Biosensor assay of sulfadiazine and sulfamethazine residues in pork

Biosensor-based immunochemical screening assays for the detection of sulfadiazine (SDZ) and sulfamethazine (SMT) in muscle extract from pigs were developed. Samples were extracted with aqueous buffer and then centrifuged. This simple and straightforward preparation allowed up to 40 samples to be processed and analysed in 1 d. The limits of detection for the assays were found to be 5.6 ng g(-1) for SDZ and 7.4 ng g(-1) for SMT. These figures were well below the European and US legal limits for sulfonamides (100 ng g(-1)). The precision (RSD) between runs was

A novel radiation-resistant Deinobacter sp. isolated from irradiated pork

A red-pigmented, radiation-resistant, Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium isolated from irradiated pork is described. The D,, values in buffer solution and on pork mince are 3.45 and 5.05 kGy respectively. The strain has been identified as a Deinobacter species

Nitrofuran antibiotic residues in pork The FoodBRAND retail survey

Use of nitrofuran drugs in food-producing animals has been prohibited within the EU because they may represent a public health risk. Monitoring compliance with the ban has focused on the detection of protein-bound nitrofuran metabolites which, in contrast to the parent compounds, are stable and persist in animal tissues. As part of the "FoodBRAND" project, an extensive survey of pork was undertaken across 15 European countries. Samples (n = 1500) purchased at retail outlets were analysed for the nitrofuran metabolites AOZ, AMOZ, AHD and SEM using LC-MS/MS determination of nitrobenzaldehyde derivatives. Limits of quantification for the method were 0.1 mug/kg (AOZ, AMOZ), 0.2 mug/kg (SEM) and 0.5 mug/kg (AHD). Of the 1500 samples tested, measurable residues of nitrofuran metabolites were confirmed in 12 samples (0.8% incidence overall) of which 10 samples were purchased in Portugal (AOZ, 0.3 mug/kg; AMOZ, 0.2-0.6 mug/kg) and one sample each in Italy (AMOZ, 1.0 mug/kg) and Greece (AOZ, 3.0 mug/kg). (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Prediction of adipose tissue composition using Raman spectroscopy: average properties and individual fatty acids.

Abstract: Raman spectroscopy has been used for the first time to predict the FA composition of unextracted adipose tissue of pork, beef, lamb, and chicken. It was found that the bulk unsaturation parameters could be predicted successfully [R-2 = 0.97, root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) = 4.6% of 4 sigma], with cis unsaturation, which accounted for the majority of the unsaturation, giving similar correlations. The combined abundance of all measured PUFA (>= 2 double bonds per chain) was also well predicted with R-2 = 0.97 and RMSEP = 4.0% of 4 sigma. Trans unsaturation was not as well modeled (R-2 = 0.52, RMSEP = 18% of 4 sigma); this reduced prediction ability can be attributed to the low levels of trans FA found in adipose tissue (0.035 times the cis unsaturation level). For the individual FA, the average partial least squares (PLS) regression coefficient of the 18 most abundant FA (relative abundances ranging from 0.1 to 38.6% of the total FA content) was R-2 = 0.73; the average RMSEP = 11.9% of 4 sigma. Regression coefficients and prediction errors for the five most abundant FA were all better than the average value (in some cases as low as RMSEP = 4.7% of 4 sigma). Cross-correlation between the abundances of the minor FA and more abundant acids could be determined by principal component analysis methods, and the resulting groups of correlated compounds were also well-predicted using PLS. The accuracy of the prediction of individual FA was at least as good as other spectroscopic methods, and the extremely straightforward sampling method meant that very rapid analysis of samples at ambient temperature was easily achieved. This work shows that Raman profiling of hundreds of samples per day is easily achievable with an automated sampling system.

Effective monitoring for ractopamine residues in samples of animal origin by SPR biosensor and mass spectrometry

Ractopamine (RCT) is a member of the beta-2-agonist (beta-agonist) family. It is licensed for use as an animal growth promoter in more than 20 countries worldwide, including the United States and Canada, but is either not licensed or prohibited by over 150 others, including those within the European Union. The issue of the use of RCT in livestock bound for human consumption has risen to prominence recently following the decision by The People's Republic of China to ban the import of pork from a number of processing plants after finding traces of RCT in shipments from the U.S.A.

Monoclonal antibody-based ELISA for the quantification of nitrofuran metabolite 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone in tissues using a simplified sample preparation

A sensitive and specific monoclonal ELISA for the determination of tissue bound furazolidone metabolite 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone (AOZ) is described. The procedure enables the detection of AOZ in matrix supernatant after homogenisation, protease treatment, acid hydrolysis and derivatisation of AOZ released from the tissue by o-nitrobenzaldehyde. The formed p-nitrophenyl 3-amino-2-oxazolidinone (NPAOZ) is determined by ELISA calibrated with matrix-matched standards in the concentration range of 0.05-5.0 mu g l(-1). The assay was validated according to criteria set down by Commission Decision 2002/657/EC for the performance and validation of analytical methods for chemical residues. Detection capability, set on the basis of acceptance of no false negative results, was 0.4 mu g kg(-1) for shrimp, poultry, beef and pork muscle. This sensitivity approaches the established confirmatory LC-MS/MS able to quantify tissue-bound AOZ at levels as low as 0.3 mu g kg(-1). An excellent correlation of results obtained by ELISA and LC/MS-MS within the concentration range 0-32.1 mu g kg(-1) was found in the naturally contaminated shrimp samples (r = 0.999, n = 8). A similar con-elation was found for the incurred poultry samples within the concentration range of 0-10.5 mu g kg(-1) (r = 0.99, n = 8). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.

Multi sulfonamide screening in porcine muscle using a surface plasmon resonance biosensor

A binding protein displaying broad-spectrum cross-reactivity within the sulfonamide group was used in conjunction with a sulfonamide specific sensor chip and a surface plasmon resonance biosensor to develop a rapid broad spectrum screening assay for sulfonamides in porcine muscle. Results for 40 samples were available in just over 5 h after the completion of a simple sample preparation protocol. Twenty sulfonamide compounds were detected. Acetylated metabolites were not recognised by the binding protein. Limit of detection (mean-three times standard deviation value when n = 20) was calculated to be 16.9 ng g(-1) in tissue samples. Intra-assay precision (n = 10) was calculated at 4.3 %CV for a sample spiked at 50 ng g(-1) with sulfamethazine, 3.6 %CV for a sample spiked at 100 ng g(-1) with sulfamethazine, 7.2 %CV for a sample spiked at 50 ng g(-1) with sulfadiazine and 3.1 %CV for a sample spiked at 100 ng g-1 with sulfadiazine. Inter-assay precision (n = 3) was calculated at 9.7 %CV for a sample spiked at 50 ng g-1 with sulfamethazine, 3.8 %CV for a sample spiked at 100 ng g(-1) with sulfamethazine, 3.5 %CV for a sample spiked at 50 ng g(-1) with sulfadiazine and 2.8 %CV for a sample spiked at 100 ng g(-1) with sulfadiazine. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detection of quantitative trait loci for androstenone, skatole and boar taint in a cross between Large White and Meishan pigs

'Boar taint' is a strong perspiration-like, urine-like unpleasant odour given off upon heating or cooking of meat from some intact (uncastrated) male pigs. Data from the F(2) generation of a Large White (LW) x Meishan (MS) crossbred population were analysed to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for traits associated with boar taint. Fat samples from 178 intact male pigs slaughtered at 85 +/- 5 kg were analysed for the major contributors to boar taint (androstenone, indole and skatole). Fat and lean samples from cooked meat were scored for boar, abnormal and pork flavour and odour by a trained sensory panel (SP). A scan with 117 markers covering the whole genome was performed in the F(2) individuals, together with their F(1) parents and purebred grandparents. At the 5% chromosomal significance threshold (approximately equal to the genome-wide suggestive significance threshold), QTL were detected for the laboratory estimate of androstenone on chromosomes 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9. However, only on chromosome 6 were there QTL for boar flavour (BF) traits in the same or adjacent marker intervals as a QTL for the laboratory estimate of androstenone. On chromosome 14, QTL were detected for the laboratory estimates of indole and skatole, the SP score for skatole and the scores for BF in lean and BF in fat. In all five cases, the MS allele generally increased the estimate or score, compared with the LW allele, but it appeared that desirable and undesirable alleles were present in both breeds. This locus on chromosome 14 has considerable potential for use to reduce the incidence of boar taint, especially if further research can identify the causative polymorphism or strongly associated markers.

Factors predicting the portion size and perceived fillingness of evening meals in Danish and Iris households

Purpose:
This study explored how meal-related variables, socio-demographics and psychological predispositions affect the portion
size and perceived fillingness of an evening meal in Danish and Irish households.
Methods:
Using survey data collected in 2115 respondents from Denmark (DK) and the Island of Ireland (IOI), we compared four
sets of predictors of the portion size chosen for four evening meals (i.e. pizza/soup/chicken salad/pork meal): Biological
variables (hunger, thirst), socio-demographic variables (gender, age, BMI); psychological predispositions (cognitive
restraint, uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, general health interest) and meal-related variables (expected fillingness,
perceived healthiness, liking, frequency of consumption). We also compared five sets of predictors (the previous
four plus portion size) of perceived portion fillingness.
Results:
Portion size selections were associated mainly with demographic variables (gender, BMI) and psychological predispositions
(cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating). In addition, only liking and sometimes expected healthiness (mealrelated
variables) appeared as drivers. Conversely, perceived portion fillingness was mostly influenced by the selected
portion size as well as expected fillingness and liking. There were some differences between meals; e.g. GHI not a
predictor for Pizza but a predictor for Chicken salad. Also some country differences were observed; emotional eating
predicted portion selection in the IOI but not DK.
Conclusions:
When making portion size selections at home, psychological predispositions, restrained and uncontrolled eating as well
as meal-related variables, liking and healthiness explained the decisions. However, surprisingly, individuals’ expected
fillingness of a food did not influence their portion size selection but was a driver of fillingness of the selected portion.

Approaches through Materiality

Religion is a funny thing, because it always seems to be riding two horses at once. One could describe these horses in a number of different ways, using all sorts of familiar dichotomies; practice and belief, body and soul, earthly and heavenly, here and hereafter. “Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses”. Here, food and forgiveness, or, perhaps more accurately, ingestion and salvation, are claimed, simultaneously – even seamlessly – by religion. This list could (and does) go on, being inclusive of, for example, immanence and transcendence – but more on this below. Yet these binary pairs can clearly be observed bleeding into one another. Ingesting pork, for example, often appears to be religiously more troublesome than does ingesting bread. This is because matter matters. We may ask, then, is religion really riding two horses, or are these ‘familiar dichotomies’ so familiar because they are false? Rephrasing the question in terms that partially echo the title and subtitle of Morgan’s (2010) landmark edited volume Religion and Material Culture: The Matter of Belief, is, I think, helpfully clarifying. What, then, is the matter with religion? The answer presented below is that, very often, the matter with religion is the matter of religion. Put more simply still, the problem with religion is its materiality. This chapter examines the whys and wherefores of this problem for the anthropology of religion – its ethnographic puzzles and methodological opportunities, as well as its conceptual impasses and theoretical insights.

Are food-related perceptions associated with meal portion size decisions? A cross-sectional study

The purpose of this study was to test a comprehensive model of meal portion size determinants consisting of sociodemographic, psychological and food-related variables, whilst controlling for hunger and thirst.
Using cross-sectional nationally representative data collected in 2075 participants from the Island of Ireland (IoI) and Denmark (DK), eight separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between food-related variables and meal portion size (i.e. pizza, vegetable soup, chicken salad and a pork meal) within each country. Stepwise regressions were run with physiological control measures (hunger and thirst) entered in the first step, sociodemographic variables (sex, age, body mass index (BMI)) in the second step; psychological variables (cognitive restraint, uncontrolled eating, emotional eating, general health interest (GHI)) in the third step and food-related variables (expected fillingness, liking, expected healthfulness, food familiarity) in the fourth step.
Sociodemographic variables accounted for 2-19% of the variance in meal portion sizes; psychological variables explained an additional 3-8%; and food-related variables explained an additional 2-12%. When all four variable groups were included in the regression models, liking and sometimes expected healthfulness was positively associated with meal portion size. The strongest association was for liking, which was statistically significant in both countries for all meal types. Whilst expected healthfulness was not associated with pizza portion size in either country, it was positively associated with meals that have a healthier image (vegetable soup; chicken salad and in IoI, the pork meal).
In conclusion, after considering sociodemographic and psychological variables, and the food-related variables of liking and expected healthfulness, there may be little merit in manipulating the satiating power, at least of these type of meals, to maintain or promote weight loss.
Keywords: Meal portion size; psychological variables; expected fillingness; expected healthfulness; food liking; food familiarity.