A Food Pathogen Enrichment (FPE) broth, which supports the growth of Campylobacter without lysed blood and CO2, was developed. The FPE broth supports the growth of Campylobacter to the same degree as Bolton and Preston broths. Using the FPE broth, we developed a novel rapid protocol to detect small numbers of Campylobacter in 25g of food. The sensitivity of FPE enrichment and PCR to detect Camp...

Food pathogens are the cause of foodborne epidemics, therefore there is a need to detect the pathogens in food productions rapidly. A pre-enrichment culture followed by selective agar plating are standard detection methods. Molecular methods such as qPCR have provided a first rapid protocol for detection of pathogens within 24 h of enrichment culture. Biosensors also may provide a rapid tool to...

Contamination of seafood with salmonellae is a major public health concern. Detection of Salmonella by standard culture methods is time consuming. In this study, an enrichment culture step prior to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to detect 284 bp fragment of Salmonella invA in comparison with the conventional culture method in 100 shrimp samples collected from four different shrimp ...

Nutrient exchange mutualisms between phototrophs and heterotrophs, such as plants and mycorrhizal fungi or symbiotic algae and corals, underpin the functioning of many ecosystems. These relationships structure communities, promote biodiversity and help maintain food security. Nutrient loading may destabilise these mutualisms by altering the costs and benefits each partner incurs from interactin...

BACKGROUND Folic acid intake before and during pregnancy reduces neural tube defects (NTD). Therefore, several countries have enriched bulk food with folic acid resulting in a 26-48% decrease in the prevalence of NTDs. In 2000, the Dutch Health Council advised against folic acid enrichment based on literature research; yet formal cost-effectiveness information was absent. We designed our study ...

Welfare issues surrounding intensive farming of layer hens have long been a point of contention for producers and consumers of chicken eggs. These concerns centre mainly on whether the production advantages of conventional cage-based systems can justify the lack of environmental enrichment provided to layer hens. These issues came to a head with the 1999 announcement that conventional cages wil...