, a highly infectious and rapidly spreading new pneumonia of unknown cause was reported to the Chinese WHO Country Office. A cluster of these cases had appeared in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei Province of China. These infections were found to be caused by a new coronavirus which was given the name "2019 novel coronavirus" (2019-nCoV). It was later renamed "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2," or SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses on February 11, 2020. It was named SARS-CoV-2 due to its close genetic similarity to the coronavirus which caused the SARS outbreak in 2002 (SARS-CoV-1). The aim of this review is to provide information, primarily to the food industry, regarding a range of biocides effective in eliminating or reducing the presence of coronaviruses from fomites, skin, oral/nasal mucosa, air, and food contact surfaces. As several EPA approved sanitizers against SARS-CoV-2 are commonly used by food processors, these compounds are primarily discussed as much of the industry already has them on site and is familiar with their application and use. Specifically, we focused on the effects of alcohols, povidone iodine, quaternary ammonium compounds, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), peroxyacetic acid (PAA), chlorine dioxide, ozone, ultraviolet light, metals, and plant-based antimicrobials. This review highlights the differences in the resistance or susceptibility of different strains of coronaviruses, or similar viruses, to these antimicrobial agents.
Rice is considered as staple food in many parts of the world. An issue of concern is the breakage of rice kernels in milling processes, and these broken kernels are not generally accepted by consumers. These broken kernels can be mixed with some desired additives to improve their quality and extruded for the preparation of reconstituted rice kernels or rice analogues. Various studies have been conducted for the preparation of the rice analogues in the past few decades, and recently attempts have been made to fortify these analogues with protein, certain vitamins and minerals. The main features such as colour, shape, size, texture, and cooking characteristics and cooking time of these rice-like grains can be tailored to the requirements of specific applications by modification of the extrusion parameters. Various organisations, such as Wuxi NutriRice Co. (DSM ⁄ Buhler) and China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporate (COFCO), Superlative Snacks Inc., Vigui and PATH, have utilised this technique to prepare fortified and reconstituted rice. Studies have shown that it is possible to improve the nutritional quality of rice by fortified rice analogues. This article reviews research results of the many approaches to the formation of fortified rice analogues by extrusion-based technologies.
Toxoplasma gondii is a widely distributed protozoan parasite. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that T. gondii is one of three pathogens (along with Salmonella and Listeria), that together account for >70% of all deaths due to foodborne illness in the United States. Food animals are reservoirs for T. gondii and act as one of the sources for parasite transmission to humans. Based on limited population-based data, the Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization estimated that approximately 22% of human T. gondii infections are meatborne. The objective of the current study was to conduct a systematic meta-analysis to provide a precise estimation of T. gondii infection prevalence in food animals produced in the United States. Four databases were searched to collect eligible studies. Prevalence was estimated in six animal categories (confinement-raised market pigs, confinement-raised sows, non-confinement-raised pigs, lamb, goats, and non-confinement-raised chickens) by a quality-effects model. A wide variation in prevalence was observed in each animal category. Animals raised outdoors or that have outdoor access had a higher prevalence as compared with animals raised indoors. T. gondii prevalence in non-confinement-raised pigs ranked the highest (31.0%) followed by goats (30.7%), non-confinement-raised chickens (24.1%), lambs (22.0%), confinement-raised sows (16.7%), and confinement-raised market pigs (5.6%). These results indicate that T. gondii-infected animals are a food safety concern. The computed prevalence can be used as an important input in quantitative microbial risk assessment models to further predict public health burden.
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