Development of a nutritionally balanced pizza as a functional meal designed to meet published dietary guidelines.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a worked example of product reformulation of a very popular 'junk food' to meet nutritional guidelines for public health in a ready meal. DESIGN: Indicative survey of popular Margherita pizzas, followed by product reformulation, applying dietary guidelines to generate a single-item pizza meal containing 30 % daily amounts of energy and all nutrients. An iterative process was used; first to optimize nutrient balance by adjusting the proportions of bread base, tomato-based sauce and mozzarella topping, then adding ingredients to provide specific nutrients and consumer tasting. SETTING: Urban areas of contrasting socio-economic status. SUBJECTS: Untrained unselected adults (n 49) and children (n 63), assessing pizza at tasting stations. RESULTS: Most commercial pizzas provide insufficient information to assess all nutrients and traditional Margherita pizza ingredients provide insufficient Fe, Zn, iodine, and vitamins C and B12. Energy content of the portions currently sold as standard range from 837 to 2351 kJ (200 to 562 kcal), and most exceed 30 % Guideline Daily Amounts for saturated fat and Na when a 2510 kJ (600 kcal) notional meal is considered. The 'nutritionally balanced pizza' provides the required energy for a single-item meal (2510 kJ/600 kcal), with all nutrients within recommended ranges: Na (473 mg, ∼45 % below recommended level), saturated fat (<11 % energy) and dietary fibre (13·7 g). Most adults (77 %) and children (81 %) rated it 'as good as' or 'better than' their usual choice. CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional guidelines to reduce chronic diseases can be applied to reformulate 'junk food' ready meals, to improve public health through a health-by-stealth approach without requiring change in eating habits.

Occurrence of toxigenic Aspergillus spp. and aflatoxins in selected food commodities of Asian origin sourced in the West of Scotland.

The occurrence of Aspergillus moulds and aflatoxins in 12 commercially-available dried foods of Asian origin were examined. All food samples, except green beans and three types of dried fruit, contained multiple genera of moulds of which Aspergillus (55%) was the most frequently detected. Penicillium (15%), Rhizopus (11%), Mucor (3%), Monascus (1%), Eurotium (1%) and unidentified (14%) were also observed. The occurrence of aflatoxigenic moulds, however, did not correspond with the occurrence of aflatoxins in foods. Aflatoxigenic Aspergillus spp. (39 isolates) were recovered from long grain rice, fragrant rice, peanuts, black beans and black pepper. The predominant Aspergillus species was A. parasiticus (61%) while Aspergillus oryzae (3%), Aspergillus utus (5%), Aspergillus niger (5%), Aspergillus ochraceus (3%) and unidentified (23%) were also observed. Long grain rice, fragrant rice, peanuts, black beans and black pepper were positive for Aspergillus but contained undetectable aflatoxins. In contrast, Jasmine brown rice and crushed chilli contained 14.7 and 11.4µg/kg of total aflatoxins, respectively, in the absence of Aspergillus so aflatoxigenic Aspergillus was present at some stage of food production. The results from this study emphasise the need for stricter control measures in reducing occurrence of aflatoxins in foods for export and domestic use.

Dirty money: an investigation into the hygiene status of some of the world's currencies as obtained from food outlets.

A total of 1280 banknotes were obtained from food outlets in 10 different countries (Australia, Burkina Faso, China, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States), and their bacterial content was enumerated. The presence of bacteria on banknotes was found to be influenced by the material of the notes, and there was a strong correlation between the number of bacteria per square centimeter and a series of indicators of economic prosperity of the various countries. The strongest correlation was found with the "index of economic freedom," indicating that the lower the index value, the higher the typical bacterial content on the banknotes in circulation. Other factors that appear to influence the number of bacteria on banknotes were the age of the banknotes and the material used to produce the notes (polymer-based vs. cotton-based). The banknotes were also screened for the presence of a range of pathogens. It was found that pathogens could only be isolated after enrichment and their mere presence does not appear to be alarming. In light of our international findings, it is recommended that current guidelines as they apply in most countries with regard to the concurrent hygienic handling of foods and money should be universally adopted. This includes that, in some instances, the handling of food and money have to be physically separated by employing separate individuals to carry out one task each; whereas in other instances, it could be advantageous to handle food only with a gloved hand and money with the other hand. If neither of these precautions can be effectively implemented, it is highly recommended that food service personnel practice proper hand washing procedures after handling money and before handling food.

Fear of causing harm: use of mannequin-based simulation to decrease student anxiety prior to interacting with female teaching associates.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of research assessing the potential benefits of mannequin trainers when preparing students to interact with teaching associates. PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to better understand the effects of mannequin-based simulators on student comfort toward learning specific aspects of the clinical female pelvic exam. METHODS: First-year medical students (N = 344) were surveyed before and after a mannequin-based simulation curriculum to assess their comfort levels toward learning the female pelvic exam. RESULTS: Causing harm was the top cause of student anxiety toward learning the pelvic exam. Although the mannequin-based simulation curriculum was effective in significantly increasing (p < .001) student comfort levels toward learning the pelvic exam, the majority of students progressed from being "very uncomfortable" with the exam to being "somewhat comfortable." CONCLUSION: We suggest that mannequin-based simulators be used prior to students' learning experience with pelvic exam teaching associates.

Occurrence and function of yeasts in Asian indigenous fermented foods.

In the Asian region, indigenous fermented foods are important in daily life. In many of these foods, yeasts are predominant and functional during the fermentation. The diversity of foods in which yeasts predominate ranges from leavened bread-like products such as nan and idli, to alcoholic beverages such as rice and palm wines, and condiments such as papads and soy sauce. Although several products are obtained by natural fermentation, the use of traditional starter cultures is widespread. This minireview focuses on the diversity and functionality of yeasts in these products, and on opportunities for research and development.

Sources of poultry meat contamination with thermophilic Campylobacter before slaughter

As possíveis fontes de contaminacão com Campylobacter termofílicos em carne de frango, antes do abate, foram estudadas através da análise de amostras de penas, cloaca, cama de aviário, gaiolas de transporte, água de lavagem da máquina de lavar gaiola e o suporte para peito de frango na linha de abate, imediatamente antes do atordoamento. As amostras foram coletadas em 8 aviários de 8 produtores diferentes, da região Sul do Brasil. O estudo foi realizado durante o período de um ano, onde cada aviário foi amostrado três vezes, perfazendo um total de 24 coletas nos aviários.Campylobacter foi encontrado em 79,2 per center das amostras de penas, seguido por cloaca (75,0 per center), gaiola de transporte (50,0 per center), cama de aviário (37,5 per center), suporte para peito (33,3 per center) e água de lavagem de gaiola (25,0 per center). Considerando-se a combinacão dos resultados encontrados entre amostras de cloaca, penas e cama de aviário, 21 (87,5 per center) dos 24 lotes de frango a serem abatidos apresentaram Campylobacter termofílico pelo menos em uma dessas amostras. Campylobacter termofílico foi encontrado em 22 dos 24 lotes de aves destinados ao abate, o que significa 91,7 per center dos lotes contaminados.

Heat-stable toxin production by strains of Bacillus cereus, Bacillus firmus, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus simplex and Bacillus licheniformis.

Strains of Bacillus cereus can produce a heat-stable toxin (cereulide). In this study, 101 Bacillus strains representing 7 Bacillus species were tested for production of heat-stable toxins. Strains of B. megaterium, B. firmus and B. simplex were found to produce novel heat-stable toxins, which showed varying levels of toxicity. B. cereus strains (18 out of 54) were positive for toxin production. Thirteen were of serovar H1, and it was of interest that some were of clinical origin. Two were of serovars 17B and 20, which are not usually implicated in the emetic syndrome. Partial purification of the novel B. megaterium, B. simplex and B. firmus toxins showed they had similar physical characteristics to the B. cereus emetic toxin, cereulide.

The use of an air filtration system in podiatry clinics.

A small-scale study was conducted to ascertain the efficiency and effectiveness of an air filtration system for use in podiatry/chiropody clinics (Electromedia Model 35F (A), Clean Air Ltd, Scotland, UK). Three clinics were identified, enabling comparison of data between podiatry clinics in the West of Scotland. The sampling was conducted using a portable Surface Air Sampler (Cherwell Laboratories, Bicester, UK). Samples were taken on two days at three different times before and after installation of the filtration units. The global results of the study indicate the filter has a statistically significant effect on microbial counts, with an average percentage decrease of 65%. This study is the first time, to the authors' knowledge, such a system has been tested within podiatric practice.

Sugar profile of extracellular polysaccharides from different Tremella species.

Heteropolysaccharides isolated from liquid cultures of Tremella species were derivatised to alditol acetates and identified by GLC against derivatised sugar standards. From the sugar profiles it was evident that all of the polysaccharides contained essentially the same sugars but in different ratios. Some of the polysaccharides contained the five carbon sugars-fucose, ribose, xylose and arabinose together with six carbon sugars-mannose, galactose and glucose. The uronic acid content of Tremella heteropolysaccharides also varied according to species. In addition, carbon source (arabinose, xylose, glucose, fructose and galactose) affected the sugar (including uronic acid content) ratio within the polysaccharides.