Assessment of the food safety issues related to genetically modified foods

International consensus has been reached on the principles regarding evaluation of the food safety of genetically modified plants. The concept of substantial equivalence has been developed as part of a safety evaluation framework, based on the idea that existing foods can serve as a basis for comparing the properties of genetically modified foods with the appropriate counterpart. Application of the concept is not a safety assessment per se, but helps to identify similarities and differences between the existing food and the new product, which are then subject to further toxicological investigation. Substantial equivalence is a starting point in the safety evaluation, rather than an endpoint of the assessment. Consensus on practical application of the principle should be further elaborated. Experiences with the safety testing of newly inserted proteins and of whole genetically modified foods are reviewed, and limitations of current test methodologies are discussed. The development and validation of new profiling methods such as DNA microarray technology, proteomics, and metabolomics for the identification and characterization of unintended effects, which may occur as a result of the genetic modification, is recommended. The assessment of the allergenicity of newly inserted proteins and of marker genes is discussed. An issue that will gain importance in the near future is that of post-marketing surveillance of the foods derived from genetically modified crops. It is concluded, among others that, that application of the principle of substantial equivalence has proven adequate, and that no alternative adequate safety assessment strategies are available.     

Bio-markers of lipid peroxidation in vivo: hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid and hydroxycholesterol

The biological role of lipid peroxidation products has continued to receive a great deal of attention not only for the elucidation of pathological mechanisms but also for their practical application to clinical use as bio-markers. In the last fifty years, lipid peroxidation has been the subject of extensive studies from the viewpoints of mechanisms, dynamics, product analysis, involvement in diseases, inhibition, and biological signaling. Lipid hydroperoxides are formed as the major primary products, however they are substrates for various enzymes and they also undergo various secondary reactions. In this decade, F2-isoprostanes from arachidonates and neuroprostanes from docosahexanoates have been proposed as bio-markers. Although these markers are formed by a free radical-mediated oxidation, the yields from the parent lipids are minimal. Compared to these markers, hydroperoxy octadecadienoates (HPODE) from linoleates and oxysterols from cholesterols are yielded by much simpler mechanisms from more abundant parent lipids in vivo. Recently, the method in which both free and ester forms of hydroperoxides and ketones as well as hydroxides of linoleic acid and cholesterol are measured as total hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid (tHODE) and 7-hydroxycholesterol (t7-OHCh), respectively, was proposed. The concentrations of tHODE and t7-OHCh determined by GC-MS analysis from physiological samples were much higher than that of 8-iso-prostagrandin F(2alpha). In addition to this advantage, hydrogen-donor activity of antioxidants in vivo could be determined by the isomeric-ratio of HODE (9- and 13-(Z,E)-HODE/9- and 13-(E,E)-HODE).     

Bacteriophage endolysins: applications for food safety

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Identity, traceability, acceptability and substantial equivalence of food.

The numerous food crises that Europe has experienced during the past five years have raised new consumer demands concerning the characterization, traceability, and safety of foods which are proposed on the market. The consumer has, at the same time, vigorously placed into question the modes of agricultural production in industrialized countries, as well as the structures and means of evaluating the food risks and the conditions of the consumer's participation in the public debate in these domains. For certain groups of consumers, one also attends a contestation of the expertise and the application to the food domain of the considerable progress that has taken place in the field of biotechnology. So it is that the development of genetically modified organisms (mainly plants, the raw material of food products) has experienced a slowing down in the European Union. The answers afforded to these new exigencies of consumers in matter of identity, traceability, and acceptability of the foods are dealt with in this paper, as well as the elements which may concur with the evaluation of their safety. The positive role that biotechnology can afford to the different domains is emphasized. A source of uneasiness, biotechnology is also a powerful tool for ameliorating the evaluation of the sanitary risks and for answering the hopes of the citizen in the food domain.     

Bacterial SOS response: a food safety perspective

The SOS response is a conserved inducible pathway in bacteria that is involved in DNA repair and restart of stalled replication forks. Activation of the SOS response can result in stress resistance and mutagenesis. In food processing facilities and during food preservation, bacteria are exposed to stresses and stimuli that potentially activate the SOS response, resulting in resistant or adapted bacteria. This review places the bacterial SOS response in a food safety perspective by providing an overview of the known triggers of the SOS response mechanism and its impact on the survival of spoilage and pathogenic bacteria.     

Introduction. Microbiological food safety

This current focus covers a broad range of emerging microbiological issues in food safety, from chronic effects of campylobacterosis and bacterial antimicrobial resistance to microbial survival and growth on fresh fruits and vegetables, and advanced technologies for detection and inactivation of foodborne pathogens.     

Bacteriophages and their application in food safety

In recent years it has become widely recognized that bacteriophages have several potential applications in the food industry. They have been proposed as alternatives to antibiotics in animal health, as biopreservatives in food and as tools for detecting pathogenic bacteria throughout the food chain. Bacteriophages are viruses that only infect and lyse bacterial cells. Consequently, they display two unique features relevant in and suitable for food safety. Namely, their safe use as they are harmless to mammalian cells and their high host specificity that allows proper starter performance in fermented products and keeps the natural microbiota undisturbed. However, the recent approval of bacteriophages as food additives has opened the discussion about ‘edible viruses’. In this review, we examine the promising uses of phages for the control of foodborne pathogens and the drawbacks on which more research is needed to further exploit these biological entities.     

转基因食品安全性评价研究进展

自1996年全球转基因作物大规模商业化生产以来,转基因作物种植面积以年均10%左右的速度迅速增长,2013年种植面积已达1.75亿hm2。其在解决全球粮食问题、环境保护、提升粮食营养质量和品质、制药以及推动经济可持续发展方面展现了重要作用。但是,随着转基因商业化生产的深入,转基因技术的潜在风险性引起了社会以及国际上更广泛的关注。事实上,在转基因技术出现之初,科学家们就开始关注其安全性问题。相关国际组织（FAO、WHO、CAC、OECD等）经过数次研究制订了一系列与转基因食品安全性有关的评价原则、指南与措施等。随着转基因技术的发展,这些安全评价策略也在不断完善。我国目前已经基本建立了转基因食品的安全评价和管理体系。转基因食品在进入市场前要经过十分全面以及系统的安全性评价,包括营养学、毒理学、过敏性等方面,从而保障转基因食品的安全性。