New research findings have provided helpful conclusions to help you become a more conscientious consumer of eggs. As summarized in this news article, findings related to animal health, consumer health, worker health, environmental impact, and affordability are outlined. The three housing types they looked at were battery cages, enriched colony housing (arguably more humane than …
Just a quick post here. Multiple stories out about the Laying Hen Housing Research Project by the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply that maybe of interest. From: Hen housing trade offs: Food safety, workers and consumers | Food Safety News As it turns out, the food stores and restaurant chains promising to sell only cage-free eggs …
Recent papers about microbes and the built environment: Microbes in the house Fungal and Bacterial Communities in Indoor Dust Follow Different Environmental Determinants – Fabian Weikl – PLOS ONE (OA) (…) we wanted to identify key environmental determinants for the house dust microbiome from an existing collection of spatially (area of Munich, Germany) and temporally (301 days) distributed …
The authors of this new paper have really cooked up something interesting! “Microbial Safety of Wood in Contact with Food: A Review” by Florence Aviat, et al and published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety is an 86-reference review on materials found in kitchens. Elisabeth Bik did list this in her March 7 blog of new papers, but this one …
Our food comes into contact with a lot of different materials and machines before it reaches our plates. The agriculture industry tries hard to ensure proper food safety by testing random representative samples of each batch of produce or food product before sending it out for distribution. They cannot send out the batch until they …
Going through some old draft microBEnet posts and came across this one, “Taking Aim at Microbes on Farm Good Strategy for Food Safety | Food Safety News”. This is a nice article about microbiological control at food production facilities… but that doesn’t just focus on the (justifiably) scary antibotic resistance breeding ground angle. This article …
Here is a recent article about a built environment that hasn’t been characterized before for bacterial diversity: a meat processing plant where sausages are produced. The authors sequenced the V1-V3 area of the 16S rRNA gene to characterize cold tolerant or psychrotrophic bacteria in a refrigerated meat processing plant. Psychrotolerant bacteria are bacteria that are capable of surviving in …
This weekend while cleaning my dishes I noticed a troubling rotten-egg odor emanating from the drain, helpfully reminding me that it was not only time to run the garbage disposal but also to clean out the sink. “I think our colonies of sulfate reducers are coming along well,” I quipped to my roommate. But being …
Just got this announcement from ASM for anyone who might be interesting in grant opportunities relating to the microbiology of food safety. Dear Colleague: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has requested that ASM bring to the attention of interested members the following Food Safety Challenge Area RFA: