● Summary ● Introduction ● What are the major sources of dioxin and related compounds in the human diet? ● How do food animals become contaminated with dioxin and related compounds? ● How can dioxin contamination in food animals be decreased? ● Have there been any serious incidents of contamination of food products with dioxins above background levels recently? ● What activities involving dioxi...

We previously developed a new method for estimating intakes of environmental contaminants, called Estimated Ecological Daily Intake (EEDI), which is based on food consumption data. This method accurately estimates the intakes of food additives and contaminants and provides rough estimates of averages and distribution curves for the target population. By this method, we originally considered onl...

Contamination of food and individuals by food workers has been identified as an important contributing factor during foodborne illness investigations. Physical and chemical barriers to prevent microbial contamination of food are hurdles that block or reduce the transfer of pathogens to the food surface from the hands of a food worker, from other foods, or from the environment. In food service o...

Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are a primary cause of epidemic and sporadic cases of non-bacterial gastroenteritis; easily transmitted by the fecal-oral route which involves food as a frequent vehicle causing HuNoVs to be the major agent of food-borne illness worldwide. Primary factors contributing to the food contamination are contacts with infected food handler, cross-contamination during prepara...

Campylobacter jejuni is a Gram negative, curved, motile, thermophilic and microaerophilic bacillus in Campylobacteriaceae family, which is one of the main causes of enteritis in human named campylobacteriosis. The main reservoir of Campylobacter jejuni is the alimentary tract of animals, especially chicken and turkey. Consumption of semi-cooked chicken meat, raw milk and unchlorinated water are...

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial quality of traditional sweets, Zoolbia and Bamieh made in the confectioneries of the Mashhad during the holy month of Ramadan. Materials and Methods:  This study was a cross-sectional study. Seventy five samples  of traditional sweets, Zoolbia and Bamieh were collected randomly from confectionaries  of Mashhad during Ramadan month ...

Fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables are increasingly linked to food-borne illnesses, outbreaks and recalls. The trend represents a modern-day public health conundrum wherein consumers are encouraged to eat more fresh produce to help prevent chronic health problems such as obesity and heart disease, but at the same time consumption of contaminated produce can lead to potentially life-threatening a...

Bacillus strains are often isolated from biofilms in the food industries. Previous works have demonstrated that sporulation could occur in biofilms, suggesting that biofilms would be a significant source of food contamination with spores. In this study, we investigated the properties of mono-species and mixed Bacillus biofilms and the ability of Bacillus strains to sporulate inside biofilms. Ba...