The earliest discovery of an oxidation product of cholesterol from a natural source was reported in 1940. Additional discoveries of cholesterol oxidation products (COPS) in edible food products accelerated in the 1980s as gas chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography detection methods were improved. COPS have been found in several foods including liquid eggs and dried egg products, milk and milk products, meat and meat products, marine food products, and other processed foods. Compelling evidence demonstrates that several cholesterol oxides are cytotoxic, atherogenic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic. Therefore, the presence of COPS in foods raises questions about the safety of consumption of some products.

Due to greater consumption of poultry products and an increase in exports, more poultry houses will be needed. Therefore, it is important to investigate ways that poultry facilities can coexist in close proximity to residential areas without odors and environmental challenges. Ammonia (NH) is the greatest concern for environmental pollution from poultry production. When birds consume protein, they produce uric acid, ultimately converted to NH under favorable conditions. Factors that increase production include pH, temperature, moisture content, litter type, bird age, manure age, relative humidity, and ventilation rate (VR). NH concentration and emissions in poultry houses depend on VR; seasons also have effects on NH production. Modern ventilation systems can minimize NH in enclosed production spaces quickly but increase its emissions to the environment. NH adversely affects the ecosystem, environment, and health of birds and people. Less than 10 ppm is the ideal limit for exposure, but up to 25 ppm is also not harmful. NH can be minimized by housing type, aerobic and anaerobic conditions, manure handling practices, litter amendment, and diet manipulation without affecting performance and production. Antibiotics can minimize NH, but consumers have concerns about health effects. Administration of probiotics seems to be a useful replacement for antibiotics. More studies have been conducted on broilers, necessitating the need to evaluate the effect of probiotics on NH production in conjunction with laying hen performance and egg quality. This comprehensive review focuses on research from 1950 to 2018.

Overgrowth by spreading molds such as Rhizopus and Mucor species is a problem with fungal enumeration media used for foods. Thirty-one antifungal compounds were surveyed for their ability to selectively inhibit such fungi while allowing growth of mycotoxigenic molds and other species of significance in food spoilage. Dichloran (2,6 dichloro-4-nitroaniline) restricted growth of Rhizopus stolonifer while allowing satisfactory growth of the other test molds. Three Rhizopus and Mucor species were encountered that were not inhibited by dichloran; these were controlled by the addition of rose bengal. The optimal medium, designated DRBC, contained 2 ,ug of dichloran and 25 jg of rose bengal per ml. DRBC, in pure culture tests and with food samples, restricted the colony size of spreading molds and recovered a wider range of species in higher numbers than other enumeration media.

Numerous factors affect the storage stability of shredded Iceberg lettuce, with temperature being most important. Pouches of shredded lettuce stored at 2°C retained a marketable quality 2.5 times longer than those held at 10°C. Also, if the product was sealed in a gas impermeable container it lasted longer. In addition, a sharp blade exercising a slicing action was superior to either a sharp blade chopping or a duU blade slicing or chopping. Smaller shred size reduced storage life, as did the presence of any free moisture or cellular fluids on the lettuce surface. The higher the microbial load the shorter the storage life. Of the chemical dips tested none increased storage life significantly. Physical damaging of the shredded lettuce was detrimental to its storage stability.

Diets containing grape seed extract (GSE)-control, GSE [low GSE, low GSE + methionine, high GSE, and high GSE + methionine], or alpha-tocopherol-were fed to broiler chicks to estimate the antioxidative activity of GSE in processed meat. GSE was detrimental to the growth of chicks, and methionine did not reverse the detrimental effect. GSE with 85.4 g of gallic acid equiv/100 g (GAE 85.4) was added to ground dark turkey meat to obtain treatments with no GSE, 1.0% GSE, and 2.0% GSE and then processed as unsalted or salted and unheated or heated. Processed treatments were analyzed for thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and percent expressible moisture (%EM). GSE at 1.0 and 2.0% decreased TBARS values nearly 10-fold as compared to the control. GSE (1.0%) had a %EM value significantly greater than that of the control. GAE 85.4 decreased TBARS values more than GAE 88.9.