Toxicity, Detection and Prevention of Food Contaminants

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Quality and Safety".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2019) | Viewed by 20065

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Navarra, Pamplona 31008, Spain
Interests: toxicology; genotoxicity; ochratoxin A; mycotoxins; food safety

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Navarra, 31009 Pamplona, Spain
Interests: safety assessment of nanomaterials; toxicity and genotoxicity; DNA damage and repair; comet assay; development and adaptation of methods; regulation

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Navarra, Pamplona 31008, Spain
Interests: toxicology; toxicokinetics; ochratoxin A; genotoxicity; toxicogenomics

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Chemistry, Universidad de Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain
Interests: instrumental analysis; liquid chromatography; gas chromatography; mycotoxins; food; validation analytical methods; drug stability
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food can be contaminated by a variety of chemical substances that have not been intentionally added to it, and that may have a toxic effect. Chemical food contaminants can have a natural origin such as mycotoxins, they may result from environmental contamination, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), or they may be generated during food processing such as acrylamide. In order to protect human health, it is important to characterize the toxicity of food contaminants, to develop analytical techniques to detect their presence in food at low levels and to determine the conditions that would inactivate them or reduce their presence in food. Moreover, the general human exposure conditions are supposed to be of multi-exposure to different contaminants. In the present Issue analytical approaches to detect simultaneously several food contaminants of one specific class will be presented and the most recent knowledge on toxicity will also be discussed.

Prof. Dr. Adela Lopez de Cerain
Dr. Amaya Azqueta
Dr. Ariane Vettorazzi
Dr. Elena González-Peñas
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • mycotoxins
  • metals
  • polychlorinated biphenyls
  • dioxins
  • furan
  • toxicity
  • genotoxicity
  • endocrine disruption
  • multidetection
  • HPLC/MS

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 776 KiB  
Article
Ergot Alkaloids in Wheat and Rye Derived Products in Italy
by Francesca Debegnach, Simona Patriarca, Carlo Brera, Emanuela Gregori, Elisa Sonego, Gabriele Moracci and Barbara De Santis
Foods 2019, 8(5), 150; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8050150 - 1 May 2019
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 5271
Abstract
Genus Claviceps is a plant pathogen able to produce a group of toxins, ergot alkaloids (EAs), whose effects have been known since the Middle Ages (ergotism). Claviceps purpurea is the most important representative specie, known to infect more than 400 monocotyledonous plants including [...] Read more.
Genus Claviceps is a plant pathogen able to produce a group of toxins, ergot alkaloids (EAs), whose effects have been known since the Middle Ages (ergotism). Claviceps purpurea is the most important representative specie, known to infect more than 400 monocotyledonous plants including economically important cereal grains (e.g., rye, wheat, triticale). EAs are not regulated as such. Maximum limits are in the pipeline of the EU Commission while at present ergot sclerotia content is set by the Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 in unprocessed cereals (0.05% as a maximum). This study aimed to investigate the presence of the six principal EAs (ergometrine, ergosine, ergocornine, α-ergocryptine, ergotamine and ergocristine) and their relative epimers (-inine forms) in rye- and wheat-based products. Of the samples, 85% resulted positive for at least one of the EAs. Wheat bread was the product with the highest number of positivity (56%), followed by wheat flour (26%). Rye and wheat bread samples showed the highest values when the sum of the EAs was considered, and durum wheat bread was the more contaminated sample (1142.6 μg/kg). These results suggest that ongoing monitoring of EAs in food products is critical until maximum limits are set. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxicity, Detection and Prevention of Food Contaminants)
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13 pages, 2080 KiB  
Communication
Emerging Marine Biotoxins in Seafood from European Coasts: Incidence and Analytical Challenges
by Pablo Estevez, David Castro, Ana Pequeño-Valtierra, Jorge Giraldez and Ana Gago-Martinez
Foods 2019, 8(5), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8050149 - 1 May 2019
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 6170
Abstract
The presence of emerging contaminants in food and the sources of the contamination are relevant issues in food safety. The impact of climate change on these contaminations is a topic widely debated; however, the consequences of climate change for the food system is [...] Read more.
The presence of emerging contaminants in food and the sources of the contamination are relevant issues in food safety. The impact of climate change on these contaminations is a topic widely debated; however, the consequences of climate change for the food system is not as deeply studied as other human and animal health and welfare issues. Projections of climate change in Europe have been evaluated through the EU Commission, and the impact on the marine environment is considered a priority issue. Marine biotoxins are produced by toxic microalgae and are natural contaminants of the marine environment. They are considered to be an important contaminant that needs to be evaluated. Their source is affected by oceanographic and environmental conditions; water temperature, sunlight, salinity, competing microorganisms, nutrients, and wind and current directions affect the growth and proliferation of microalgae. Although climate change should not be the only reason for this increase and other factors such as eutrophication, tourism, fishery activities, etc. could be considered, the influence of climate change has been observed through increased growth of dinoflagellates in areas where they have not been previously detected. An example of this is the recent emergence of ciguatera fish poisoning toxins, typically found in tropical or subtropical areas from the Pacific and Caribbean and in certain areas of the Atlantic Sea such as the Canary Islands (Spain) and Madeira (Portugal). In addition, the recent findings of the presence of tetrodotoxins, typically found in certain areas of the Pacific, are emerging in the EU and contaminating not only the fish species where these toxins had been found before but also bivalve mollusks. The emergence of these marine biotoxins in the EU is a reason for concern in the EU, and for this reason, the risk evaluation and characterization of these toxins are considered a priority for the European Food Safety Authorities (EFSA), which also emphasize the search for occurrence data using reliable and efficient analytical methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxicity, Detection and Prevention of Food Contaminants)
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12 pages, 1595 KiB  
Article
Detection of β-Lactams and Chloramphenicol Residues in Raw Milk—Development and Application of an HPLC-DAD Method in Comparison with Microbial Inhibition Assays
by Eftychia Karageorgou, Sofia Christoforidou, Maria Ioannidou, Evdoxios Psomas and Georgios Samouris
Foods 2018, 7(6), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7060082 - 1 Jun 2018
Cited by 37 | Viewed by 6907
Abstract
The present study was carried out to assess the detection sensitivity of four microbial inhibition assays (MIAs) in comparison with the results obtained by the High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode-Array Detection (HPLC-DAD) method for antibiotics of the β-lactam group and chloramphenicol in [...] Read more.
The present study was carried out to assess the detection sensitivity of four microbial inhibition assays (MIAs) in comparison with the results obtained by the High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode-Array Detection (HPLC-DAD) method for antibiotics of the β-lactam group and chloramphenicol in fortified raw milk samples. MIAs presented fairly good results when detecting β-lactams, whereas none were able to detect chloramphenicol at or above the permissible limits. HPLC analysis revealed high recoveries of examined compounds, whereas all detection limits observed were lower than their respective maximum residue limits (MRL) values. The extraction and clean-up procedure of antibiotics was performed by a modified matrix solid phase dispersion procedure using a mixture of Plexa by Agilent and QuEChERS as a sorbent. The HPLC method developed was validated, determining the accuracy, precision, linearity, decision limit, and detection capability. Both methods were used to monitor raw milk samples of several cows and sheep, obtained from producers in different regions of Greece, for the presence of examined antibiotic residues. Results obtained showed that MIAs could be used effectively and routinely to detect antibiotic residues in several milk types. However, in some cases, spoilage of milk samples revealed that the kits’ sensitivity could be strongly affected, whereas this fact does not affect the effectiveness of HPLC-DAD analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toxicity, Detection and Prevention of Food Contaminants)
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