Roberta Stocchi

This study validated immunoassays for measuring circulating DHEA and DHEA-S in broiler plasma and compared the two biomarkers. A commercially available RIA kit for DHEA and a species-independent ELISA kit for DHEA-S were tested against each other and available literature data. Blood samples were collected from 68 female broilers at slaughter. Most sample concentrations were close to the lower calibration range. DHEA concentrations ranged from 52 to 354 pg/mL, whereas DHEA-S values ranged from 76 to 7320 pg/mL. Both assays showed satisfactory validation results, including good precision (intra- and inter-assay CV ≤ 15%), accuracy (recovery ≥ 99%), linearity (R² > 0.9; run test p > 0.1), and parallelism between calibrator curves and sample dilutions (ANCOVA p > 0.1). However, the DHEA-S assay showed high cross-reactivity with DHEA (160%), making quantitative DHEA-S determination unreliable; therefore, values should be interpreted as an estimate of combined DHEA/DHEA-S concentrations. Consequently, the higher concentrations measured with the DHEA-S ELISA compared with the DHEA RIA (Bland–Altman bias: −525.8 pg/mL) do not indicate a true predominance of DHEA-S. Nevertheless, both assays may represent useful tools for comparative evaluations among samples, although they do not provide reliable information on the physiological interconversion between the two steroids.

Ultraprocessed foods represent a severe concern to human health due to their direct link with metabolic diseases. Among these foods, mechanically separated meat‐based products are of particular interest due to the use of preservatives and the possible presence of antibiotic residues free or bound to animals’ bone fragments. To demonstrate the potential harmfulness of these substances, 28 samples of commercially available würstels of different suppliers, price category, package size, and produced with mechanically separated chicken and turkey meat were randomly collected from the Italian market. The presence of antibiotics was assessed by LC/HRMS; bone fragments were identified using histological, histochemical, and microscopical analyses; the cytotoxic and proinflammatory activity of the würstels and their ingredients was assessed using ELISA. Bone fragments were detected in all samples, while only 9 out of 28 samples were positive for the presence of doxycycline, although at concentrations far from the maximum residue limits, ranging from 0.36 to 2.50 ug/kg. Most of the samples were cytotoxic at a dilution of 1 : 20 while all of the 3 tested exerted a proinflammatory effect, with significant cytokines’ release (IL‐1 α , IL‐1 β , IL‐6, IL‐8, INF‐ γ , TNF‐ α , GM‐CSF, and MCAF) at 24 and 36 h ( ^∗∗∗ P < 0.001). Part of the cytokine release was due to the presence of beech‐ and oak‐based smoke flavoring, where a significant release of IL‐1 β ( ^∗∗∗ P < 0.001), IL‐8 ( ^∗∗∗ P < 0.001, ^∗∗ P < 0.01), INF‐ γ ( ^∗ P < 0.05 and ^∗∗ P < 0.01), and MCAF ( ^∗∗∗ P < 0.001) was observed at 12 and/or 24 h. Although the results need further investigation to elucidate the cytotoxic and proinflammatory process, this can be considered one of the first reports shedding light on the possible toxic potential of some substances routinely used in food processing, even at allowed concentrations. Moreover, it provides new insights into the understanding of the link between high consumption of ultraprocessed meat, increased risk of inflammation, and progression of chronic diseases.

Aluminum is the second most widely used metal worldwide. It is present as an additive in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food, and food contact materials (FCM). In this study, we confirm the bactericidal effect of a special anodizing method, based on TiO₂ nanoparticles (DURALTI^®) deposited on aluminum disks with different roughness and subjected to two sanitizing treatments: UV and alcohol 70%. Consequently, we perform a time-course evaluation against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria to better frame the time required to achieve the best result. Approximately 10⁶ CFU/mL of Escherichia coli ATCC 25922; Salmonella Typhimurium ATCC 1402; Yersinia enterocolitica ATCC 9610; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27588; Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538; Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212; Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 and Listeria monocytogenes NCTT 10888 were inoculated onto each aluminum surface and challenged with UV and alcohol 70% at 0, 15”, 30”, 1′, 5′, 15′, 30′, 1, 2, 4 and 6 h. DURALTI^® coating already confirmed its ability to induce a 4-logarithmic decrease (from 10⁶ to 10² CFU/mL) after 6 h. Once each sanitizing treatment was applied, an overall bacterial inhibition occurred in a time ranging from 15′′ to 1′. The results are innovative in terms of preventing microbial adhesion and growth in the food industry.

The flow of information between farms and slaughterhouses about animal health, is a fundamental process for modern meat inspection. The information provided by Food Chain Information (FCI) systems in medium-small sized slaughterhouses in central Italy, focusing on the data provided on the animal’s health status, was performed through a five-year survey together with the number of organ and carcass condemnation for bovine, swine and ovine. The annual prevalence of condemnation was higher in bovine (from 10.49% in 2015 to 17.16% in 2019) than swine (from 6.39% in 2015 to 12.64% in 2019) and ovine (from 8.05% in 2019 to 8.98% in 2017), and an overall prevalence increase was observed in bovine and swine, throughout the years. The frequent lack of Food Chain Information (FCI) from farms to slaughterhouses should be emphasised, taking into consideration that a poor implementation of the system by farmers, could lead to a persistent risk of disease at farm level for these two species.

One of the most-used food contact materials is stainless steel (AISI 304L or AISI 316L), owing to its high mechanical strength, cleanability, and corrosion resistance. However, due to the presence of minimal crevices, stainless-steel is subject to microbial contamination with consequent significant reverb on health and industry costs due to the lack of effective reliability of sanitizing agents and procedures. In this study, we evaluated the noncytotoxic effect of an amorphous SiO_xC_yH_z coating deposited on stainless-steel disks and performed a time-course evaluation for four Gram-negative bacteria and four Gram-positive bacteria. A low cytotoxicity of the SiO_xC_yH_z coating was observed; moreover, except for some samples, a five-logarithm decrease was visible after 1 h on coated surfaces without any sanitizing treatment and inoculated with Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Conversely, a complete bacterial removal was observed after 30 s⁻¹ min application of alcohol and already after 15 s under UVC irradiation against both bacterial groups. Moreover, coating deposition changed the wetting behaviors of treated samples, with contact angles increasing from 90.25° to 113.73°, realizing a transformation from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity, with tremendous repercussions in various technological applications, including the food industry.

Stainless steel, widely present in the food industry, is frequently exposed to bacterial colonization with possible consequences on consumers’ health. 288 stainless steel disks with different roughness (0.25, 0.5 and 1 μm) were challenged with four Gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 1402, Yersinia enterocolitica ATCC 9610 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27588) and four Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 and Listeria monocytogenes NCTT 10888) and underwent three different sanitizing treatments (UVC, alcohol 70% v/v and Gold lotion). Moreover, the same procedure was carried out onto the same surfaces after a nanotechnological surface coating (nanoXHAM^® D). A significant bactericidal effect was exerted by all of the sanitizing treatments against all bacterial strains regardless of roughness and surface coating. The nanoXHAM^® D coating itself induced an overall bactericidal effect as well as in synergy with all sanitizing treatments regardless of roughness. Stainless steel surface roughness is poorly correlated with bacterial adhesion and only sanitizing treatments can exert significant bactericidal effects. Most of sanitizing treatments are toxic and corrosive causing the onset of crevices that are able to facilitate bacterial nesting and growth. This nanotechnological coating can reduce surface adhesion with consequent reduction of bacterial adhesion, nesting, and growth.

One of the main concerns of the food industry is microbial adhesion to food contact surfaces and consequent contamination. We evaluated the potential bacteriostatic/bactericidal efficacy of aluminum surfaces with different large-scale roughness (0.25, 0.5 and 1 μm) before and after the surface treatment with a special anodizing based on titanium oxide nanotechnology (DURALTI^®) and after 3 different sanitizing treatments, e.g., UV, alcohol and a natural product named Gold lotion. Four Gram-negative (Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 1402, Yersinia enterocolitica ATCC 9610 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27588) and four Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 and Listeria monocytogenes NCTT 10888) bacteria were screened. As far as concerns aluminum surfaces without nanotechnology surface treatment, an overall bacteriostatic effect was observed for all strains with respect to the initial inoculum that was 10⁶ CFU/mL. Conversely, an overall bactericidal effect was observed both for Gram-negative and -positive bacteria on DURALTI^®-treated aluminum disks, regardless of roughness and sanitizing treatment. These results are innovative in terms of the great potential of the antibacterial activity of nanotechnologically treated food contact surfaces and their combination with some sanitizing agents that might be exploited in the food industry.

In the last century, the exponential increase of industrial food production led to the disappearance of “Italian traditional niche products”. However, national regulations allowed the preservation of several of these products, including the burrata cheese. Twenty-one samples from three different batches of “Burrata di Andria” Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) were purchased from dairy factories of the PGI consortium. Moisture value of PGI Burrata cheese was significantly higher than that before the PGI release. Moreover, a significantly lower NaCl value was detected in PGI raw milk Burrata cheeses with respect to non-PGI ones, while an opposite situation was detected in pasteurized milk Burrata cheeses. As for pH, in all PGI products lower values were observed with respect to non-PGI products, which resulted significant only in pasteurized ones. No Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus cereus were detected, while nine samples were positive for a nonpathogenic strain of Yersinia enterocolitica. Total viable count (TVC) and Escherichia coli resulted significantly lower in pasteurized than in raw milk PGI Burrata cheese samples. Although samples analyzed can be considered microbiologically safe, these were borderline and/or unsatisfactory for E. Coli and coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS) according to process hygiene criteria established by European regulation. Therefore, different strategies should be adopted to improve products hygiene in the considered dairy factories.

Animal welfare evaluation at a slaughterhouse for heavy pigs intended for processing

BIOGENIC AMINE CONTENT AND CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL FEATURES OF ITALIAN FORMAGGIO DI FOSSA