Foodstuffs continued

Much attention has been given to the use of antibiotics in food-associated applications since the introduction of penicillin in the 1940s. Their use has been limited. The use of antibiotics in animal foodstuffs continues to remain a topic of controversy in many countries in other countries they have been banned, Antibiotics carry into the meat produced and further into human diets, thus possibly reducing their effectiveness in the treatment of human diseases. 

Research into new analytical techniques for foodstuffs continues, striving for greater accuracy, sensitivity or simplicity, for more rapid methods, for simultaneous multielement analysis, etc. Chromatographic techniques, e.g., LC, GLC, GC-MS, have led to great improvements in the levels of accuracy, sensitivity, and detection that can be achieved for many analytes including carbohydrates, certain vitamins, chemical residues, and additives. Work is still required, for instance, in the area of vitamin analysis in order to provide standard techniques that are applicable to all food types and that would enable concurrent multi-vitamin analysis to take place. Many of the microbiological assays currently used for vitamin determination involve long incubation times and more rapid techniques are needed. 

The application of fermentation processes in the production of foodstuffs continues to be a field of constant growth and economic value. For example, the development of a bacterial strain that produces rennin, a compound that is used as a coagulant and ripening agent in the production of cheese, is reported to represent a potential cost reduction in cheese manufacturing in the United States of at least 500,000 annually. 

For the industrial production of riboflavin as pharmaceuticals, the traditional methodology comprising the dkect condensation of (13) with (14) in an acidic medium with continuous optimisation of the reaction conditions is stiU used (28). A great part of riboflavin manufactured by fermentative methods is used for feeds in the form of concentrates. The present world demand of riboflavin may be about 2500 t per year. Of this amount, 60%, 25%, and 15% are used for feeds, pharmaceuticals, and foodstuffs, respectively. The main producers are Hoffmann-La Roche, BASF, Merck Co., and others. 

As a general rule, foods which are not to be frozen are handled and stored at a temperature just above their freezing point, providing this does no damage (exceptions are fruits such as bananas and lemons). Produce which is to be frozen must be taken down below the freezing point of the constituents. Since foodstuffs contain salts and sugars, the freezing process will continue down to -18°C and lower. 

Continuous or repeated observation, measurement, and evaluation of a process in a certain field of appbcation (e.g., environmental surveillance, health checking, foodstuff inspection, quahty assurance in manufacturing), according to given schedules in space and time. 

Kerry J.P., Papkovsky D.B., Development and use of non-destructive, continuous assessment, chemical oxygen sensors in packs containing sensitive foodstuffs. Res. Adv. Food Sci. 2002 3 121-140. 

Since the commercial introduction of the P-CAC in 1999, several industrial applications have been shown to be transferable to the system. Moreover, users in the biopharmaceutical and foodstuff industry have seen their productivity increasing dramatically as a result of using the P-CAC technology. Furthermore, a P-CAC has been shown capable of continuously separating stereoisomers when using chiral stationary phases even when there is more than one chiral center in the desired molecule. Below some of the applications are described in more details. Others are proprietary and hence cannot be disclosed. 

Grain and foodstuffs are constantly attacked by weevils. Fumigation with carbon bisulfide, methyl bromide, and Chlorosol fumigant (a carbon tetrachloride-ethylene dibromide mixture) provides effective control where storage areas are built to handle these materials. Such storage equipment is limited, so there is need for an insecticide with low mammalian toxicity in order to achieve continuous protection by direct application. 

Risks associated with plastic packages may be increased by human behavior and lifestyle. It is common to get into the habit of eating only some kind of foods, but this may increase the risk of continuous exposure to a specific migrant from the packaging used for these favored foodstuffs. Frequent consumption of fast foods or microwave meals packaged in plastic films may also exert negative effects in the long term. 

Although the use of DDT has been banned in the United States, a large stockpile remains and other countries continue its use. In the early 1980s, DDT levels were observed to be increasing on land and in the coastal waters of the United States. This DDT is thought to be derived from either the illegal use of the pesticide or from the import of foodstuffs grown with its use. Animals can also be important transport mechanisms fiar... 

Figure 3.3 shows a typical freezing curve which results when heat is removed at a continuous rate from foodstuffs and the temperature decreases. The curve has three zones first, the removal of sensible heat from the food between the initial temperature and the freezing temperature second, the removal of the latent heat of fusion leading to a change of state and the formation of ice crystals and third, further sensible heat removal down to the required storage temperature. A number of features of the freezing curve require explanation. Whilst... 

Endemic crippling skeletal fluorosis is confined in temperate climates to individuals exposed continuously over many years to very high levels of fluoride these cases are associated with industrial situations, with unusually high levels of fluoride in drinking water (e.g., 10 mg/L) or the use of high fluoride coal for cooking and drying foodstuffs indoors [6,17,55]. 

The potential of flow of plant-made biopharmaceuticals into the human food chain remains. For example, plant-derived pharmaceuticals could cross-contaminate foodstuffs by spontaneous growth of transgenic crops in areas outside the intended field, or by pollen flow between some plants such as corn. It has been suggested that plant-derived biopharmaceuticals should be generated in nonfood crops, such as tobacco. However, food crops produce the greatest opportuitities for efficient production since they are among the most well-studied of crops. This continues to make them more feasible for edible vaccine production. 

Current methods used to measure antioxidant activity are complicated, expensive, time-consuming, and as a rule, cannot be used for continuous monitoring. Potentiometry with the use of a mediator system and nanoparticles containing electrodes provides a very simple express-method for measuring antioxidant activity of biological liquids, nutrients, drugs and foodstuffs. 

Because of their ingestion a different situation exists for food dyes, and their toxicological investigation is the most comprehensive one (see Section 5.5). The colorants approved for food coloration in the EEC are regulated in 94/36/EC (On Colours for Use in Foodstuff). Purity criteria for these colors for use in foodstuff are regulated under 95/45/EC. The regulation is continually updated. 

As a result of the very wide chemical interest which the Maillard reaction has attracted since the early years of this century, and of its diverse commercial and biological implications, a vast amount of work thereon has been published. In this article, the chemical aspects of the reaction between simple amino acids and mono- and di-saccharides will be surveyed the reaction with peptides and proteins will be discussed only when it contributes to our understanding of the mode of interaction between simple amino acids and sugars. The significance of the reaction in the preservation of various foodstuffs has now been reviewed many times2 9 and continues to be the subject of much investigation.10 16 The reaction is also... 

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