Inicial // Resumos e Palestras

Microbiome exploitation in the food system: challenges and opportunities
Luca Simone Cocolin, UNITO

The food system is facing a number of challenges, which should be properly addressed by using the most appropriate strategies, based on strong scientific evidences. Increase of the world population, malnutrition and non-communicable diseases in under-developed and industrialized countries, respectively, climate change, water scarcity and land desertification are just some of the main challenges that human beings have to address in the near future. Sustainability has become a must, and modern food production systems have to be designed in order to take this into consideration.

In 2015, the World Health Organization identified 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be addressed and reached by 2030 and food production can be identified as one of the main drivers to reach the objectives identified by several of them.

There is urgency in contributing to the advancement of the scientific knowledge in the context of the food system. More specifically, there is a strong evidence that current food production systems, especially those related to protein sources, are not sustainable. Food production is the largest cause of global environmental change. Agriculture occupies about 40% of global land, and food production is responsible of up to 30% of global greenhouse-gas emissions and 70% of freshwater use. In this scenario, microbiome, defined as the group of microorganisms present in a specific ecosystem, including also their functional characteristics (i.e metabolic pathways), have been identified as tools to exploit to find solutions to the above-mentioned challenges.

In this presentation, few examples will be showcased on how microbiome plays a role in gut health in productive animals (i.e chickens), in the modulation of human gut microbiome based on the diet consumed and in the production of fermented foods.

Use of metagenome-assembled genomes to understand food fermentation
Elaine Pereira De Martinis, USP

Next generation DNA sequencing has greatly increased our understanding on the microbial ecology of fermented food, and the analysis of data available in public repositories is an important source to increase the power of comparison among different datasets from diverse geographical regions, different times and distinct  agricultural and processing practices. In this sense, the analysis of shotgun metagenomic data with an assembled-based approach (MAG) is very useful to reconstruct complex and unknown genomes. For that, bioinformatics tools are applied to obtain raw sequencing reads, to do quality control of data, metagenome assembling,  binning of contigs, gene prediction/annotation and finally, genome reconstruction. Applications of MAGs for the study of food fermentation were presented and discussed in the lecture, concluding that MAGs may offer additional description of microbiomes, revealing previously overlooked microorganisms, with prediction of key phenotypes and biochemical pathways.

Maximizing the advantages of fermentation microbial ecology
Folarin Oguntoyinbo, Appalachian State University

Around the world, only very few fermented foods and beverages are produced using standardized starter cultures. The microbiota associated with different traditional fermented foods and beverages is still poorly understood. It is important to leverage the next-generation sequencing technology to profile the microbiome of fermented foods and beverages and to be able to maximize its advantages in food safety, quality and nutrition. Many industries in the western hemisphere depend on the use of very few microbes for fermentation and bioprocessing. This practice completely neglects other important wild microorganisms with health-beneficial properties, desirable sensory properties, and nutritional capabilities. During industrial fermentation, it is well known that both culturable and unculturable microbes are responsible for safety, spoilage and off-flavor development. Therefore, profiling the microbial ecology of fermented products can enable an easy understanding of in situ microbial dynamics and help to determine their metabolic signatures. Currently, there are two sequencing methods used for studying microbial community structures and functions. 1. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing targeting variable regions. 2. Whole-genome metagenomic using shotgun sequencing technology. The talk described examples of fermented foods and lessons learned by using genome sequencing to decipher the whole genome of bacteria and viruses. Also described the usage of metagenomics for describing microbial evenness through relative abundance, α and ß diversity aimed at addressing new questions that can support the nutritional and safety quality of fermented foods and beverages.

Using fungi to produce alternative food types: benefits and risks
Marta Hiromi Taniwaki, ITAL

Fungi are important organisms in food production and quality, and are used in industry for the production of enzymes, organic acids, proteins of interest, and in fermentation processes. In contrast, fungi are also important in food spoilage and they can produce toxins harmful to both human and animal health (mycotoxins). The concept “alternative protein source or single cell protein (SCP)” is applied to the massive growth of microorganisms for human or animal consumption. It is a generic term that refers to crude or purified protein originated from bacteria, yeast, mold or algae cells, which can be consumed directly as biomass or as a supplement to increase the protein content of other foods. There is a class of products derived from the biomass of filamentous fungi whose purpose is to take advantage of the highly branched structure of the mycelium to create meat-like textures. Fungal biomass production has important advantages over other protein sources: (i) Produced in a short time; (ii) Requires little space and is not affected by weather conditions; (iii) Microorganisms can multiply using various carbon sources; (iv) It is sustainable: significantly less land and water use compared to most other protein sources. However, it is important to point out that the selection of a fungal strain for biomass production must take into account the fact that certain fungal species have a high potential to produce mycotoxins which are highly toxic. In this presentation, the benefits and risks of using fungi to produce alternative food types are discussed.

Processing Environment Monitoring: Why, What, How, What’s next?
François Patrick Bourdichon, FIL-IDF

Processing environment monitoring is gaining increasing importance in the context of food safety management plans/HACCP programs. Past outbreaks have shown the relevance of the processing environment as contamination pathway, but there are still many open questions and a lack of clarity on how to set up a meaningful program, which would provide early warnings of potential product contamination. IDF dedicated action team is working on a bulletin (foreseen 2024) to outline the essential elements of a processing environment monitoring program thereby supporting the design and implementation of better programs focusing on the relevant microorganisms. This guidance document will be intended to help the dairy industry and regulators focus and set up targeted processing environment monitoring programs depending on their purpose, and therefore provide the essential elements needed to improve food safety.

Bacteriophages: A natural promising solution for food safety
Silvio B. Santos, Universidade do Minho

Bacteriophages(phages) are the viruses of bacteria that present unique features. They are highly diverse and ubiquitous with the ability to efficiently kill bacteria, presenting a high specificity against their host. Moreover, they are innocuous to eukaryotic cells. Food safety is a critical issue that affects public health with 1 in 10 people falling ill after eating contaminated food worldwide and causing 125 thousand deaths in children under 5 every year. It also affects the economy worldwide, with an estimate of 110 billion US dollars each year. Bacterial infections are one of the major causes of foodborne illness, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. In addition, the emergence and spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria have posed a significant challenge to food safety, as well as to human and animal health. Considering their specificity and high efficiency in killing bacteria, bacteriophages offer a promising solution to combat bacterial pathogens in food. They can be used to target specific bacterial species or strains, and their efficacy can be optimized through the selection and engineering of phages with desired properties. Bacteriophage specificity means that they can also be used as a tool for pathogen detection and monitoring in food, as they can selectively

bind and detect their bacterial host. This approach offers a rapid, specific, and sensitive alternative to traditional detection methods, such as culture-based methods, which are time-consuming and may miss low levels of contamination. In summary, bacteriophages offer a natural and promising solution to enhance food safety by controlling and detecting pathogenic bacteria. This talk will provide an overview of the potential of bacteriophages and its proteins as tools to improve food safety, and discuss the challenges and opportunities for their application.

Inovação em One Health approach em Controle de Qualidade e Inocuidade
Lauane Gonçalves de Araújo, Hygiena

A produção, o preparo e o consumo dos alimentos estão intimamente ligados à nossa saúde e a saúde do planeta. Uma simples refeição cotidiana pode ter matérias primas vindas de diferentes países, com diferentes práticas de food safety. A globalização das cadeias de produção tem criado condições favoráveis para a emergência, reemergência e distribuição de patógenos oriundos dos alimentos e têm criado uma barreira adicional ao já difícil desafio de detecção/identificação e efetiva resposta às ameaças à saúde que o consumo de alimentos não seguros pode oferecer. Nesse sentido, é necessário o estabelecimento de um novo paradigma: um que mude de uma abordagem reativa para uma mais antecipatória, proativa e que considere a interconectividade entre múltiplos setores – uma abordagem baseada no conceito de One Health ou “Saúde Única”. De forma prática e do ponto de vista microbiológico, podemos considerar como ferramentas dessa abordagem o monitoramento ambiental, monitoramento de prevalência e carga microbiana patogênica, além de, manejo e comunicação de dados por toda a cadeia, incluindo saúde animal, porém, feito de forma que atenda à realidade do ambiente de produção de alimentos no Brasil. Nesse sentido, tecnologias como a quantificação de organismos indicadores através de ATP e bioluminescência, com entrega de resultados entre 6 e 8 horas, o monitoramento de carga microbiana por quantificação em PCR real-time, além de programas de manejo integrado de dados, se somados a um trabalho tripartite para fortalecimento da Cultura Food Safety e junção de esforços entre comunidade acadêmica e indústria, podem auxiliar na conquista da Saúde Única.

The insights provided into microbial food safety by omics approaches
Kalliopi Rantsiou, UNITO

Integration of data obtained by culture dependent and culture independent analyses of samples is an effective approach when monitoring microbial contamination and prevalence of foodborne pathogens. In this presentation, two case studies are presented. In both, environmental microbiological monitoring was performed as it is an essential preventive measure employed by the industry to improve food safety. The objective was to highlight how the culture independent approaches can enrich our understanding of microbial ecology in processing environments.  The first study concerned the slaughterhouse environment. Three different slaughterhouses were investigated while the effect of ozone as disinfection measure was also evaluated. The composition of the microbial communities, as determined by RNA-based metataxonomic methodology, was influenced by the operations carried out in the processing rooms; probably due to the conditions (mainly temperature) that prevail during processing. Among the core microbial populations, a spatial segregation of oligotypes was observed. Finally, a selective antimicrobial effect of ozone was observed. The second case study concerned an infant food producing company. Samples were analyzed targeting five foodborne pathogens by classic microbiological methods and by quantitative PCR. In parallel, amplicon sequencing was performed to obtain the taxonomic composition of the microbial communities in the samples. Cultivation and qPCR detection correlated relatively well and highlighted high frequency of spore forming bacteria in the samples. The microbial communities of the samples were largely distinguishable based on the time of sampling. Also, targeted pathogens could be detected within the microbial communities of the samples by amplicon sequencing.

Perspectives for monitoring foodborne diseases in Brazil
Uelinton Manoel Pinto, USP

The World Health Organization has estimated that there are 600 million cases of foodborne diseases (FBD) worldwide. Alarmingly, one in every ten people may fall ill every year due to FBDs, resulting in an estimated 420,000 deaths. The burden of FBDs is particularly severe in low-income countries. However, it is important to note that estimates should not be confused with actual FBD outbreak data. In the United States, for example, the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (FDOSS) reported 5,760 outbreaks resulting in 100,939 illnesses, 5,699 hospitalizations, and 145 deaths between 2009 and 2015, which is much lower than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate of 48 million cases per year. The number of FBD-related outbreaks is underreported worldwide. In Brazil, FBD epidemiological data is collected through a system called SINAN (Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação), and data on acute diarrheal diseases is gathered through SIVEP-DDA (Sistema de Informação de Vigilância Epidemiológica das Doenças Diarreicas Agudas) in sentinel units located in every municipality. In this talk, I will present data related to FBD outbreaks and diarrheal diseases in Brazil and discuss the limitations of gathering these data, as well as the issue of underreporting and inconsistencies related to the epidemiological identification of pathogens and their sources in foods.

Impact of Big Data on food safety research
József Baranyi, University of Debrecen

Today, “Big Data” methods include all computer procedures that try to reach conclusions by exploiting the advantages of the “Four V attributes” (Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity) and eliminating its disadvantages.  While the first two V-s have been present in scientific data processing for a long time, the latter two, especially the truthfulness of the information (see “fake news”), pose more and more problems, eg. when making political and economic decisions or, in our field, food and nutrition sciences. It is difficult to draw a line between the innocent misinterpretation of objective results obtained by statistical / predictive methods and their manipulative misinterpretation – and the news does not even have to be fake news. In this presentation, we focus on this challenge through various examples, mainly from the field of food and nutrition science. We demonstrate how unacceptable and, in the long-term, harmful it is, for the sake of simplicity, to replace the precise interpretation of statistical results with “understandable” but imprecise interpretations.

Farm to fork quantitative microbial risk assessment for norovirus on frozen strawberries
Donald Schaffner, Rutgers State University

This presentation provides an overview on the history of viral risk assessment in food and water, beginning with early research on rotavirus and enterovirus in poor quality water applied to fresh produce. Further research was catalyzed by the publication of a norovirus dose response model which led to a number of norovirus risk assessments focusing primarily on water as the source. Subsequent studies incorporated contamination from farm and food service workers as the source of the virus. The presentation includes a summary of a farm to fork quantitative microbial risk assessment for norovirus on frozen strawberries. This research endeavored to predict an outbreak which occurred in Germany in 2012 where over 10,000 people were infected with norovirus over three weeks. Results indicated that the most likely explanation for the outbreak was contaminated pesticide make up water. Results also confirmed that heating berries was a very effective intervention at reducing illness. The presentation concludes with a summary of additional published work on the kinetics of microwave inactivation of virus on frozen strawberries. This work revealed unexpected thermal inactivation kinetics which suggest that a gradually increasing temperature profile could lead to virus that was less sensitive to inactivation at higher temperatures.

Modeling Salmonella inactivation and survival under non-thermal stress
Bruno Carciofi, UFSC

Microrganismos patogênicos são constante preocupação em termos de saúde pública, prejuízos econômicos e segurança alimentar. A segurança dos alimentos processados precisa ser garantida pelas empresas produtoras, entretanto, algumas espécies, como a Salmonella podem apresentar características diferentes quando submetidas às condições de estresse. Foi demonstrado, a partir de dados experimentais e do ajuste de modelos matemáticos capazes de predizer o comportamento microbiano, que a Salmonellaapresenta comportamentos diferentes no processo de inativação por luz UV após um período em ambiente com atividade de água relativamente baixa (próximo a 0,95). Nesta condição de estresse osmótico, os diferentes sorotipos e inóculos (oriundos de condições de cultivo variadas) demonstraram um comportamento não uniforme. Entre outros aspectos, observou-se que a velocidade específica máxima de crescimento e a duração da fase de latência foram dependentes destas variações. Modelos matemáticos que consideram subpopulações são opções viáveis para descrever este tipo de comportamento, o qual pode ser denominado de fenômeno fênix. Em suma, demonstrou-se que modelos matemáticos são ferramentas úteis e versáteis para descrição de diversos cenários. Estes modelos podem e devem ser melhorados com a observação experimental cuidadosamente planejada e executando, tornando-se uma importante ferramenta para a proteção dos alimentos.

Inspeção Sanitária e Industrial de Alimentos baseada em Risco Microbiológico
Jalusa Deon Kich, Embrapa Suínos e Aves

A tecnificação da suinocultura modificou o perfil zoonótico da carne suína, reduzindo a ocorrência de patógenos, como as parasitoses zoonóticas, e favorecendo perigos não detectáveis visualmente. Esta nova realidade exigiu ajustes no Sistema de Inspeção Federal (SIF) para melhorar a ação do Estado na prevenção de doenças transmitidas por alimentos. Para modernizar os procedimentos de ante e post mortem, o Departamento de Inspeção de Produtos de Origem Animal (DIPOA) demandou a Embrapa a realizar estudos baseados em risco, através do projeto “Revisão e modernização dos procedimentos de inspeção ante e post mortem aplicados em abatedouros frigoríficos de suínos com inspeção federal”. Sete planos de ação foram conduzidos para estudar as detecções do sistema atual, ranquear os perigos atribuídos ao consumo de carne suína, revisar a regulamentação, produzir dados complementares, confrontar estas informações, e sugerir ajustes dos procedimentos de ante e post mortem, para então ser avaliado o seu impacto. A priorização de perigos indicou a Salmonella como único perigo de alto risco, os demais foram caracterizados como de risco baixo e muito baixo, sendo os perigos não ranqueados indicados como “negligenciáveis” para fins de controles oficiais. A proposta de procedimentos atuou em duas frentes: 1) No escopo do Programa Nacional de Redução de Patógenos, a elaboração da IN60/2018 que definiu os critérios microbiológicos para carcaças de suínos em abatedouro sob inspeção federal para prevenir a contaminação de carcaças por perigos presentes nas fezes (enterobactérias) e Salmonella; 2) A elaboração da IN79/2018 baseada na validação de um conjunto de procedimentos de inspeção sanitária e classificação de qualidade, adequados à situação epidemiológica nacional. O projeto indicou os pontos de controle oficial, classificações que podem ser realizadas pela indústria a dá segurança para a supressão de algumas avaliações até então realizadas.

Validação de métodos analíticos cromatográficos
Luciano Molognoni, MAPA – LANAGRO

“Analytical tools intended to support food production control and food inspection and forensics must be practical and provide high throughput to analytical routine, balancing costs to combine efficiency with impartiality, reliability and universality of the yielded results. These tools must also monitor the degree of sophistication of possible food adulterations. In this sense, such a process constantly requires modern, reproducible, sensitive, and highly reliable metrological methods. Chromatographic techniques have been successfully used for food analysis. Regardless of the employed analytical technique, the reliability of the results generated must be checked by validation procedures (ISO 17025:2017). Performance parameters such as linearity, selectivity, LOD/LOQ determination, repeatability and reproducibility were discussed. The trueness and, when possible (quantitative methods), determine the uncertainty of measurement were also discussed. In general, problems with real samples analyzed by the state-of-the-art for validation purposes was the focus of the lecture.

A importância da seleção do método correto para análises de Alergênicos
Cristina Constantino, Eurofins

Eurofins is present in more than 61 countries and has more than 55,000 employees in 900 laboratories, providing more than 200,000 different tests. In Brazil, there are 7 units focused on food samples and environmental analysis, with centers of excellence by region. We are active in microbiology, physical-chemical analysis, genetically modified organisms, pesticides, veterinary drugs, speciation and DNA sequencing, among others. All laboratories are accredited with ISO 17025 and have MAPA accreditation for various tests. We have strict quality processes to guarantee the execution and traceability of tests and proficiency programs. Among the foods, 9 are considered as major causes of allergy in humans by the FDA. There are different methods for detection and monitoring of food allergens, which can target proteins, ATP and DNA. The choice of method depends on the target matrix, response time, sensitivity level and required accuracy. Methods such as PCR, ELISA, mass spectrometry, lateral flow can be used with important advantages and disadvantages, which must be evaluated before choosing. It is important to evaluate that the composition of the sample and the level of processing of the food can interfere with the recovery of allergens by the methods and that diferente biological, thermal/chemical or physical treatments can cause cross reactions or decrease in the sensitivity of methods, which are often validated with pure matrices.

Metodologias alternativas para detecção de micotoxinas em alimentos
Carlos Augusto Fernandes de Oliveira, USP-Pirassununga

Micotoxinas são metabólitos secundários produzidos por fungos que ocorrem naturalmente em alimentos e que podem causar uma grande variedade de efeitos tóxicos em vertebrados, incluindo seres humanos. De acordo com a literatura, as micotoxinas mais comuns encontradas em alimentos ou rações são: aflatoxinas (AF), ocratoxina A (OTA), fumonisinas (FB), zearalenona (ZEN) e desoxinivalenol (DON). Desde a descoberta das aflatoxinas em 1960, diversas metodologias foram desenvolvidas para identificar e quantificar micotoxinas em diferentes matrizes alimentícias. Entre as técnicas analíticas, a cromatografia de camada delgada (CCD) foi amplamente utilizada inicialmente, sendo substituída ao longo dos anos 1970s pela cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (HPLC). A partir do início da década de 1980, métodos imunológicos tais como o ensaio immuoenzimático por enzimas adsorvidas (ELISA) e imunoensaio de fluxo lateral (LFI) foram desenvolvidos para determinação de micotoxinas em alimentos, ampliando o leque de aplicações de metodologias rápidas para estes compostos, inclusive para triagem de amostras e utilização em condições de campo. Estas técnicas permanecem atualmente entre as mais importantes metodologias alternativas para determinação de micotoxinas em alimentos. A partir do início do século XXI, houve um desenvolvimento espetacular de técnicas analíticas avançadas utilizando a espectrometria de massas, possibilitando a criação de sistemas analíticos associados, com destaque para a cromatografia líquida acoplada a espectrômetro de massa em triplo quadrupolo (LC-MS/MS). Esta técnica marcou o início das determinações simultâneas de múltiplas micotoxinas em uma mesma amostra de alimento, possibilitando verificar a co-ocorrência destes compostos e assim contribuir para uma avaliação de risco à saúde mais realista e eficiente.

Aplicação da separação  imuno-magnética integrada ao rtPCR para detecção de patógenos em alimentos.

A técnica de detecção de microrganismos utilizando PCR já é amplamente conhecida e reconhecida por sua eficácia. A aplicação para detecção de patógenos em amostras de alimentos traz muitos desafios devido a variedade de matrizes e por conseguinte a variedade de possíveis inibidores da reação de polimerase. Portando o tratamento dado no preparo da amostra antes de iniciar os protocolos de amplificação e detecção são de suma importância. O procedimento mais encontrado para esse tratamento é utilizar uma alíquota muito pequena do caldo de enriquecimento ( de 5µL a 20 µL) e com a adição dos reagentes de lisis fazer com que os inibidores sejam diluídos, portanto a amostra é diluída aumentando assim a possibilidade de falsos negativos.

Para eliminar esse risco muitas publicações mencionam a aplicação da técnica de Separação Imuno-Magnética afim de limpar a amostra e concentrar o patógeno que se deseja detectar, porém a técnica tradicional de separação utilizando imã na parte externa dos tubos é laboriosa e demorada. Neste sentido o método Assurance® GDS traz a inovação da “Separação Imuno-Magnetica de Imersão” que consiste em submergir pontas de imã em volumes de 1ml do caldo de enriquecimento previamente adicionado dos “inmunobeads” e assim capturar as partículas magnéticas e respectivo patógeno e depois transferir para uma solução limpa pronta para amplificação e detecção no termociclador. Com isso aumenta-se em até 50 vezes o volume de caldo utilizado na detecção dos patógenos que se busca detectar. O dispositivo que permite esse procedimento se chama Pickpen® e está integrado aos protocolos do sistema de PCR multiplex  Assurance® GDS. Uma grande variedade de patógenos podem ser rapidamente detectados com a mas alta eficiência e custo adequado aos laboratórios de controle de qualidade microbiológico de alimentos.

Ferramentas ômicas para monitoramento de qualidade e inocuidade em indústrias de alimentos
Rafael R. de Oliveira, Neoprospecta

As ferramentas ômicas têm permitido à microbiologia avançar no conhecimento muito além das fronteiras impostas pela microbiologia clássica. Tanto a limitação das espécies não cultiváveis in vitro como a limitação daquilo que é passível de ser identificado através de análises fenotípicas, foram superadas com o advento do sequenciamento genético. Acessar o código genético permite não só a classificação taxonômica de uma espécie, mas também comparar isolados para verificar clonalidade, realizar estudos de rastreabilidade dentro da fábrica, identificar presença de genes de resistência, determinar sorotipos, dentre outras possibilidades. A Neoprospecta oferece um portfólio completo de análises ômicas de ácidos nucleicos: genômica, metabarcoding, metagenômica, transcriptômica, metatranscriptômica e demais variações alvo específicas. Além de ensaios pontuais, a Neoprospecta se preocupa com o emprego sofisticado dos resultados na investigação de problemas complexos e principalmente na predição de riscos microbiológicos. Para tal, dois softwares foram desenvolvidos: Neobiome e Biomequality. O Neobiome oferece inúmeras ferramentas como o Perfil Microbiológico, Perfil Genético, BIM (Banco de Informações de Microrganismos), Mapa de Risco e RIR (Relatório Indicador de Risco), todas trabalhando sinergicamente para extrair o máximo de informações que os dados de sequenciamento, qPCR e LAMP podem oferecer. Já a ferramenta Biomequality permite a definição de planos de coleta personalizados de acordo com seus processos e metodologias, montagem de planos e programas de qualidade, relatórios customizados, controle de todos programas de qualidade em um só lugar dentre outras features. Aliando dados microbiológicos, ciência de dados e software a Neoprospecta está construindo a nova era da microbiologia.

Excreted Antibiotics May Be Key to Emergence of Increasingly Efficient Antibiotic Resistance in Food Animal Production
Douglas Ruben Call, WSU

Recent work in Washington State (USA) demonstrated that Escherichia coli found in dairy cattle are increasingly likely to synthesize an important cephalosporin-resistance enzyme called CTX-M-15 rather than another widely distributed enzyme called CMY-2. We cloned these genes with their native promoters and conducted a series of competition studies in the presence of ampicillin, ceftiofur, and three metabolites of ceftiofur called desfuroylceftiofur (DFC), DFC-cysteine, DFC-dimer. For four out of five substrates, an E. coli strain harboring blaCTX-M-15 was more likely to outcompete an isogenic strain harboring blaCMY-2. Subsequent analysis of enzyme kinetics verified that CTX-M-15 hydrolyzes the four antibiotic substrates more efficiently than CMY-2. Importantly, while these findings demonstrate that CTX-M-15 is more efficient, the only way that this can provide a fitness advantage is in the presence of high concentrations of the tested antibiotics. For animals like dairy cattle, the only way to encounter comparable concentrations of antibiotics is after antibiotic residues are concentrated in the urine of treated animals. These findings suggest that the selective advantage of CTX-M-15 is manifest in the presence of antibiotic residues found in the environment rather than in vivo. This conclusion is supported by earlier studies showing that excreted residues following therapeutic treatment with ceftiofur have a strong selective effect on E. coli populations in the proximal environment, and evidence suggests that ampicillin will have a similar effect. Collectively, these findings support the overall hypothesis that following beta-lactam treatment, antibiotic selection for E. coli from livestock populations is driven by excreted antibiotics, which can drive both the emergence of new resistance traits in a population, and the long-term persistence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in food-production environments.

60 years of the Codex Alimentarius Commission – international contributions to food hygiene
Sarah Cahill, FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme

The Codex Alimentarius Commission was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the increased need for harmonized standards to facilitate international trade and food safety concerns such as those related to the increased use of chemicals in food. Meeting for the first time in 1963, the Commission aims to develop standards that will protect consumer health, ensure fair practices in the food trade and promote the coordination of food standards development work. Since 1963 Codex has grown to include 189 Members and over 235 Observers. There are currently 377 texts in the Codex Alimentarius and 1000s of numerical standards for additives, contaminants and residues of veterinary drugs and pesticides.

From its first meeting, food hygiene was listed as one of the highest priorities of the Commission. The first edition of the General Principles of Food Hygiene was adopted in 1969. Over the years it has evolved to include the latest approaches to food hygiene, with the incorporation of HACCP as well as efforts to ensure it was relevant to small and less developed businesses. The General Principles are supported with a range of pathogen and commodity specific texts as well as those addressing related aspects such as risk management, process validation and microbiological criteria.

The incorporation of a risk based approach to standard setting was an important development and Codex hygiene related guidelines and codes of practice are now all based on the scientific advice and risk assessment provided by JEMRA, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert meetings on Microbiological Risk assessment. While standards development can sometimes be slow due to the broad engagement and efforts to reach consensus on a global level, when needed Codex can respond quickly. An example of this is the work that Codex did to address the emerging threat posed by Enterobacter sakazakii (now Cronobacter spp,) in infant formula to infants and young children in the mid 2000’s. Codex continues to respond to emerging issues today recently having developed guidance on management of allergens in food. Recognizing the increasing challenges with access to clean water it had developed guidance on the safe use and re-use of water in food production and processing. Moving forward it will continue to respond to new issues and review and revise the guidance it provides to the food safety community globally so as to stay true to its core aims of protecting consumer health and ensuring fair practices in food trade.