Journal of Food Safety and Hygiene
Volume:10 Issue: 1, Winter 2024

This review aims to document the exposure routes of microplastics (MPs) to humans from food and the environment and assess the possible effects of MPs and associated chemical pollutants on human health. MPs are small plastic particles that are less than five millimeters (<5 mm) in size. Humans can be exposed to MPs by ingesting contaminated water and food or inhaling contaminated air. MPs have been detected in human lungs, blood, placenta, and faeces. MPs may cause various effects on human health, including DNA damage, cellular damage, inflammation, oxidative stress, cancer, fetal growth, and inflammatory bowel disease. Both plastic additive chemicals and pollutants adsorbed onto MPs are harmful to humans. They are persistent (persists long in the environment), toxic (poisonous), and bioaccumulative (accumulate in tissues of food and human organs). These chemicals are also endocrine-disrupting (can alter functions of the endocrine system) and carcinogenic (can cause cancer). Exposure to these chemicals (additives and adsorbents) can have long-term effects on human health.

Packing food has been around for a long time. Food safety rules become increasingly important in the policy as people's lives and consumption patterns evolve. Everyone is always worried about food safety since it is an essential issue in public health. A systematic questionnaire was utilised to collect information from Sunyani people of Ghana to validate this study's findings. 376 persons were used for this study, and the sample utilised face-to-face distribution procedures for the questionnaire, including open-ended questions. The data was analysed using IBM-SPSS version 25.0. The number of consumers who typically buy pre-packaged food differs considerably by gender between those who purchase pre-packaged foods rarely and those who buy frequently (p-value of 0.049). This is also true for respondents who are married, separated, or never married, as they are also significantly different (p-value of 0.004) regarding whether they occasionally or frequently purchase pre-packaged food. The survey also found that most respondents read food labels as part of a healthy lifestyle, with an odds ratio of 2.21 (95% CI 1.27 – 3.85) times more than other explanations. This study's findings also revealed that most respondents only read food labels to check for nutritional information, with an odds ratio of 2.18 (95% CI 1.07 – 4.41) times compared to other reasons. The public should be more aware of the need to read pre-packaged food labels since this will notify them of any potential problems after ingesting that product.

The global menace of community-acquired antibiotic resistance of Beta Lactamase-producing Staphylococcus aureus has been traced to the increased consumption of Ready-to-eat Foods/Fruits. Samples each of ready-to-eat whole and sliced fruits (sliced pawpaw, apple, sliced watermelon, garden egg, cucumber, pear, guava, sliced coconut, berry and date fruit) were collected randomly from vendors in Offa, Kwara State, in Nigeria. Isolation and characterization of Staphylococcus aureus from the samples were done. The isolates were screened for Beta-Lactamase production and susceptibility to some antibiotics using standard microbiological techniques. A total of twenty-two (Twenty coagulase-positive and two coagulase-negative) Staphylococcus aureus was isolated. The total Staphylococal count was highest in sliced pawpaw (23.30 ± 2.75 × 10⁵ cfu/g) while the least was recorded in apple (3.0 ± 0.01 × 10⁵ cfu /g). Twenty (20) isolates were recorded as Beta Lactamase producers. All the Beta Lactamase producers were 100 % resistant to Aztreoname, 80 % to Amoxicillin Clavulate, 45 and 35 % to Ceftazidine and Ceftriaxone. Thirty percent of the isolates were found to be susceptible to Ceftazidine only while 25 % were susceptible to Ceftriaxone only. The study concluded that increased incidence of Community-Acquired Multidrug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus could be traceable to the consumption of unhygienic processed Ready-to-eat Fruits. The ripple effects could be dangerous to human health.

The study explored the potential of several typical Tunisian food plants as sources of natural colorings, focusing on sustainability and ecology. Five common fruits and vegetables were studied: spinach, beetroot, red cabbage, carrot, and turmeric. Their deep pigments, affected by pH, were examined. Red cabbage was found to be the richest in condensed tannins, while turmeric contained the highest levels of anthocyanins. These natural colorings were then incorporated into the formulation of two bakery products, one sweet and the other savory, to give an attractive appearance and stimulate the appetite, as the food industry commonly does with synthetic colorings. Additionally, orange and lemon peels were upcycled by extracting essential oils for analysis. The
primary findings indicate that these essential oils are complicated blends of many substances, with monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes being the most prevalent. The last part of this project required using gluten-free flour to make two food products (zouza and ravioli dough), substituting fructose for sucrose, and adding other colorings that had been produced and tested. We also improved the flavor by adding essential oils. Sensory research with sixty unsuspecting panelists revealed that our items were well-liked by all. The result of a very successful initiative is the packaging for these goods and the market research.

TQualities of curry, thyme and pepper commonly marketed in Nigeria were investigated. The total bacterial and fungal counts, types of microorganisms present and the physico-chemical qualities were also determined. These spices had a pH range from 5.92 to 6.44, with a moisture content of 6.08% to 36.32%. The bacterial load was within the range of 13.0 × 103 to 43.8 × 103 cfu/g with a lower fungal count of 6.5 × 103 to 35.2×103 cfu/g. Five bacterial and six fungal species namely Aeromonas, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Streptococcus and Bacillus; as well as Mucor, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillum, Candida, Aspergillus and Rhodotorula, respectively, were isolated. The implication of these findings on the health of the populace was discussed from a microbiological viewpoint. The presence of these microbes in the spices may pose a serious threat which is of
significance in public health.

Antibacterial capacities of monolaurin and nisin on the growth of vegetative cells of three spore-forming bacteria isolated from cow milk collected from Tunisia (Terribacillus aidingensis, Bacillus sporothermodurans and Paenibacillus sp and) were evaluated. Nisin or monolaurin, at different concentrations, can inhibit the growth of three Bacillus. 500 IU/mL and 25 μg/mL corresponded to the minimum inhibitory concentrations of nisin and monolaurin, respectively. The growth of the tested species in the presence of sub-lethal concentrations of monolaurin and nisin was monitored in UHT milk for 7 days at three different temperatures (4°C, 37°C and 25°C). Nisin (250 IU/mL) was able to induce an immediate reduction (after 3 h of incubation at 4°C) of Bacillus species growth (5 log for B. sporothermodurans, 4 log for Paenibacillus sp and 3.2 log for T. aidingensis). Also, monolaurin (25 µg/mL) reduce the growth, at 4°C of B. sporothermodurans by 5 log, Paenibacillus sp by 3 log and T. aidingensis by 4 log, after 3 h of incubation. In the presence of nisin or monolaurin, it can be observed a low reduction in cell growth followed by rapid regrowth which can attenuate10 log, at 37°C and 25°C. The obtained data elucidate the potency of nisin and monolaurin, and the application of these antimicrobial agents at low temperatures (4°C) to decontaminate any product from these spoilage bacteria.

Colibacillosis, which is the leading cause of infectious diseases resulting in mortality and economic losses in poultry is triggered by Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC). Conventionally, antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) are incorporated into poultry diets to control infectious diseases and boost performance. However, because of the problem of antimicrobial resistance, synthetic antibiotics are now restricted or banned in animal production in some countries. In this study, we carried out a challenge experiment by inoculating healthy broilers with APEC (106 cfu/mL) by oral gavage on day 21 of the experiment and orally administering various treatments five days post challenge for five days; synthetic antibiotics (T2), Vernonia amygdalina (bitter leaf) extracts (T3), no treatment (T4), which were compared with the control that wasn’t challenged (T1). Theexperiment lasted for 42 days. Performance, hematological and histological studies were carried out. The results show that the challenged birds became diseased with the development of visible lesions, which ameliorated over time to varying extents with the use of synthetic antibiotics and Vernonia treatments. Overall, the performance of the birds with the use of Vernonia (T3) was comparable with that of synthetic antibiotics (T2) without eliciting any adverse hematological effects on the broilers. We therefore conclude that Vernonia can be safely used as a supplement for disease prevention in broiler chicken production.