The current and potential applications of Ambient Mass Spectrometry in detecting food fraud

The adulteration of food has received substantial amounts of media attention in the last few years, with events such as the European horsemeat scandal in 2013 sending shockwaves through society. Almost all cases are motivated by the pursuit of profits and are often aided by long and complex supply chains. In the past few years, the rapid growth of ambient mass spectrometry (AMS) has been remarkable, with over thirty different ambient ionisation techniques available. Due to the increasing concerns of the food industry and regulators worldwide, AMS is now being utilised to investigate whether or not it can generate results which are faster yet comparable to those of conventional techniques. This article reviews some aspects of the adulteration of food and its impact on the economy and the public's health, the background to ambient mass spectrometry and the studies that have been undertaken to detect food adulteration using this technology.

Simulation and analysis of an emergency lowering system for crane applications

An emergency lowering system for use in safety critical crane applications is discussed. The system is used to safely lower the payload of a crane in case of an electric blackout. The system is based on a backup power source, which is used to operate the crane while the regular supply is not available. The system enables both horizontal and vertical movements of the crane. Two different configurations for building the system are described, one with an uninterruptible power source (UPS) or a diesel generator connected in parallel to the crane’s power supply and one with a customized energy storage connected to the intermediate DC-link in the crane. In order to be able to size the backup power source, the power required during emergency lowering needs to be understood. A simulation model is used to study and optimize the power used during emergency lowering. The simulation model and optimizations are verified in a test hoist. Simulation results are presented with non-optimized and optimized controls for two example applications: a paper roll crane and a steel mill ladle crane. The optimizations are found to significantly reduce the required power for the crane movements during emergency lowering.

Tanzanian Food Origins and Protected Geographical Indications

As the world`s population is constantly growing, food security will remain on the policy Agenda, particularly in Africa. At the same time, global food systems experience a new wave focusing on local foods and food sovereignty featuring high quality food products of verifiable geographical origin. This article argues that Geographical Indications (GI´s) hold the potential to help transform the Tanzanian agriculture-dependent economy through the tapping of value from unique products, attributing taste and colour to place or regional geography. This study aims to identify the existence and characteristics of food origin products in Tanzania that have potential for GI certification. The hypothesis was that there are origin products in Tanzania whose unique characteristics are linked to the area of production. Geographical indications can be useful policy instruments contributing to food security and sovereignty and quality within an efficient marketing system with the availability of government support, hence the need to identify key candidates for GI certification. Five Tanzanian origin products were selected from 14 candidate agricultural products through a scoping study. Rice from Kyela, Aloe vera, Coffee and Sugar from Kilimanjaro and Cloves from Zanzibar are some of the product cases investigated and provides for in-depth case study, as ´landscape´ products incorporating ´taste of place´. Interviews were conducted to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Data was collected on the production area, product quality perceived by the consumer in terms of taste, flavour, texture, aroma, appearance (colour, size) and perceptions of links between geography related factors (soil, land weather characteristics) and product qualities. A qualitative case study analysis was done for each of the (five) selected Tanzanian origin products investigated with plausible prospects for Tanzania to leapfrog into exports of Geographical Indications products. Framework conditions for producers creating or capturing market value as stewards of cultural and landscape values, environments, and institutional requirements for such creation or capturing to happen, including presence of export opportunities, are discussed. Geographical indication is believed to allow smallholders to create employment and build monetary value, while stewarding local food cultures and natural environments and resources, and increasing the diversity of supply of natural and unique quality products and so contribute to enhanced food security.

Assessing the resilience of water supply systems in Oman

Water systems in the Sultanate of Oman are inevitably exposed to varied threats and hazards due to both natural and man-made hazards. Natural disasters, especially tropical cyclone Gonu in 2007, cause immense damage to water supply systems in Oman. At the same time water loss from leaks is a major operational problem. This research developed an integrated approach to identify and rank the risks to the water sources, transmission pipelines and distribution networks in Oman and suggests appropriate mitigation measures. The system resilience was evaluated and an emergency response plan for the water supplies developed. The methodology involved mining the data held by the water supply utility for risk and resilience determination and operational data to support calculations of non-revenue water. Risk factors were identified, ranked and scored at a stakeholder workshop and the operational information required was principally gathered from interviews. Finally, an emergency response plan was developed by evaluating the risk and resilience factors. The risk analysis and assessment used a Coarse Risk Analysis (CRA) approach and risk scores were generated using a simple risk matrix based on WHO recommendations. The likelihoods and consequences of a wide range of hazardous events were identified through a key workshop and subsequent questionnaires. The thesis proposes a method of translating the detailed risk evaluations into resilience scores through a methodology used in transportation networks. A water audit indicated that the percentage of NRW in Oman is greater than 35% which is similar to other Gulf countries but high internationally. The principal strategy for managing NRW used in the research was the AWWA water audit method which includes free to use software and was found to be easy to apply in Oman. The research showed that risks to the main desalination processes can be controlled but the risk due to feed water quality might remain high even after implementing mitigation measures because the intake is close to an oil port with a significant risk of oil contamination and algal blooms. The most severe risks to transmission mains were found to be associated with pipe rather than pump failure. The systems in Oman were found to be moderately resilient, the resilience of desalination plants reasonably high but the transmission mains and pumping stations are very vulnerable. The integrated strategy developed in this study has a wide applicability, particularly in the Gulf area, which may have risks from exceptional events and will be experiencing NRW. Other developing countries may also experience such risks but with different magnitudes and the risk evaluation tables could provide a useful format for further work.

Development and Application of Predictive Models for Survival, Growth, and Death of Enteric Pathogens in Leafy Greens Supply Chain

Leafy greens are essential part of a healthy diet. Because of their health benefits, production and consumption of leafy greens has increased considerably in the U.S. in the last few decades. However, leafy greens are also associated with a large number of foodborne disease outbreaks in the last few years. The overall goal of this dissertation was to use the current knowledge of predictive models and available data to understand the growth, survival, and death of enteric pathogens in leafy greens at pre- and post-harvest levels. Temperature plays a major role in the growth and death of bacteria in foods. A growth-death model was developed for Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes in leafy greens for varying temperature conditions typically encountered during supply chain. The developed growth-death models were validated using experimental dynamic time-temperature profiles available in the literature. Furthermore, these growth-death models for Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes and a similar model for E. coli O157:H7 were used to predict the growth of these pathogens in leafy greens during transportation without temperature control. Refrigeration of leafy greens meets the purposes of increasing their shelf-life and mitigating the bacterial growth, but at the same time, storage of foods at lower temperature increases the storage cost. Nonlinear programming was used to optimize the storage temperature of leafy greens during supply chain while minimizing the storage cost and maintaining the desired levels of sensory quality and microbial safety. Most of the outbreaks associated with consumption of leafy greens contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 have occurred during July-November in the U.S. A dynamic system model consisting of subsystems and inputs (soil, irrigation, cattle, wildlife, and rainfall) simulating a farm in a major leafy greens producing area in California was developed. The model was simulated incorporating the events of planting, irrigation, harvesting, ground preparation for the new crop, contamination of soil and plants, and survival of E. coli O157:H7. The predictions of this system model are in agreement with the seasonality of outbreaks. This dissertation utilized the growth, survival, and death models of enteric pathogens in leafy greens during production and supply chain.

Relaciones y capacidades interorganizativas: un enfoque de Supply Chain Management (SCM) en red

El presente trabajo mide, en un contexto colaborativo, un conjunto de mecanismos relacionales interconectados y su incidencia en el performance organizacional. Apoyado en la Visión Relacional (Dyer y Singh, 1998), el trabajo integra mecanismos de las capacidades relacionales y capacidades competitivas en el concepto denominado ¿capacidades interorganizativas¿. Las capacidades interorganizativas se componen de la ¿confianza¿ y los mecanismos ¿combinar recursos complementarios¿, ¿invertir en activos específicos¿, ¿compartir información¿ y ¿solucionar problemas conjuntamente¿. La medición tiene lugar en la Industria Alimentaria (IA) española en un contexto de Supply Chain Management1 en red. Además de mejorar el conocimiento sobre las relaciones interorganizativas, el trabajo también realiza una revisión teórica sobre el sector agroalimentario en general y la IA en particular. Los resultados permiten confirmar, con excepciones, el constructo teórico de las ¿capacidades interorganizativas en un contexto de Supply Chain Management en red¿. Otros resultados obtenidos son los altos niveles de confianza en las relaciones entre socios y una industria que, pese al entorno competitivo y complejo actual, presenta niveles competitivos en términos de flexibilidad, respuesta, calidad y eficiencia. De igual modo, la investigación descubre la implantación de la capacidad de las empresas de la industria para gestionar el conocimiento. En este contexto, los resultados parecen indicar una correcta integración de la cadena de suministros de la IA que confirman la efectiva aplicación de la Supply Chain Management. Otras conclusiones obtenidas son la dependencia que ha tenido y tiene la industria alimentaria española de la distribución, intensificada en parte por la expansión de las marcas del distribuidor (MDDs).

Impact of stability in prey supply to the stocks of the Nile perch in Lakes Victoria, Kyoga and Nabugabo

The food of the Nile perch has changed since its introduction into Lakes Victoria, Kyoga and Nabugabo and stabilized on Caridina nilotica, Anisopteran nymphs, Rastrineobola argentea, Nile perch juveniles, and tilapiines. For the Nile perch to sustain production in these lakes, its is important that these prey species are properly managed.

New Foods, New Consumers: Innovation in Food Product Development

BACKGROUND: Today, new lifestyles, higher incomes and consumer awareness are creating consumer demand for a year-round supply of high-quality, diverse and innovative food products. However, when it comes to innovation, the food sector is less changeable when compared to other sectors, such as high technology. Still, in the past decades much and important developments have been achieved in several areas related to foods and the food industry. METHODS: A systematic review of scientific literature was conducted on Science Direct. The topics investigated were: aspects related to innovation in food development (such as the transfer of innovation, open innovation, collaborative innovation and consumer perception and its role in the developing process); the innovation in the food industry (particularly regarding the processing technologies and packaging, which are two prominent areas of innovation in this sector nowadays); the innovation in the cooking sector (particularly in regards to the molecular gastronomy and science based cooking). RESULTS: A total of 146 articles were included in the review and the aspects focused allowed confirming that innovation has been recognized as a key driver of economic growth. Within the framework of ‘open innovation’, a number of key issues related to the acquisition of external knowledge in food technology must be taken into consideration. Food product development is highly dependent on the consumer perception and acceptance, and hence it is of utmost importance to include the consumer in the development process to minimize failure probabilities. The sectors of the food industry where important developments and innovation are registered include the processing technologies and the packaging systems, where the latest progresses have produced very significant outcomes. CONCLUSION: The present work allowed verifying the latest improvements and trend towards food product development from two perspectives, the product itself and the industrial processing. This sector is undoubtedly a major key for the success and competitiveness nowadays in the food industry.

Emergency and Transitional Shelters [Literature Review]

Over the past two decades the number of recorded disasters has doubled from approximately 200 to over 400 disasters per year. Such an increase in the frequency of disasters has not been without consequence, producing ever-greater waves of population displacements throughout the developing world. The United Nation’s Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) responsible for the coordination of international humanitarian responses states unequivocally that populations displaced by disaster have a right to protection and the provision of basic necessities such as adequate food, water, clothing, sanitation, and essential health services (IASC, 2006 and The Sphere Project, 2011). Shelter responses are often a vital node around which many of these humanitarian concerns are addressed. This document is a review of 3 case studies, 6 field reports, 1 concept paper, 16 guidelines, 1 call for proposals, and 4 strategic framework documents prepared by organizations active in the humanitarian shelter sector on emergency and transitional shelters. While emergency shelter response is focused primarily on protection and relief during and immediately after a disaster has occurred, the transitional shelter approach emphasizes integrating disaster response into an immediate transition towards reconstruction, recovery, and sustainable development.

New trends in food science: the use of nutraceuticals as an antiinflammatory therapeutic tool in exercise

Prolonged high-intensity training seems to result in increased systemic inflammation, which might explain muscle injury, delayed onset muscle soreness, and overtraining syndrome in athletes. Furthermore, an impaired immune function caused by strenuous exercise leads to the development of upper respiratory tract infections in athletes. Nutraceuticals might help counteract these performance-lowering effects. The use of nanotechnology is an interesting alternative to supply athletes with nutraceuticals, as many of these substances are insoluble in water and are poorly absorbed in the digestive tract. The present chapter starts with a brief review of the effects of exercise on immunity, followed by an analysis on how nutraceuticals such as omega-3 fatty acids, glutamine, BCAAs, or phytochemicals can counteract negative effects of strenuous exercise in athletes. Finally, how nanostructured delivery systems can constitute a new trend in enhancing bioavailability and optimizing the action of nutraceuticals will be discussed, using the example of food beverages.

Diversity and Stability in Food Webs : Impacts of Non-Equilibrium Dynamics, Topology and Variation

With progressive climate change, the preservation of biodiversity is becoming increasingly important. Only if the gene pool is large enough and requirements of species are diverse, there will be species that can adapt to the changing circumstances. To maintain biodiversity, we must understand the consequences of the various strategies. Mathematical models of population dynamics could provide prognoses. However, a model that would reproduce and explain the mechanisms behind the diversity of species that we observe experimentally and in nature is still needed. A combination of theoretical models with detailed experiments is needed to test biological processes in models and compare predictions with outcomes in reality. In this thesis, several food webs are modeled and analyzed. Among others, models are formulated of laboratory experiments performed in the Zoological Institute of the University of Cologne. Numerical data of the simulations is in good agreement with the real experimental results. Via numerical simulations it can be demonstrated that few assumptions are necessary to reproduce in a model the sustained oscillations of the population size that experiments show. However, analysis indicates that species "thrown together by chance" are not very likely to survive together over long periods. Even larger food nets do not show significantly different outcomes and prove how extraordinary and complicated natural diversity is. In order to produce such a coexistence of randomly selected species—as the experiment does—models require additional information about biological processes or restrictions on the assumptions. Another explanation for the observed coexistence is a slow extinction that takes longer than the observation time. Simulated species survive a comparable period of time before they die out eventually. Interestingly, it can be stated that the same models allow the survival of several species in equilibrium and thus do not follow the so-called competitive exclusion principle. This state of equilibrium is more fragile, however, to changes in nutrient supply than the oscillating coexistence. Overall, the studies show, that having a diverse system means that population numbers are probably oscillating, and on the other hand oscillating population numbers stabilize a food web both against demographic noise as well as against changes of the habitat. Model predictions can certainly not be converted at their face value into policies for real ecosystems. But the stabilizing character of fluctuations should be considered in the regulations of animal populations.