OBJECTIVE This study compared the prices of unhealthy (chips) and healthy (ready-to-eat fruit) snacks that students are likely to purchase from corner stores. METHODS Snacks were purchased from 325 New Jersey corner stores; chip prices were compared with fruit prices overall and by store sales volume and block group characteristics. RESULTS Prices did not differ significantly between chips ...

Prevalence of mecA, blaZ, tetO/K/M, ermA/B/C, aph, and vanA/B/C/D genes conferring resistance to oxacillin, penicillin, tetracycline, erythromycin, gentamicin, and vancomycin was investigated in 65 staphylococcal isolates belonging to twelve species obtained from ready-to-eat porcine, bovine, and chicken products. All coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) and S. aureus isolates harbored at lea...

We surveyed prevalence and contamination levels of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods between 2000 and 2012 in Tokyo. L. monocytogenes was isolated from 52 (1.7%) out of 2,980 samples. Comparing the prevalence in the study period, 2.2% were positive in the former period (2000-2005) and 1.2% in the latter (2006-2012). Using the most probable number (MPN) technique, 32 samples were cont...

The effectiveness of bacteriophage P100, nisin and sodium lactate, individually and in combination, in inhibiting Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat pork ham slices was assessed. The antimicrobials were applied to the surfaces of ready-to-eat pork ham slices, which were inoculated with a mixture of L. monocytogenes. Among the individual antimicrobial treatments, bacteriophage P100 was the m...

Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterial foodborne pathogen, can cause meningitis, bacteremia, and complications during pregnancy. This report summarizes listeriosis outbreaks reported to the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during 1998-2008. The study period includes the advent of PulseNet (a national molecular subtyping network for ou...

During this research 159 samples of ready-to-eat and precooked food were examined for the detection of Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, coagulase-positive staphylococci and Enterobacteriaceae, bacterial count. All samples were negative for Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes; although a low count of coagulase-positive staphylococci (no. 5 samples) and E. coli (n...

Multilayer coating can be applied on fresh fruit to protect and enhance its shelf life. This study evaluated the application of a multilayer protein chitosan cherimoya. To determinate effect life fruit, total phenolic content, pH, °Brix, weight loss, hardness values were tested. The ripening process is associated with an increase soluble solids, results showed that presence multilayered maintai...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the chill chain in school catering by monitoring time-temperature profiles. Chilled ready-to-eat foods have been chosen as subject of this study because of their high risk due to their production, storage and distribution steps, separated in time, followed by consumption without any further thermal treatment. In order to integrate the effects of storage...

In November 2009, we initiated a multistate investigation of Salmonella Montevideo infections with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern JIXX01.0011. We identified 272 cases in 44 states with illness onset dates ranging from 1 July 2009 to 14 April 2010. To help generate hypotheses, warehouse store membership card information was collected to identify products consumed by cases. These record...