Overview of existing European food consumption databases: critical aspects in relation to their use for the assessment of dietary exposure to additives, flavourings and residues of food contact materials

Consumption of food in the EU by the degree of urbanization: data visualization and cluster analysis of the EU sample

This paper examines the consumption of one of the COICOP classes – food and non-alcoholic beverages – by the degree of urbanization on the sample of EU countries in three periods – 2005, 2010, and 2015. The share of this class in total consumption of cities, towns, and suburbs and rural areas presents the second largest item of the total consumption of all structures in question. They examined the key variable creates an input to the analysis stated in the paper. First, the data visualization is realized by creating maps of scaled consumption of food and non-alcoholic beverages in cities, towns, and suburbs and rural areas in the three periods – 2005, 2010, and 2015. The spatial distribution of data shows, that higher shares of consumption of food and non-alcoholic beverages are obtained in CEE and southern countries in all structures and all periods. Considering that consumption of food and non-alcoholic beverages is negatively correlated with GDP per capita or household expenditure per capita it is possible to conclude that countries with lower levels of GDP per capita spend more on goods of daily use. Second, based on k-means clustering, cluster analysis is stated. Similarities between EU countries in the consumption of food and non-alcoholic beverages by the degree of urbanization and with respect to socio-economic conditions are investigated. Clusters are made for all three monitored periods. In 2005 and 2010 five clusters were identified, in 2015 their number has been reduced to four. Similarities between EU countries in the consumption of food and non-alcoholic beverages by the degree of urbanization change through time. The delayed effect of the financial crisis may explain observed changes. The obvious relocation of countries is evident when comparing clusters in the period 2010 and 2015. Besides it, the most stabile cluster is the cluster, which contains core EU countries.

Development of a new fluorescent probe for cysteine detection in processed food samples

Cysteine is a crucial amino acid, found in a huge amount in protein-rich foods. We focused our research to determine the amount of free cysteine consumed highly in foods such as pork, beef, poultry, eggs, dairy, red peppers, soybeans, broccoli, brussels sprouts, oats, and wheat germs. A newly designed carbazole-pyridine-based fluorescent probe (CPI) has been introduced for quantitative estimation of cysteine (Cys) with a "turn on" fluorescence in some popular processed food samples chosen from our daily diet. CPI shows both naked eye and UV-visible color changes upon interaction with cysteine. The binding approach between CPI and Cys at biological pH has been thoroughly explored by UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. From Job's plot analysis, 1:1 stoichiometric reaction between CPI and Cys is observed with a detection limit of 3.8 μM. NMR, ESI mass spectrometry, and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) study enlightens the formation of more stable product CPI-Cys. The "turn on" response of the probe CPI occurs due to the interruption of intra-molecular charge transfer (ICT) process upon reacting with cysteine. Moreover, CPI is a very stable, cost-effective compound and exhibits excellent real-time selectivity towards Cys over all other comparative biorelevant analytes. Interestingly, our proposed method is much advantageous as it is able to estimate cysteine predominantly by screening out other comparative biocomponents found in different protein-rich foods.

Belgian and Spanish consumption data and consumer handling practices for fresh fruits and vegetables useful for further microbiological and chemical exposure assessment

A consumer survey was organized in Spain and Belgium to obtain consumption data and to gain insight into consumer handling practices for fresh vegetables consumed raw or minimally processed (i.e., heads of leafy greens, bell peppers, tomatoes, fresh herbs, and precut and packed leafy greens) and fruits to be consumed without peeling (i.e., apples, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, other berries, fresh juices, and precut mixed fruit). This information can be used for microbiological and/or chemical food safety research. After extensive cleanup of rough databases for missing and extreme values and age correction, information from 583 respondents from Spain and 1,605 respondents from Belgium (18 to 65 years of age) was retained. Daily intake (grams per day) was calculated taking into account frequency and seasonality of consumption, and distributions were obtained that can be used in quantitative risk assessment for chemical hazards with chronic effects on human health. Data also were recalculated to obtain discrete distributions of consumption per portion and the corresponding frequency of consumption, which can be used in acute microbiological risk assessment or outbreak investigations. The ranked median daily consumption of fruits and vegetables was similar in Spain and Belgium: apple > strawberry > grapes > strawberries and raspberries; and tomatoes > leafy greens > bell peppers > fresh herbs. However, vegetable consumption was higher (in terms of both portion and frequency of consumption) in Spain than in Belgium, whereas the opposite was found for fruit consumption. Regarding consumer handling practices related to storage time and method, Belgian consumers less frequently stored their fresh produce in a refrigerator and did so for shorter times compared with Spanish consumers. Washing practices for lettuce heads and packed leafy greens also were different. The survey revealed differences between these two countries in consumption and consumer handling practices, which can have an impact on outcomes of future microbiological or chemical risk assessment studies.