Outbreaks of foodborne diseases mediated by food microorganisms and toxins remain one of the leading causes of disease and death worldwide. It not only poses a serious threat to human health and safety but also imposes a huge burden on health care and socioeconomics. Traditional methods for the removal and detection of pathogenic bacteria and toxins in various samples such as food and drinking water have certain limitations, requiring a rapid and sensitive strategy for the enrichment and separation of target analytes. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) exhibit excellent performance in this field due to their fascinating properties. The strategy of combining biorecognition elements with MNPs can be used for fast and efficient enrichment and isolation of pathogens. In this review, we describe new trends and practical applications of magnetic nanoseparation technology in the detection of foodborne microorganisms and toxins. We mainly summarize the biochemical modification and functionalization methods of commonly used magnetic nanomaterial carriers and discuss the application of magnetic separation combined with other instrumental analysis techniques. Combined with various detection techniques, it will increase the efficiency of detection and identification of microorganisms and toxins in rapid assays.

Alpha-phellandrene is a very common cyclic monoterpene found in several EOs, which shows extensive biological activities. Therefore, the main focus of the present systematic review was to provide a comprehensive and critical analysis of the state of the art regarding its biological activities and pharmaceutical and food applications. In addition, the study identified essential oils rich in alpha-phellandrene and summarized their main biological activities as a preliminary screening to encourage subsequent studies on their single components. With this review, we selected and critically analyzed 99 papers, using the following bibliographic databases: PubMed, SciELO, Wiley and WOS, on 8 July 2022. Data were independently extracted by four authors of this work, selecting those studies which reported the keyword \"alpha-phellandrene\" in the title and/or the abstract, and avoiding those in which there was not a clear correlation between the molecule and its biological activities and/or a specific concentration from its source. Duplication data were removed in the final article. Many essential oils have significant amounts of alpha-phellandrene, and the species Anethum graveolens and Foeniculum vulgare are frequently cited. Some studies on the above-mentioned species show high alpha-phellandrene amounts up to 82.1%. There were 12 studies on alpha-phellandrene as a pure molecule showed promising biological functions, including antitumoral, antinociceptive, larvicidal and insecticidal activities. There were 87 research works on EOs rich in alpha-phellandrene, which were summarized with a focus on additional data concerning potential biological activities. We believe this data is a useful starting point to start new research on the pure molecule, and, in particular, to distinguish between the synergistic effects of the different components of the OEs and those due to alpha-phellandrene itself. Toxicological data are still lacking, requiring further investigation on the threshold values to distinguish the boundary between beneficial and toxic effects, i.e., mutagenic, carcinogenic and allergenic. All these findings offer inspiration for potential applications of alpha-phellandrene as a new biopesticide, antimicrobial and antitumoral agent. In particular, we believe our work is of interest as a starting point for further studies on the food application of alpha-phellandrene.

BACKGROUND: Tylosin is a commonly used in-feed antimicrobial and is approved in several countries to reduce the incidence of liver abscesses in beef cattle. Macrolides are critically important antimicrobials in human health and used to treat some foodborne bacterial diseases, such as Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella. Feeding tylosin could select for resistant enteric bacteria in cattle, which could contaminate beef products at slaughter and potentially cause foodborne illness. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the impact of feeding tylosin to cattle on phenotypic and genotypic resistance in several potential zoonotic enteric bacteria: Enterococcus species, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica, and Campylobacter species. This review was registered with PROSPERO (#CRD42018085949).
RESULTS: Eleven databases were searched for primary research studies that fed tylosin at approved doses to feedlot cattle and tested bacteria of interest for phenotypic or genotypic resistance. We screened 1,626 citations and identified 13 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Enterococcus species were tested in seven studies, Escherichia coli was isolated in five studies, three studies reported on Salmonella, and two studies reported on Campylobacter species. Most studies relied on phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing and seven also reported resistance gene testing. A random-effects meta-analyses of erythromycin-resistant enterococci from four studies had significant residual heterogeneity. Only two studies were available for a meta-analysis of tylosin-resistant enterococci. A semi-quantitative analysis demonstrated an increase in macrolide-resistant enterococci after long durations of tylosin administration (>100 days). Semi-quantitative analyses of other bacteria-antimicrobial combinations revealed mixed results, but many comparisons found no effect of tylosin administration. However, about half of these no-effect comparisons did not record the cumulative days of tylosin administration or the time since the last dose.
CONCLUSIONS: When fed at approved dosages for typical durations, tylosin increases the proportion of macrolide-resistant enterococci in the cattle gastrointestinal tract, which could pose a zoonotic risk to human beef consumers. Feeding tylosin for short durations may mitigate the impact on macrolide-resistant enterococci and further studies are encouraged to determine the effect of minimizing or eliminating tylosin use in beef cattle. There may also be an impact on other bacteria and other antimicrobial resistances but additional details or data are needed to strengthen these comparisons. We encourage authors of antimicrobial-resistance studies to follow reporting guidelines and publish details of all comparisons to strengthen future meta-analyses.

Thermal processing technologies are safe and easy to control methods without leaving residues, and could be used to inactivate food-borne pathogens, ensure food quality and provide the food with sufficient stability during storage. Establishing inactivation kinetics of food-borne pathogens is essential in developing effective pasteurisation protocols without damaging food quality. This study presents a comprehensive review of recent progresses in inactivation kinetics of food-borne pathogens. It covers theoretical bases and experimental methods for developing thermal inactivation kinetics of food-borne pathogens and making comparisons and applications of the common thermal death kinetic models. Finally, it proposes possible recommendations on the future research directions of establishing inactivation kinetic models for food-borne pathogens in thermal processing.