (Italy) regional authority carries out an annual program to detemiine the presence of undeclared allergens in foods. In the 5-year period from 2010 to 2014, a total of 1,566 food samples were analyzed for the presence of hidden egg and milk proteins. The average positive percentage was 2.8% (3.6% egg and 2% milk proteins). Comparison between the allergen concentration and the published eliciting dose (ED) for egg proteins (0.03 mg) and for total milk proteins (0.1 mg) indicated a high risk of allergen exposure for sensitized consumers. The calculated exposure was up to 135X (for milk) the ED01 reported in the literature. Food manufacturers will need to improve their allergen control programs to reduce allergen exposure and risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Fighting food frauds is a ceaseless challenge because of the constant evolution of fraudulent practices and for the consequences both on consumers' and on globalized trade. In Italy fish is a vulnerable commodity for frauds thanks to the high national production, importation and consumption and it is important to monitor the entire food chain in order to detect and prevent fraudulent actions, such as species substitutions, which is considered the most common fraud in seafood. Aim of this study was to realise a targeted Monitoring Plan to estimate the prevalence of fish species substitutions in Italy. As a first step, Italian fish supply chain, from production to selling, was analysed, in order to identify products and chain points at risk, by reviewing literature and by involving, in two focus groups, food inspectors and representatives of the large scale food distribution system. Then a monitoring plan was designed by sampling three fish species considered at major risk for their economic value and/or large consumption, i.e. tuna, grouper and flat fishes, at different selling points (wholesale markets, retail markets, fish shops and supermarkets). From February to March 2017, 242 samples from fresh, frozen or transformed whole fishes or fillets were sampled in 13 Italian cities (5 in Northern Italy, 2 in Central Italy, 3 in Southern Italy and 3 in the main Islands). Samples were analysed by "FINS" (Forensically Informative Nucleotide Sequencing), using two markers: cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) as first option and then mitochondrial cytochrome B gene (cytb), if necessary to identify uncertain or unassigned samples. Species substitutions were uncovered in 8.7% of analysed samples, principally related to grouper (prevalence of 14.71%). Supermarkets resulted the selling points with a major number of frauds (prevalence of 12.79%). Substituted species were taxonomically related to those declared on the label and no species harmful for consumers were detected. Results obtained can give to National Authorities a detailed frame of trends in fish substitution frauds in Italy, providing also relevant information to put into effect control measures. Highlights • Targeted Italian Monitoring Plan to estimate the prevalence of fish substitution frauds in Italy. • Results of the first National Monitoring Plans on fish substitutions. • Trends in fish substitution frauds in Italy giving information to put into effect control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Raw milk consumption in Italy has increased over the past three years following the enactment of a national law that allows the sale of unpacked and unpasteurized cows'' milk via vending machines on the farm and at markets. From 2009 to 2011, a three-part monitoring survey of raw milk sold though vending machines was carried out to investigate for the occurrence of Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli O:157, Campylobacter spp. and Listeria monocytogenes. A total of 618 raw milk samples were collected from 112 dairy herds supplying 131 raw milk vending machines. Of the samples tested, 0.3% were positive for Salmonella spp., 0.2% for E. coli O:157, 1.5% for Campylobacter spp., and 1.6% for Listeria monocytogens. Multivariate analysis showed no effect of seasonality, average daily temperature, herd size, sample collection point or distance between herd and vending machine; however, there was a statistically significant correlation between a previous finding of pathogens and recurrence of contamination. The monitoring survey results confirm that unpasteurized milk can be a vehicle of a variety of microorganisms and an important source of foodborne illness outbreaks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recently, atypical bovine pestiviruses (BVDV-3) have been identified in batches of contaminated foetal calf serum (FCS) and in naturally infected cattle. During routine screening of FCS by conventional panpestivirus PCR assay, one batch showed traces of pestivirus nucleic acids, and the contaminating virus was typed as BVDV-3-like. Phylogenetic analysis based on three genome regions (5′UTR, Npro and E2) showed that this strain, named IZSPLV_To, clusters in a separate clade with CH_KaHo/cont, a cell culture contaminant detected in Switzerland. This study is the first report of the detection in Italy of a FCS batch contaminated with BVDV-3 and adds more evidence that atypical pestiviruses represent a serious cause for concern in cell culture laboratories, with potential repercussions on BVD control and vaccine biosafety. Our findings suggest that the BE/B2 primers may be able to detect BVDV-3 in a panpestivirus assay, but testing of a larger number of strains is required. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Natural and synthetic corticosteroids are widely used in veterinary medicine for their anti-inflammatory properties, but are also illegally used in animal breeding as growth-promoting agents: this latter application in livestock production has been banned within the European Union due to health concerns for the consumer. In this work urine samples collected from bovines experimentally treated with dexamethasone (0.4mg of dexamethasone 21-disodium phosphate per capita/day for 20 consecutive days) and bovines bred under strictly controlled conditions were investigated for the presence of natural and synthetic corticosteroids, using a simple multi-residue liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method, developed and validated in accordance with the criteria of the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of a low dosage and long term dexamethasone treatment on the levels of endogenous corticosteroids in cattle and to evaluate the possible presence of prednisolone residues in bovines bred under strictly controlled conditions. Our findings confirm the high and rapid rate of dexamethasone urinary excretion. Dexamethasone treatment elicited an early reduction of hydrocortisone and cortisone, suggesting the disappearance of these two hormones as an indirect indicator of corticosteroid treatment in cattle. Prednisolone residues were found (concentration interval 0.4–1.4ngmL−1) in urine samples collected from control bovines especially at the slaughterhouse, together with high levels of hydrocortisone and cortisone. Further studies are necessary to find out the reason of unexplained excretion of this hormone in urine samples of untreated bovines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A reliable ante-mortem test for the detection of scrapie in all genotypes has not yet been developed and clinical diagnosis remains a useful tool for surveillance purposes. This paper describes the results of a three-year study in which clinical signs consistent with scrapie were recorded according to standardized criteria in 245 sheep from 21 outbreaks in Italy in order to identify helpful criteria for the diagnosis of the disease. Thirty-seven sheep were scrapie-positive at post-mortem rapid testing, 23 showed weight loss, 20 had proprioceptive deficits, 17 demonstrated ataxia and nibble reflex, and some sheep had a combination of signs. Six scrapie-positive sheep were asymptomatic. The clinical protocol was easy to handle and appears to be a useful tool for improving passive surveillance. The data suggested that positive clinical history, nibble, and nibble combined with proprioceptive positioning deficit have a quite high negative predictive value. The protocol will be proposed as a tool for field inspection in passive surveillance in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The partial PrP gene sequence and the deduced protein of eight cetacean species, seven of which have never been reported so far, have been determined in order to extend knowledge of sequence variability of the PrP genes in different species and to aid in speculation on cetacean susceptibility to prions. Both the nucleotide and the deduced amino acid sequences have been analysed in comparison with some of the known mammalian PrPs. Cetacean PrPs present typical features of eutherian PrPs. The PrP gene from the species of the family Delphinidae gave identical nucleic acid sequences, while differences in the PrP gene were found in Balaenopteridae and Ziphidae. The phylogenetic tree resulting from analysis of the cetacean PrP gene sequences, together with reported sequences of some ungulates, carnivores and primates, showed that the PrP gene phylogenesis mirrors the species phylogenesis. The PrP gene of cetaceans is very close to species where natural forms of TSEs are known. From an analysis of the sequences and the phylogenesis of the PrP gene, susceptibility to or occurrence of prion diseases in cetaceans can not be excluded. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Effective therapy for prion diseases is currently unavailable. Recently, vaccination was shown to be effective in mouse models of a particular neurodegenerative conditions: Alzheimer''s disease (AD). Here, we report that vaccination with synthetic oligopeptides homologous to the hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) prion protein augments survival time in animals infected intraperitoneally with 263K scrapie agent. For each hamster included in the study, prion-specific serum antibodies as well as deposition of pathological prion protein (PrPres), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and mRNA expression for cytokines (TNFα, IL-1β, IL-10) in brain tissues were evaluated. In immunized animals, increased survival after challenge was associated with a reduction of cerebral lesion, PrP deposition and GFAP expression; in these animals, anti-prion protein peptide antibody levels were increased, and the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFα and IL-1β) was reduced. Vaccination could be an effective therapeutic approach to postpone disease onset. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The availability of specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) recognizing the aberrant form (PrPSc) of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) in different mammalian species is important for molecular diagnostics, PrPSc typing and future immunotherapy. We obtained a panel of anti-PrP monoclonal antibodies in PrP0/0 knock-out mice immunized with recombinant human PrP23–231. Two mAbs, recognizing PrP epitopes in the α-helix 1 (mAb SA65) and α-helix 2 (mAb SA21) regions, immunoreacted with PrPC and PrPSc and its proteolytic product, PrP27–30, from human, murine, bovine, caprine and ovine brains by Western blot. Remarkably, mAb SA21 recognized unglycosylated and monoglycosylated PrP with the second site occupied by glycan moieties, but not monoglycosylated PrP with the first consensus site occupied or highly glycosylated species. Immunoblots with mAb SA21 disclosed that PrP glycosylated at the second site accounted for the slower migrating form of the customary monoglycosylated PrP doublet. mAb SA65 immunolabelled all PrP glycoforms by Western blot and was highly efficient in detecting tissue PrP by immunohistochemistry in light microscopy and in immunoelectron microscopy. These novel anti-PrP mAbs provide tools to investigate the subcellular site of PrP deposition in mammalian prion diseases and may also contribute to assess the role of different PrP glycoforms in human and animal prion diseases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]