Journal of Food Quality and Hazards Control
Volume:2 Issue: 2, Jun 2015

Antibacterial drugs used in animal might result in deposition of residues in meat, milk and eggs. The presence of antimicrobial residues in animal-originated food is critical problem in many countries over the years. Because, drug residues might result in various health hazards, both actual incidence of reactions and potential hazards perceived by the public, the most countries assess residue occurrences in food to provide a safe food supply and forbid importation of unwholesome foods from exporting countries. Stability of antibacterial drug residues under cooking conditions is an important research field, which provides valuable information related to health safety aspects and is very important from a safety and toxicological point of view. It has been stated that drug residues in animal based foods may be decreased due to cooking. Stability of antibacterial residues during heating is different. In this article, the changes of antibacterial drug residues during different cooking procedures are reviewed. Ordinary cooking procedures degrade a number of antibacterial drug residues, depending on the amount of heat treatment involved. Cooking time and temperature are two main factors which affect on antibiotic residues. In some cooking procedures, sufficient heating temperature and time can reduce several antibacterial drug residues although it does not generally provide an additional margin of safety for consumers.

Vegetable oils and fats have a big contribution in our diet as cooking or frying oil, salad oil or in food products formulation. They are important from nutritional and economical point of views. Their authenticity is a serious issue since old time. Some edible oils and fats such as olive oil, cocoa butter and milk fat are so expensive which makes tempting to adulterate them with other lower price vegetable oils and fats to achieve more profit. The need for authentication is a necessity of the food industry. Today, adulterations are more sophisticated. Therefore, it is necessary to use advanced and suitable methods to detect adulteration. Adulteration can cause several problems in edible oils application and industry. To detect edible oils and fats adulteration, it is possible to use both major and minor components as detection tool. Since each oil and fat may have an especial component at a known level, their presence and amounts should be considered as a detection tool. This paper is a brief review on adulteration of edible oils and fats and their detection methods. Several methods have been used to check the purity of edible oils and fats. There is a necessity for food related organization to develop and utilize reliable methods to detect such adulterations, which can make consumers and markets more certain on authenticity and purity of edible oils and fats.

Environmental problems of the plastic materials used in food packaging and the demand for food quality improvements lead to the development of packaging in natural materials. Edible films such as calcium alginate extend the shelf life by acting as a selective barrier against moisture and oxygen. The main objective of this study was to explore a calcium alginate based edible film to improve the quality and extend the shelf life of food products. Tests of physical properties including water vapor permeability (WVP) and oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and mechanical properties including tensile strength (TS) and elongation at break (E) of two calcium alginate based formulations (dextrose monohydrate based and maltodextrin based) were done in triplicate. Data were investigated using SPSS (16.0). Significant differences in the results were detected by the Mann-Whitney U test. There was no significant difference in mechanical properties and WVP of these two formulations, though WVP values related to the dextrose monohydrate based formulation were slightly higher than those of the maltodextrin based formulation. A significant decrease was observed in OTR of the maltodextrin based formulation compared to the dextrose monohydrate based formulation. There was no significant difference in mechanical properties (TS and E) and WVP between these two formulations; however, a significant reduction was observed in OTR of the maltodextrin based formulation compared to the dextrose monohydrate based formulation. Therefore, the last was more suitable as a barrier to oxygen.

Multidrug resistant Enterobacteriaceae which was confined to the hospital environments is now emerging in the domestic food related environments as well. The main objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of antibiotic resistant Enterobacteriaceae in the domestic food related environments. Resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, tetracycline, nalidixic acid, nitrofurantoin, and trimethoprim was evaluated in 125 isolates; collected in domestic food related environments using agar micro dilution method. Results indicated that 49.6% of the isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic (32.8% to ampicillin, 6.4% to nitrofurantoin, 4% to tetracycline, 3.2% to nalidixic acid, 2.4% to chloramphenicol and 1.7% to trimethoprim). Resistance to multiple antibiotics was observed in 6.4% of the isolates. This study implicates existence of antibiotic resistant Enterobactericeae in the domestic food related environments. This resistance phenomenon requires continual vigilance; and further studies are required to evaluate the role of domestic surfaces in the transmission of resistant pathogens and spread of infectious diseases.

Fatty acids are the main compounds in edible oils. Oil thermal stability depends on the composition of fatty acids. So, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of fatty acid composition on the oxidative stability of extra virgin olive oil during heating process. Totally, eight virgin olive oil samples, including five imported oils from market place of Mahabad and three local ones from Qazvin were analyzed to evaluate their thermal stability. Samples were heated at 120 °C for 4 h. Sampling was carried out in 2 h intervals, then fatty acid composition, peroxide, anisidine and totox values were assessed according to Iran national standards. All determinations were carried out in triplicates, and data were subjected to analysis of compare means (t test) and spearman correlation coefficients using SPSS 16.0. Results show that there is a significant correlation between palmitoleic acid and totox index in 2 h (r=0.786) and 4 h (r=0.762), and the same result is observed between linoleic and totox index in 2 h (r=0.643) and 4 h (r=0.786). But, there is an inverse relationship between oleic acid and totox index in 4 h (r=-0.833). Results indicated that linoleic acid and palmitoleic acid have a reducing effect on thermal stability of extra virgin olive oil in 2 h, but oleic acid increases it in 4 h.

The presence of antibacterial drug residues in food caused many concerns for consumers. This study was designed to determine of antibacterial drug residues in commercial eggs distributed in Urmia, Iran. Disc diffusion microbial inhibition test was performed using three media seeded with Bacillus subtilis at different pH values (6, 7.2 or 8) and a fourth medium seeded with Micrococcus luteus. Two hundred commercial eggs were collected randomly and examined for antibacterial drug residues. Standard solutions of antibiotics were used as control. The results of this study revealed that twenty five samples (12.5%) of the prepared eggs were positive for antibacterial substances and all of them were related to macrolides group. The presence of these residues in eggs could cause health hazards like hypersensitivity reaction, development of resistant organisms to these antibacterial agents, destruction of gastrointestinal natural flora, etc. In conclusion, the antibiotic residues in commercial eggs have to be monitored as routine test due to their side effects on human health.

Aflatoxins are found in the most types of foods such as corn, peanuts, pistachio, rice, milk, and etc. These toxins may cause several adverse health effects, notably cancer. The main aim of this study was to evaluate excretion level of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), as a biomarker of aflatoxin B1 exposure, in urine samples of Iranian population. Also, relationship between diet and urinary excretion of AFM1 has been discussed. From June to August 2014, this study was carried out among 70 staffs from Faculty of Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran. From each participant, 72-h dietary recall was asked and recorded. Then, urine samples were collected separately in the sterile plastic falcon and transferred immediately to the laboratory and stored at -20 °C. AFM1 was assessed in each sample using ELISA procedure. The data were analyzed by Kruskal–Wallis one-way analysis of variance test using SPSS software (16.0). AFM1 was detected in 15 of 70 (21%) urine samples. The mean levels of contamination in faculty members and non-faculty members were 0.6 and 1.7 pg/ml, respectively. There was a significant difference between the excretion of AFM1 and consumption of nuts as well as Iranian traditional confection (p<0.05). No relationship was found between the demographic factors and excretion of AFM1 (p>0.05). Considering adverse health effect, aflatoxin exposure in this Iranian population should be reduced. So, comprehensive training of the people is one of the most practical and useful methods for reducing aflatoxin health risks.

Nowadays, there is an increase of meat and animal carcass consumption worldwide. Due to the economic value of meat, the likelihood of using unauthorized tissue is possible in meat products. Based on these observations, the aim of the present study was to apply morphological method for detection of unauthorized tissues in processed meat products. In this study, a total of 20 samples of different types of processed meat products including Kabab Loghme (n=5), sausage (n=5), handmade hamburger (n=5) and Kabab Koobideh (n=5) were randomly collected from restaurants and supermarkets in Iran. The samples were divided into three parts and then, one piece was taken from each part for the histological study. The tissues were fixed in 10% neutral-buffered formalin and were dehydrated and embedded in paraffin and routinely processed for light microscopy. The paraffin-embedded blocks were cut into 6 μm sections and stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) for histological study. The skeletal muscle tissues were visible clearly in all samples. A wide range of unauthorized tissues have been detected including connective tissue (n=20), gizzard (n=2), adipose tissue (n=7), soya (n=11), cartilage (n=5) and ovary (n=1). The present study showed the use of unauthorized tissues in Iranian processed meat products which were detectable by histological method. Therefore, histological technique may be a simple and economic tool for evaluation of the meat adulteration and to improve hygiene and meat quality.