PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “FOOD CONTAMINATION”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Metal accumulation from contaminated food and its effect on growth of juvenile landsnails Helix engaddensis.

Metal accumulation by juvenile landsnails, Helix engaddensis, and its effect on growth rate was studied over a 5-week period of exposure and 2 weeks of recovery. An artificial food contaminated with Cu (4-2500 microg x g(-1)), Cd (50-800 microg x g(-1)), Pb, and Zn (20-12500 microg x g(-1)) was used. During the 7 weeks of the experiment, mortality rates were 20, 27, 30, and 38% among snails fed Cu-, Pb-, Zn-, and Cd-contaminated food, respectively. According to the ability to inhibit growth, metals were found to have the following order: Cd > Zn > Cu = Pb. Inhibitory effects of dietary metals started to be significant from the third week of exposure on. Inhibition of growth by Pb and Cu was found to be reversible, and within the first week of recovery, snails erupted their aestivation and resumed feeding and growth to gain weights similar to those of the control groups. Snails fed Cd- or Zn-contaminated food failed to resume growth during the 2 weeks of recovery. This indicates that in the case of Cu and Pb, growth inhibition was mainly due to starvation due to food rejection and aestivation. On the other hand, growth inhibition caused by Cd and Zn may have been resulting from irreversible toxicity. Therefore, snails were assumed to be sensitive to Cd and Zn but tolerant to Cu and Pb. Accumulation of Cu and Pb was significant only at the highest concentrations. At low and medium concentrations, no signs of accumulation were observed, indicating regulation at these concentrations. Cd and Zn accumulation starts at low concentrations but became significant at medium and high levels indicating accumulation of these metals.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The Gamma Contamination Food Factor.

We suggest that radioactive food contamination, as determined solely by a quantitative gamma-ray spectroscopic measurement, may, apart from the total activity per unit mass, be for quick reference conveniently characterized by another single figure which we call the "Gamma Contamination Food Factor" (GCFF). This factor may be defined as the ratio of the total specific activity of gamma-ray-emitting radionuclides in the food sample (except that of 40K) to the specific activity of 40K either in the sample itself or in an "average man". We discuss briefly the meaning and advantages of these definitions.

Food Contamination, Radioactive↗
PubMed1987

Inhibitory effects of essential oil components on growth of food-contaminating fungi.

The antifungal activity of several components of essential oils were evaluated using a paper-disk method. The substances investigated are structurally related to eugenol. Equimolar amounts were tested on more than ten fungal strains known to contaminate food. Iso-eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, carvacrol, eugenol and thymol revealed the strongest antifungal activity. The most resistant strain appeared to be Penicillium verrucosum var. cyclopium, and the most sensitive was P. viridicatum. Some of the structural effects were considered, including a free hydroxyl group in connection with an alkyl substituent which seemed to represent an especially active configuration of phenolic compounds and which rendered antimicrobial activity.

Food Contamination↗
PubMed1996

Systemic anaphylaxis after eating storage-mite-contaminated food.

We describe 2 cases in whom systemic anaphylaxis developed shortly after they had eaten food contaminated by a storage mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae. We were able to demonstrate that these cases were sensitive to the storage mites but not to food allergens, leading us to conclude that the cases' anaphylactic episodes were the result of ingestion of the storage mites. This is the first report of the ingestion of storage mites causing systemic anaphylaxis in sensitive persons.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Simple colorimetric estimation of cyclopiazonic acid in contaminated food and feeds.

A method has been developed for quantitative determination of cyclopiazonic acid, a mycotoxin produced by a common food contaminant, Penicillium cyclopium. The organism was grown successively in synthetic minimal medium, rice, corn, and wheat for 15 days. The toxin was extracted with chloroform followed by separation by thin layer chromatography. A colorimetric assay procedure has been successfully developed for the analysis of cyclopiazonic acid present in infected rice, corn, and wheat. The sensitivity of the method was tested by using recovery experiments.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2004

[Chemical food contaminants].

Chemical food contaminants are substances which are neither present naturally in the usual raw material used for food production nor are added during the regular production process. Examples are environmental pollutants or contaminants derived from agricultural production of crops or livestock or from inadequate manufacturing of the food product itself. More difficult is the classification of those compounds formed during regular manufacturing such as products of thermal processes including flavoring substances. In these cases, it is common practice to call those compounds contaminants which are known for their adverse effects such as acrylamide, whereas constituents which add to the food-specific flavor such as Maillard products formed during roasting, baking etc. are not termed contaminants. From a toxicological viewpoint this distinction is not always clear-cut. Important groups of chemical contaminants are metals such as mercury or lead, persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls and related pollutants, which are regularly found in certain types of food originating from background levels of these compounds in our environment. Furthermore, natural toxins form microorganisms or plants, and compounds formed during thermal treatment of food are of major interest. In general, a scientific risk assessment has to be carried out for any known contaminant. This comprises an exposure analysis and a toxicological and epidemiological assessment. On these grounds, regulatory and/or technological measures can often improve the situation. Major conditions for a scientific risk assessment and a successful implementation of regulations are highly developed food quality control, food toxicology and nutritional epidemiology.

Consumer Product Safety↗
PubMed1998

[Maximum likelihood estimation of date of infection in an outbreak of diarrhea due to contaminated foods assuming lognormal distribution for the incubation period].

This paper proposes a new method for estimating the date of infection in an outbreak of diarrhea caused by eating foods contaminated by some sort of foodborne pathogens such as Escherichia coli O-157:H7. Simple methods for calculating maximum likelihood estimator and confidence interval are proposed assuming (1) a common date of infection and (2) the incubation period has a log-normal distribution. Further, this paper shows that all three methods proposed so far for estimating the date of infection under the same assumptions are theoretically inappropriate or computationally imprecise. The proposed methods are illustrated with data from three outbreaks of Escherichia coli O-157:H7 and outbreak due to Escherichia coli O-118:H2 in Japan.

Disease Outbreaks↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Organization of the system of control of food contamination with mycotoxins].

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of microscopic fungi. They are classified with particularly hazardous contaminants of foods and feeds. It has been demonstrated that they are extremely dangerous for the health of man, widely spread and do considerable economic damage. The authors describe in detail the data as to the level of contamination of different foods with aflatoxins, ochertoxins, citrinin, patulin, trichotecenic mycotoxins, and zearalenone. The principal role in the prevention of human mycotoxicoses is played by the control over food contamination with mycotoxins. An organization program of the control has been developed. The principal feature of the program is the organization of the specialized scientific-practical centers responsible for the collection and summarization of the results of monitoring and for the development of prophylactic measures. The authors provide data on the maximum allowable concentrations of aflatoxins in foods validated in different countries. Review the topics concerned with the assessment of the efficacy of the control over food contamination with mycotoxins.

Aflatoxins↗
PubMed2002

Patterns of PCBs and PCDD/PCDFs in chicken and pork fat following a Belgian food contamination incident.

A food contamination incident involving polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) and PCDD/Fs occurred in 1999 in Belgium. On heavily affected farms, concentrations of PCBs in chicken or pork fat exceeded the Belgium tolerance limit of 200 ng/g lipid weight for the sum of seven marker PCBs. Analysis of contaminated samples showed that the patterns for PCB and PCDD/F congeners differed among feed, chicken fat and pork fat. Lower chlorinated PCBs and polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDFs) including those with high TEFs (PCBs 105, 118, 126 and 2,3,4,7,8-PeCDF) were shown to either bioaccumulate more in chicken fat or to be eliminated more readily in pork. This leads to the possibility that consumption of chicken would result in a higher TEQ human body burden than that from the same consumption of pork. In addition, PCDF congeners with non-2,3,7,8-substitution (e.g., 1,2,4,7,8-PeCDF) were present in chicken fat but absent in pork fat. Since the residue pattern in this commercial episode changes less in the avian species, these results reinforce the value of birds rather than mammals as markers of the source of contamination with persistent organochlorine pollutants.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1983

[Mycotoxins and food contamination].

The contamination of food and feed by fungi and their toxins (mycotoxins) has to be considered as a serious hazard in the daily live. Mycotoxins are natural contaminants in foods and could induce several syndromes. Many mycotoxicosis are described. The control and surveillance of mycotoxins involve the carrying out of surveys, toxicological studies and institution of regulations.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of modified immunodiffusion and Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) methods for detection of Salmonella in raw flesh and highly contaminated food types.

A wide variety of naturally contaminated and inoculated raw flesh and highly contaminated food types was analyzed by a modified immunodiffusion enrichment protocol and the Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) method to determine the equivalence of these methods. This modification was developed by Agriculture Canada to allow addition of a high-temperature selective enrichment step in tetrathionate brilliant green broth at 42 degrees C while maintaining a 2-day total test time. Foods representing red meat, white meat, frog, and seafoods and one type of animal meal were evaluated. A total of 320 samples was tested, resulting in false negative rates of 5.2 and 3.5%, respectively, for the modified immunodiffusion and the BAM culture methods. The overall agreement rate was 96.9%.

Animals↗