Tackling Fraudsters with Global Strategies to Expose Fraud in the Food Chain

Semi-quantitative analysis of formaldehyde in food using calibration chart based on number of colored wells of microwell plate titration

Microplate titration quantifies sodium hydroxide generated from formaldehyde reacting with excess sulfite in a 96-microwell plate. Phenolphthalein indicators change from red to colorless when all hydroxide ions react. Methodology optimized reagent concentrations, and reaction time and created a Calibration Chart for semi-quantitative determination. The chart shows formaldehyde concentration ranges corresponding to red well counts from 0 to 200 mM in 20 mM increments. Inter-operator repeatability demonstrates precision (3 replicates), correlating red wells with standard formaldehyde concentrations. This instrument-free technique uses readily available commercial plates, eliminating the need for specialized equipment and calibration. The methodology offers simplicity with its reliance on readily available commercial plates and minimal specialized equipment, hence it is cost-effective and easily transportable 96-microwell plates enhancing the methodology's portability, and efficient semi-quantitative analysis of formaldehyde. The analysis of twelve solutions from food samples agrees with the quantitative values using titration.

Food authenticity and the interactions with human health and climate change

Food authenticity and fraud, as well as the interest in food traceability have become a topic of increasing interest not only for consumers but also for the research community and the food manufacturing industry. Food authenticity and fraud are becoming prevalent in both the food supply and value chains since ancient times where different issues (e.g., food spoilage during shipment and storage, mixing decay foods with fresh products) has resulted in foods that influence consumers health. The effect of climate change on the quality of food ingredients and products could also have the potential to influence food authenticity. However, this issue has not been considered. This article focused on the interactions between consumer health and the potential effects of climate change on food authenticity and fraud. The role of technology and development of risk management tools to mitigate these issues are also discussed. Where applicable papers that underline the links between the interactions of climate change, human health and food fraud were referenced.

Food Fraud Conceptualization: An Exploratory Study with Portuguese Consumers

Food fraud refers to deceptive practices conducted for economic gain, and incidents of such fraud are often reported in the media and scientific literature. However, little is known about how European consumers perceive food fraud. To address this gap, a study explored Portuguese consumers' knowledge and perceptions of food fraud using qualitative methods such as free word association and semi-structured interviews. For this research, 340 participants were recruited, providing 911 valid words, classified into categories, major categories, and dimensions. Differences between consumers' previous exposure to food fraud and sociodemographic characteristics were explored. Additionally, other thirty-six participants were selected and interviewed, following a semi-structured guide. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using a thematic analysis procedure. The results suggest that Portuguese consumers view food fraud as a morally reprehensible deception and are aware of its causes and impacts. However, not all consumers know the different forms of food fraud or the types of products vulnerable to fraud. Among the most repeated words were "deception", "expiration date", and "falsification". Despite this food fraud awareness, most consumers believed they were not exposed to food fraud and stated that they do not conduct daily practices to reduce exposure to it. Following the chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests, significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were identified between participants exposed and not exposed to food fraud. The study also found that consumers with higher education and self-reported exposure to food fraud had a better understanding of the issue. This study provides insights for quantitative research on consumer perceptions and beliefs about food fraud to explore further vulnerable food categories and types of food fraud in real-world scenarios.

An innovative molecular approach towards the cost-effective entomological authentication of honey

Honey authentication and traceability are crucial not only for economic purposes but also for ensuring safety. However, the widespread adoption of cutting-edge technologies in practical applications has been hampered by complex, time-consuming sample pre-treatment processes, the need for skilled personnel, and substantial associated expenses. This study aimed to develop a simple and cost-effective molecular technique to verify the entomological source of honey. By utilizing newly designed primers, we successfully amplified the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene of honey bees from honey, confirming the high quality of the extracted DNA. Employing RFLP analysis with AseI endonuclease, species-specific restriction patterns were generated for honey derived from six closely related honey bees of the Apis genus. Remarkably, this method was proven equally effective in identifying heat-treated and aged honey by presenting the same RFLP profiles as raw honey. As far as we know, this is the initial research of the simultaneous differentiation of honey from closely related honey bee species using the restriction endonuclease AseI and mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene fragments. As a result, it holds tremendous potential as a standardized guideline for regulatory agencies to ascertain the insect origins of honey and achieve comprehensive traceability.

Perceptions of rural and urban residents in Borana pastoral and agro-pastoral areas in Ethiopia related to milk adulteration

Milk is a nutritious food that plays a great role in the diets of a society largely dependent on livestock production. On the other hand, contaminants can enter milk naturally or intentionally, causing a negative impact on the health of consumers. Milk adulteration is a wide concern in the dairy industry in many countries, including Ethiopia, with a subsequent negative impact on its nutritive value and potentially affecting the health of consumers. This study was designed to assess the perceptions of rural and urban residents in Borana pastoral and agro-pastoral areas in Ethiopia related to milk adulteration. It was also aimed at identifying the potential reasons for milk adulteration in the area. A semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data, respectively, focusing on the types of substances added to milk and the reasons for the addition of the substances. In rural and urban areas, 73.1% and 91.7% of respondents reported suspicion of the addition of nonmilk substances or milk of other animal species to cow's milk before selling, respectively. According to the qualitative data, most reported adulterants were water and 'pasta or rice water' (a murky fluid left after boiling rice or pasta). Respondents mentioned that they identify adulterated milk by observation or tasting. Economic gain was the primary perceived reason to adulterate the milk according to the study participants. The respondents had concerns about the quality and safety of milk associated with adulteration in the area. The weak enforcement of regulations related to milk quality and marketing as well as the inadequacy of capacity for the detection of adulteration were mentioned as gaps toward mitigating the problems. Awareness creation about the negative impacts of milk adulteration among the community supported by strategies for regulation, such as improving regular testing of milk and taking actions on adulterated milk, is recommended to tackle consumer concerns around milk adulteration in the area.

Analysis of odor compounds in Lee Kum Kee brand oyster sauce and oyster enzymatic hydrolysate: Comparison and relationship

Oyster sauce (OS) is a highly processed oyster product. However, the significant price difference between OS and fresh oysters raises a question: Does authentic OS truly contain components from oysters or oyster enzymatic hydrolysates (OEH)? Therefore, the odor compounds of Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce (LKK), 4 OEHs, and 6 other seafood enzymatic hydrolysates (SEHs) were analyzed by using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-olfactometry-mass spectrometry technology (SPME-GC-O-MS). The results of multivariate statistical analysis demonstrated the effective discrimination between LKK and OEHs from other SEHs. According to the VIP value and the differences in the composition of odor compounds among different samples, 15 essential odor compounds were screened out, which could distinguish whether the samples contained OEHs. Among them, acetic acid, 2-pentylfuran, 2-ethyl furan, 2-methylbutanal, and nonanal were only detected in LKK and OEHs, which further indicated the existence of OEH in LKK.

Application of multiple stable isotopes to aid identification of the origin of regional and organic animal products in Hesse, Germany

There is an increasing global demand for regional and organic produce. However, the growth of these markets depends on consumers' trust. Thus, novel methods must be developed to aid the verification of the origin of produce. We built on our previous study to identify the geographical origin and production method of animal-derived food products. Thirty-samples of eggs, 99 of milk, 34 of beef, and 62 of pork were collected from different regions in central Germany and analysed for their stable isotopic composition. The analysis followed a single-variate authentification approach using five isotope signatures, δ18O, δ2H, δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S. The best-performing indicators for verification of the geographical origin were δ15N and δ34S for beef; δ18O, δ2H, and δ13C for milk, and δ2H and δ13C for pork. These tracers indicated statistically significant differences among regions with the exception of pork; the results recorded for eggs were inconclusive. It was possible to distinguish between production methods by means of δ15N and δ34S (beef); all five tracers (eggs), and δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S (milk). This study demonstrated how the analysis of stable isotopes can be employed to determine the geographic region of origin and production method of animal-derived products in Germany.

"Blockchain technology in food safety and traceability concern to livestock products"

Livestock products share more than fifteen percent of total agri-foods traded worldwide. A global increase in food demand has increased the risk to food safety. Improvements in food quality, cold chain transit, and preservation are required for safe livestock products. Though, the food safety and regulation authorities demand complete food traceability from farm to fork, but in traditional supply chain it is ignored by fiddling with the transit paperwork and bill invoices. The process of supply chain reformation and activities linked to food recalls during food safety issues are insanely expensive and challenging. Traceability-driven food supply chain management is likely to implement novel technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT). The capability of the Blockchain era within the food sector is emerging with use cases across different regions, as shown via the growing number of studies. Credibility, efficiency, and safety are all improved when food products can be instantly traced from their point of origin through all points of contact on their way to the consumer. Blockchain assures a tamper-proof and transparent system that allows an innovative business solution, together with smart contracts. However, there are significant difficulties with the implementation of blockchain technology for food traceability. It necessitates more and more training platforms as well as trainers, who can make understanding and operability of this technology easy among ground-level participants and food entities. For the tactical application of this technology, it is essential to comprehend the legal and regulatory framework.

Application of blockchain technology in shaping the future of food industry based on transparency and consumer trust

Food Industries, at this moment, are moving towards a new phase, and this phase will be governed by consumers and not by the industry leaders. The report shows that claims on sustainability, health, wellness, and transparency would govern the future trends in the food industry. Currently, there are several cases of misleading and false claims which hamper consumer trust. So, to uphold consumer trust, authentication of claims through transparency in the food supply chain is required, and blockchain technology can bring transparency at relatively low transaction costs. Once in a blockchain network, data is very difficult to manipulate, with no single point of authority to mess and collapse the system. Though we see mostly the financial systems using blockchain's decentralized functionality, there is a growing trend of innovative applications being built in the supply chain area for contracts and operations. With effort in the right direction and over time, blockchain will recast how operations and processes are done across the industry, including public sectors. The paper reviews the opportunity for the blockchain in enabling food industries for future-readiness, empowering the consumers in verifying the product claims and thus prevent themselves from food fraud. In doing so, the paper considers the future trends in the food industry, identifies current food fraud cases, and outlines the various applications in the agri-food chain and challenges associated with it.

Graphical abstract

Assessing the role of organic food supply chain traceability on food safety and consumer wellbeing: A mediated-moderation investigation

Introduction/Purpose

Drawing on dynamic capabilities theory, this study offers a comprehensive framework for examining the relationships between organic food supply chain traceability, consumer wellbeing, and food safety trust based in organic food sector. The study also explores how consumer awareness of organic food influences the relationship between consumer wellbeing and food safety. We also look at a mediated moderation mechanism in the relationships stated earlier.

Methods

Using a survey as the primary data collecting method, a total of 221 usable responses were collected. To test the hypothesized relationships between all variables, SPSS PROCESS Macro 3.3 is utilized.

Results

The findings show that the organic food traceability OFSC affect food safety trust and food safety and consumer wellbeing are positively associated, while consumer awareness of organic food acts as a moderator on the relationship between food safety trust and consumer wellbeing. Also consumer awareness conditionally influences the strength of the indirect relationship between OFST and consumer wellbeing via food safety, thereby indicates a mediated moderation mechanism among the study variables.

Discussion/Implications

This study clarifies how consumer food safety trust and organic food traceability can enhance their wellbeing. It contributes to the theory of dynamic capabilities as well as organic traceable product marketing strategies.

Food traceability 4.0 as part of the fourth industrial revolution: key enabling technologies

Food Traceability 4.0 (FT 4.0) is about tracing foods in the era of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) with techniques and technologies reflecting this new revolution. Interest in food traceability has gained momentum in response to, among others events, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, reinforcing the need for digital food traceability that prevents food fraud and provides reliable information about food. This review will briefly summarize the most common conventional methods available to determine food authenticity before highlighting examples of emerging techniques that can be used to combat food fraud and improve food traceability. A particular focus will be on the concept of FT 4.0 and the significant role of digital solutions and other relevant Industry 4.0 innovations in enhancing food traceability. Based on this review, a possible new research topic, namely FT 4.0, is encouraged to take advantage of the rapid digitalization and technological advances occurring in the era of Industry 4.0. The main FT 4.0 enablers are blockchain, the Internet of things, artificial intelligence, and big data. Digital technologies in the age of Industry 4.0 have significant potential to improve the way food is traced, decrease food waste and reduce vulnerability to fraud opening new opportunities to achieve smarter food traceability. Although most of these emerging technologies are still under development, it is anticipated that future research will overcome current limitations making large-scale applications possible.

Food regulation and policing: innovative technology to close the regulatory gap in Australia

Internationally, food regulations are centred on human health and safety to prevent health crises. In Australia, regulatory control over the health and safety of humans is sound, however from a criminological perspective, control over fraudulent activities within food supply chains lack. Food fraud knows no geographical boundaries and has endless reach, therefore should be prioritised by policymakers, regulators and law enforcement. Australia’s reputation for high-quality food is important domestically, but also for establishing and maintaining trust in international food trade relationships, therefore lack of enforcement over food could damage ‘Brand Australia’. Given the food industry’s vested interest in maintaining this reputation, it must also play a role to protect it. This research reviews regulatory landscape against food fraud in Australia and then, questions whether coupling informal controls to support existing formal regulatory controls may be the most appropriate and holistic way forward to protect the industry and consumers. It tests a regulatory pluralism framework to determine whether it can logically organize informal, innovative responses to contribute cohesively alongside formal controls at various points along the supply chain to prevent food fraud. Finally, it considers available informal, innovative technologies to: enhance testing regimes; prevent product and label tampering; and trace food supply chains adopted internationally show positive progress in responding to increasingly sophisticated and organized global food fraud. The research concludes adopting a regulatory pluralism framework, coupling existing regulatory controls and innovative technology could enhance and strengthen Australia’s regulatory response to fraud within its food industry.

Blockchain-Based Wine Supply Chain for the Industry Advancement

The wine sector is one of the most ‘amazing’ and significant agri-food sectors worldwide since ancient times, considering revenue or employment as well as health aspects. This article aims to describe the impact of the implementation of blockchain technology (BCT) in the wine supply chain. After the literature review, the study is based on Agent Based Models (ABMs) and carried out by the GAMA program. Then, the model and simulation of BCT wine supply chain is designed. Finally, the paper compares traditional and BCT-based supply chains, and the advantages of the last one are evident. Blockchain is a useful tool to ensure a traceability system and to protect the production from any type of fraud and contamination.

Consumer Trust in Food and the Food System: A Critical Review

Increased focus towards food safety and quality is reshaping food purchasing decisions around the world. Although some food attributes are visible, many of the attributes that consumers seek and are willing to pay a price premium for are not. Consequently, consumers rely on trusted cues and information to help them verify the food quality and credence attributes they seek. In this study, we synthesise the findings from previous research to generate a framework illustrating the key trust influencing factors that are beyond visual and brand-related cues. Our framework identifies that consumer trust in food and the food system is established through the assurances related to individual food products and the actors of the food system. Specifically, product assurance builds consumer trust through food packaging labels communicating food attribute claims, certifications, country or region of origin, and food traceability information. In addition, producers, processors, and retailers provide consumers with food safety and quality assurances, while government agencies, third-party institutions, advocacy groups, and the mass media may modify how labelling information and food operators are perceived by consumers. We hope our framework will guide future research efforts to test these trust factors in various consumer and market settings.

Multiplex PCR assay for species identification of meat and dairy products from buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), cattle (Bos indicus and Bos taurus), goat (Capra hircus), and sheep (Ovis aries)

Cases of fraudulent meat and dairy products have increased worldwide, especially in developing countries. To determine the misrepresented animal species, appropriate tools in routine monitoring should be available for food inspections. In the present work, a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay for species identification of products from ruminants including buffalo, cattle, goat, and sheep was developed. The primer set KUMUT_cFarmSp1 was composed of five species-specific primers and a pair of positive-control primers. The primer set amplified 106-, 163-, 232-, and 308-bp specific fragments from the cytochrome b (cyt b) gene of buffalo, cattle, goat, and sheep, respectively, and 370-bp positive-control fragment from 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA). The detection limit of this PCR assay is 0.1 ng of DNA template. The developed primer set exhibited strong specificity, sensitivity, robustness, and simplicity for food verification, thus indicating its usefulness for species verification in food quality control and law enforcement.

DNA/Nano based advanced genetic detection tools for authentication of species: Strategies, prospects and limitations

Authentication, detection and quantification of ingredients, and adulterants in food, meat, and meat products are of high importance these days. The conventional techniques for the detection of meat species based on lipid, protein and DNA biomarkers are facing challenges due to the poor selectivity, sensitivity and unsuitability for processed food products or complex food matrices. On the other hand, DNA based molecular techniques and nanoparticle based DNA biosensing strategies are gathering huge attention from the scientific communities, researchers and are considered as one of the best alternatives to the conventional strategies. Though nucleic acid based molecular techniques such as PCR and DNA sequencing are getting greater successes in species detection, they are still facing problems from its point-of-care applications. In this context, nanoparticle based DNA biosensors have gathered successes in some extent but not to a satisfactory stage to mark with. In recent years, many articles have been published in the area of progressive nucleic acid-based technologies, however there are very few review articles on DNA nanobiosensors in food science and technology. In this review, we present the fundamentals of DNA based molecular techniques such as PCR, DNA sequencing and their applications in food science. Moreover, the in-depth discussions of different DNA biosensing strategies or more specifically electrochemical and optical DNA nanobiosensors are presented. In addition, the significance of DNA nanobiosensors over other advanced detection technologies is discussed, focusing on the deficiencies, advantages as well as current challenges to ameliorate with the direction for future development.

Multispecies Identification of Oilseed- and Meat-Specific Proteins and Heat-Stable Peptide Markers in Food Products

Consumer demand for both plant products and meat products enriched with plant raw materials is constantly increasing. Therefore, new versatile and reliable methods are needed to find and combat fraudulent practices in processed foods. The objective of this study was to identify oilseed species-specific peptide markers and meat-specific markers that were resistant to processing, for multispecies authentication of different meat and vegan food products using the proteomic LC-MS/MS method. To assess the limit of detection (LOD) for hemp proteins, cooked meatballs consisting of three meat species and hemp cake at a final concentration of up to 7.4% were examined. Hemp addition at a low concentration of below 1% was detected. The LOD for edestin subunits and albumin was 0.9% (w/w), whereas for 7S vicilin-like protein it was 4.2% (w/w). Specific heat-stable peptides unique to hemp seeds, flaxseed, nigella, pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower seeds, as well as guinea fowl, rabbit, pork, and chicken meat, were detected in different meat and vegan foods. Most of the oilseed-specific peptides were identified as processing-resistant markers belonging to 11S globulin subunits, namely conlinin, edestin, helianthinin, pumpkin vicilin-like or late embryogenesis proteins, and sesame legumin-like as well as 2S albumins and oleosin isoforms or selected enzymic proteins.

Insights into chemical and sensorial aspects to understand and manage beer aging using chemometrics

Beer chemical instability remains, at present, the main challenge in maintaining beer quality. Although not fully understood, after decades of research, significant progress has been made in identifying "aging compounds," their origin, and formation pathways. However, as the nature of aging relies on beer manufacturing aspects such as raw materials, process variables, and storage conditions, the chemical profile differs among beers. Current research points to the impact of nonoxidative reactions on beer quality. The effect of Maillard and Maillard intermediates on the final beer quality has become the focus of beer aging research, as prevention of oxidation can only sustain beer quality to some extent. On the other hand, few studies have focused on tracing a profile of whose compound is sensory relevant to specific types of beer. In this matter, the incorporation of "chemometrics," a class of multivariate statistic procedures, has helped brewing scientists achieve specific correlations between the sensory profile and chemical data. The use of chemometrics as exploratory data analysis, discrimination techniques, and multivariate calibration techniques has made the qualitatively and quantitatively translation of sensory perception of aging into manageable chemical and analytical parameters. However, despite their vast potential, these techniques are rarely employed in beer aging studies. This review discusses the chemical and sensorial bases of beer aging. It focuses on how chemometrics can be used to their full potential, with future perspectives and research to be incorporated in the field, enabling a deeper and more specific understanding of the beer aging picture.

Mitigation of emerging implications of climate change on food production systems

Crops, livestock and seafood are major contributors to global economy. Agriculture and fisheries are especially dependent on climate. Thus, elevated temperatures and carbon dioxide levels can have large impacts on appropriate nutrient levels, soil moisture, water availability and various other critical performance conditions. Changes in drought and flood frequency and severity can pose severe challenges to farmers and threaten food safety. In addition, increasingly warmer water temperatures are likely to shift the habitat ranges of many fish and shellfish species, ultimately disrupting ecosystems. In general, climate change will probably have negative implications for farming, animal husbandry and fishing. The effects of climate change must be taken into account as a key aspect along with other evolving factors with a potential impact on agricultural production, such as changes in agricultural practices and technology; all of them with a serious impact on food availability and price. This review is intended to provide critical and timely information on climate change and its implications in the food production/consumption system, paying special attention to the available mitigation strategies.

Variation in secondary metabolites in a unique set of tomato accessions collected in Turkey

In this study, 50 tomato landraces grown in Turkey were investigated in terms of their secondary metabolite profiles. Each accession was planted in 2016 and 2017 in 3 replicates in an open field. In this study, color, pH and brix of the fruit samples were measured and an unbiased LCMS-based metabolomics approach was applied. Based on Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) of the relative abundance levels of >250 metabolites, it could be concluded that fruit size was the most influential to the biochemical composition, rather than the geographical origin of accessions. Results indicated substantial biodiversity in various metabolites generally regarded as key to fruit quality aspects, including sugars; phenolic compounds like phenylpropanoids and flavonoids; alkaloids and glycosides of flavour-related volatile compounds. The phytochemical data provides insight into which Turkish accessions might be most promising as starting materials for the tomato processing and breeding industries.

Authentication of Turkish olive oils by using detailed pigment profile and spectroscopic techniques

BACKGROUND

Minor compounds of olive oil could have discriminatory characteristics in the authentication of this product. It was aimed to determine the detailed pigment profiles of Turkish olive oils and use them in differentiation of the samples in comparison to fast, reliable, and environmentally friendly Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet (UV)-visible spectroscopic techniques. Pigment contents of 91 olive oils obtained from different locations for two consecutive harvesting years were determined with chromatographic analysis and FTIR and UV-visible spectra of these samples were also obtained. All data were analyzed with orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis to investigate the differentiation ability of these methods with regard to their detailed pigment and spectroscopic profiles.

RESULTS

Pheophytin a (2.78-8.98 mg kg^-1 ) and lutein (1.19-4.07 mg kg^-1 ) were the major pigments in all samples. Pigment profiles provided successful classification of olive oils with respect to their designated origins and harvesting year with average correct classification rates of 97%. UV-visible spectroscopy has quite similar results with pigment profiles in terms of its discriminatory power. In addition, FTIR and fused data were slightly better in discrimination of the samples, and the fused dataset has the highest correct classification rate of 100%.

CONCLUSION

Use of detailed pigment profiles is quite promising in authentication of olive oils. However, UV-visible and FTIR spectroscopic techniques could be reliable alternatives for the same purposes. All of the techniques studied have great potential in 'protected designation of origin' certification studies. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

A big data approach to metagenomics for all-food-sequencing

BACKGROUND

All-Food-Sequencing (AFS) is an untargeted metagenomic sequencing method that allows for the detection and quantification of food ingredients including animals, plants, and microbiota. While this approach avoids some of the shortcomings of targeted PCR-based methods, it requires the comparison of sequence reads to large collections of reference genomes. The steadily increasing amount of available reference genomes establishes the need for efficient big data approaches.

RESULTS

We introduce an alignment-free k-mer based method for detection and quantification of species composition in food and other complex biological matters. It is orders-of-magnitude faster than our previous alignment-based AFS pipeline. In comparison to the established tools CLARK, Kraken2, and Kraken2+Bracken it is superior in terms of false-positive rate and quantification accuracy. Furthermore, the usage of an efficient database partitioning scheme allows for the processing of massive collections of reference genomes with reduced memory requirements on a workstation (AFS-MetaCache) or on a Spark-based compute cluster (MetaCacheSpark).

CONCLUSIONS

We present a fast yet accurate screening method for whole genome shotgun sequencing-based biosurveillance applications such as food testing. By relying on a big data approach it can scale efficiently towards large-scale collections of complex eukaryotic and bacterial reference genomes. AFS-MetaCache and MetaCacheSpark are suitable tools for broad-scale metagenomic screening applications. They are available at https://muellan.github.io/metacache/afs.html (C++ version for a workstation) and https://github.com/jmabuin/MetaCacheSpark (Spark version for big data clusters).

Design and validation of a real-time PCR technique for assessing the level of inclusion of fungus- and yeast-based additives in feeds

A reliable method for quantification of non-viable microbe-based nutritional and zootechnical additives introduced into feed is essential in order to ensure regulatory compliance, feed safety and product authenticity in industrial applications. In the present work, we developed a novel real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) -based analysis protocol for monitoring two microbial additives in feed matrices. To evaluate the applicability of the method, pelleted wheat- and maize-based broiler chicken diets containing a non-viable phytase-producing strain of Aspergillus niger produced in solid state fermentation (150 or 300 g/t) and a non-viable selenium-enriched Saccharomyces cerevisiae (100 or 200 g/t) as model feed ingredients, were manufactured and subjected to analysis. Power analysis of the qPCR results indicated that 2 to 6 replicate feed samples were required to distinguish the product doses applied, which confirms that the microbial DNA was efficiently recovered and that potential PCR inhibitors present in the feed material were successfully removed in DNA extraction. The analysis concept described here was shown to be an accurate and sensitive tool for monitoring the inclusion levels of non-viable, unculturable microbial supplements in animal diets.

Utilization of text mining as a big data analysis tool for food science and nutrition

Big data analysis has found applications in many industries due to its ability to turn huge amounts of data into insights for informed business and operational decisions. Advanced data mining techniques have been applied in many sectors of supply chains in the food industry. However, the previous work has mainly focused on the analysis of instrument-generated data such as those from hyperspectral imaging, spectroscopy, and biometric receptors. The importance of digital text data in the food and nutrition has only recently gained attention due to advancements in big data analytics. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the data sources, computational methods, and applications of text data in the food industry. Text mining techniques such as word-level analysis (e.g., frequency analysis), word association analysis (e.g., network analysis), and advanced techniques (e.g., text classification, text clustering, topic modeling, information retrieval, and sentiment analysis) will be discussed. Applications of text data analysis will be illustrated with respect to food safety and food fraud surveillance, dietary pattern characterization, consumer-opinion mining, new-product development, food knowledge discovery, food supply-chain management, and online food services. The goal is to provide insights for intelligent decision-making to improve food production, food safety, and human nutrition.