Food Science and Technology

WRITTEN BY:  Jennifer Ellis  from  LabRoots Allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S. and have increased in incidence by an estimated 50% over the past 20 years. There are several theories as to why allergies have been steadily increasing, and why there are so many different ones. Even though a person can be allergic to just about anything, there are only 8 foods that account for an estimated 90% of all food-related allergic reactions. Foods such as peanuts and shellfish are widely known to cause severe and potentially fatal allergic reactions, where allergies to wheat and soy tend to produce milder effects. In considering the cause of allergic reactions, it all stems from the immune system just messing up. If the immune system mistakenly designs a certain antibody type in response to exposure of a specific food or allergen, the next time the body is exposed, an allergic reaction is launched as if the allergen were a foreign pathogen. Her...

“nước mắm” + “truyền thống” 1.     Nước mắm (nuoc-mam) “Nước mắm” theo tên riêng của chính nó là một loại sản phẩm từ cá lên men ủ cùng muối, nó được chế biến và sử dụng phổ biến ở Việt Nam cũng như các loại “fish sauce” khác ở Đông Nam Á và nhiều vùng trên thế giới. Chất lượng nước mắm phụ thuộc vào nhiều yếu tố và đòi hỏi kinh nghiệm cao [4]. Mặc dù tồn tại với sự khác biệt về nguồn gốc các loài cá nguyên liệu đầu vào, công nghệ chế biến và tên gọi (“nước mắm ” ở Việt Nam, “nampla” ở Thái Lan, “ patis” ở Philippines, “ shottsuru” ở Nhật Bản và “ yeesui” ở Trung Quốc) [1], nước mắm từ các quốc gia khác nhau có cùng một nguyên tắc đó là quá trình lên men cá bằng cách tự phân hủy ở nồng độ muối cao.  Ở Việt Nam, khái niệm “Nước mắm” lần đầu tiên được định nghĩa một cách hợp pháp trong Sắc lệnh của Chính phủ Đông Dương, bằng tiếng Pháp ( the Order of Indochina Government ) ngày 21 tháng 12 năm 1916: “ Nước mắm là kết quả của quá trình ngâm cá trong dung dị...

What are the causes of product colour fading? This is one of the most frequent problems, and sources of the complaint, that beverage manufacturers encounter. It is a problem that may have several possible causes the most likely of which is exposure of the product to excessive amounts of light. It is also noteworthy that fading is normally associated with the use of added colours, either natural or artificial, rather than the intrinsic colour of a pure fruit juice. Products should be shelf tested in both south-facing and north-facing light to represent both direct sunlight exposure and the more normal daylight to assess their overall susceptibility to light. For products that are light-sensitive, use of protective films can be of value as can wrap-round labels. Another approach is to shrink wrap bulk packs in the protective film. Other likely causes are the presence of ingredients such as sulphur dioxide and ascorbic acid and the initial (or subsequent) level of oxygen...

Pros and Cons of Three High-Resolution Mass Spec Approaches Mike May Posted : June 8, 2017 Source: O'Donnell, V.B., Murphy, R.C., & Watson, S.P. (2014). Platelet lipidomics: modern day perspective on lipid discovery and characterization in platelets.  Circulation research, 114 7 , 1185-203 . Mass spectrometry (MS) measures the mass ( m ) to charge ( z ) ratio— m/z —of the ions in a sample. Those ratios provide an atomic signature for what makes up a sample. In many situations,  z  = 1, so the ratio provides the mass of the ions. In original instruments, the mass could only be measured to single-digit units, or integers. With high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), the mass can be measured to several decimal places. Often, ordinary MS is said to measure nominal mass and HRMS measures exact mass. By obtaining data that provide a more accurate representation of the mass of ions in a sample, this technique becomes usefu...

The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) procedure has been used to calculate permissible chronic exposure levels for humans based on non-carcinogenic effects. The ADI is the amount of a chemical to which a person can be exposed each day for a long time (usually lifetime) without suffering harmful effects. It is determined by applying safety factors (to account for the uncertainty in the data) to the highest dose in human or animal studies which has been demonstrated not to cause toxicity (NOAEL).  The EPA has slightly modified the ADI approach and calculates a Reference Dose (RfD) as the acceptable safety level for chronic non-carcinogenic and developmental effects. Similarly, the ATSDR calculates Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs) for noncancer endpoints. The critical toxic effect used in the calculation of an ADI, RfD, or MRL is the serious adverse effect which occurs at the lowest exposure level. It may range from lethality to minor toxic effects. It ...

In toxicology,  point of departure (POD)  is defined as the point on a toxicological dose-response curve established from experimental data or observational data generally corresponding to an estimated low effect level or no effect level. It marks the beginning of extrapolation to toxicological reference dose  RfD  or reference concentration  RfC . US EPA defines RfD or RfC as follows.  [ Note : In EU, RfD may be called  derived no-effect level (DNEL) .] Reference dose (RfD) : An estimate (with uncertainty spanning perhaps an order of magnitude) of a daily oral or dermal exposure to the human population (including sensitive subgroups) that is likely to be without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime. Its unit is usually  mg/kg bw/day  or  mg/kg . Reference concentration (RfC) : An estimate (with uncertainty spanning perhaps an order of magnitude) of a continuous inhalation exposure to the human...

Dose-Response Assessment The dose-response assessment step of the risk assessment process quantitates the hazards that were identified in the previous step. It determines the relationship between dose and incidence of effects in humans. There are normally two major extrapolations required: From high experimental doses to low environmental doses. From animal doses to human doses. The procedures used to extrapolate from high to low doses are different for assessing carcinogenic effects and noncarcinogenic effects: Carcinogenic effects  in general are not considered to have a threshold and mathematical models are generally used to provide estimates of carcinogenic risk at very low dose levels. Noncarcinogenic effects   (for example neurotoxicity)  are considered to have dose thresholds below which the effect does not occur. The lowest dose with an effect in animal or human studies is divided by safety factors to provide a margin of safety. Figure 1. D...