Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Food review'

Published Article
The initial section of this manuscript focus on the ultra-structure of a unique class of heat stable cell-bound lipopolysaccharides (endotoxin) produced by Gram-negative bacteria. Subsequently, this paper summarises literature on the human body's response when challenged with endotoxins present in food and further explores the influence of food manufacturing and storage practices on endotoxin production and release by bacteria commonly isolated from food. Finally, this paper presents a brief description on the methods applied by the food industry to quantify endotoxins.

Objectives: To figure out how consumers responded to nutrition labeling through the frequency of using nutrition labeling, understandability of nutrition labeling, factors associated with the usage of nutrition labeling and the impact of different nutrition labeling formats. Methods: Relevant studies published between 1994 and 2012 were searched identified through Pubmed Database and China Journals Full-text Database which have investigated the responses of consumers to nutrition labeling. Results: Seventeen studies were selected finally to be included in this review. Eight papers described that over half of the participants would check nutrition labeling in supermarket. However, five of the papers provide evidence that consumers felt confused to read the nutrition labeling. Over half of the consumers responded to check nutrition labeling when shopping in supermarkets but the nutrition labeling was hard to understand totally specially the item about calories. Front-of pack (FOP) nutrition labeling is a popular formats of label among consumers. Four papers have made comparison between different formats of FOP and two of them provide evidence that multiple traffic-light label earn most reputation among consumers. Characteristics of consumers might influence nutrition labeling use and age, education level, BMI were positively associated with it. Conclusion: Further researches should be conducted to provide more evidence to improve or set up a relatively perfect nutrition labeling legislation which should play a greater role in public health. China is the next country where would implement the nutrition labeling legislation and FOP of nutrition labeling is a good option to be introduced to food manufactures and consumers.
published_or_final_version
Public Health
Master
Master of Public Health

In recent years, food waste has received growing interest from local, national and European policymakers, international organisations, NGOs as well as academics from various disciplinary fields. Increasing concerns about food security and environmental impacts, such as resource depletion and greenhouse gas emissions attributed to food waste, have intensified attention to the topic. While food waste occurs in all stages of the food supply chain, private households have been identified as key actors in food waste generation. However, the evidence on why food waste occurs remains scattered. This paper maps the still small but expanding academic territory of consumer food waste by systematically reviewing empirical studies on food waste practices as well as distilling factors that foster and impede the generation of food waste on the household level. Moreover, we briefly discuss the contributions of different social ontologies, more particularly psychology-related approaches and social practice theory. The analysis reveals food waste as a complex and multi-faceted issue that cannot be attributed to single variables; this also calls for a stronger integration of different disciplinary perspectives. Mapping the determinants of waste generation deepens the understanding of household practices and helps design food waste prevention strategies. Finally, we link the identified factors with a set of policy, business, and retailer options.

Background: Obesity is increasingly severe all over the world. With the development of the society, people tend to less eating time, perhaps because of longer working hours. Some studies showed that there was the association between eating rate and obesity. Yet, these studies are under‐researched. Objective: To explore if there is a positive association between eating rate and overweight or obesity using a systematic review. Method: I systematically reviewed relevant studies examining the association between eating rate and overweight or obesity published between 1st Jan., 2000 and 20th May, 2014 in PubMed, 万方 and 中国知网 databases using relevant key word search. There were no restriction in the study designs and population characteristics and animal studies were excluded. Results: Thirteen (13) studies were included in the systematic review. Among these 13 studies, 11 were English and 2 were Chinese. Eleven (11) studies were cross-sectional studies and the remaining 2 studies were longitudinal studies. The sample size ranges from 61 to 14,176, and from different parts of the world. The studies included used various exposures and outcomes to assess the association between fast eating and obesity. For example, exposures varied from self‐reported eating rate to calculated bite rate, and outcomes varied from body mass index (BMI) to six skinfold thickness. All 13 studies showed a positive association between the speed of eating and overweight or obesity. Discussion: This systematic review suggested a positive association between eating rate and obesity. However, given a lot of studies only used a cross‐sectional study design, more research is needed to explore the causal relationship between these two factors, possibly longitudinal and experimental studies. Such evidence would be important for relevant public health policies such public awareness to slow down eating rate.
published_or_final_version
Public Health
Master
Master of Public Health

Introduction: The Genetically Modified (GM) food, which is one of the fruit of the modern biotechnology, is closely related to people's lives. GM food, specifically, GM crops, also known as biotech food, are produced from genetically modified organisms (GMO), which use genetic engineering techniques to introduce, recombine and modify DNA. The safety of GM food still do not have final conclusion at present. Although GM food has been introduced into China for over 15 years, many of the surveys show that Chinese consumers‘ knowledge of GM food is relatively low comparing with other countries. In 2002, China‘s Ministry of Agriculture promulgated three regulations to manage the GMOs in China. The attitudes and acceptance of market for GM food have direct impact on the development of genetic engineering technique and government‘s policy making. This review aims to investigate cognition and attitudes of GM food among Chinese consumers; to investigate how the consumers react to the GM food labeling policy; to find out how factors such as knowledge about transgenic information, price of GM food would affect the consumption of GM food. Methods: Relevant studies published between January 2002 and May 2013 were searched and identified through NCBI, CNKI, and Google Scholar with a combination of keywords, such as “GM”, “China”, “attitude”, “knowledge”, and “willingness” both in English and Chinese. Studies regarding the average knowledge level, acceptance and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for GM food among Chinese consumers, and factors affecting the WTP were included. Results: Of 1032 papers identified, 9 articles fulfilling the selection criteria were included in this systematic review. Among the 9 articles, 7 were written in English, 2 in Chinese. Awareness and knowledge of GM food among Chinese consumers were still not satisfying. Given the potential risks, the public tended to hold divergent attitudes to GM food, which had significantly influenced the WTP. Socio-economic factors such as the number of children, and external factors such as information and price also affected the WTP. Among all the factors, positive attitudes (including willingness-to-accept WTA), and positive information about GM food have significant positive influence on the WTP of GM food, while consumer‘s number of children, price of GM food and negative information about GM food would reduce the purchase intention. Discussion: Positive attitudes (including willingness-to-accept WTA), and positive information have significant positive influence on the WTP of GM food, while increasing number of children and price of GM food and negative information would reduce the purchase intention. It is necessary to strengthen the comprehensive and objective propaganda of GM food and transgenic technology; enhance the management of GM food; plan and develop GM food industry with focus on low-income consumers for they are more willing to buy GM food.
published_or_final_version
Public Health
Master
Master of Public Health

The planetary boundaries show the negative impacts humankind has on the environment today. Through the concept of planetary boundaries it is possible to understand when a system will reach its limit by calculating the resilience of the system. One of the largest negative impacts come from mass production of food which has mainly affected the cycle of nitrogen and phosphorus, but also other aspects like land use and biodiversity loss (Rockström et. al, 2009). A method aiming at decreasing the negative environmental impacts from food production is organic food production (Swedish Board of Agriculture, 2016a). However, the method is being criticised by professors who doubt its qualities (Kirchmann et. al., 2014). The purpose of this report is to present the environmental impacts that conventional and organic food production in Sweden have. The analysis has been based on the commodities wheat, milk and beef. Facts about the two different production processes have also been presented. This report is a review where the results have been gathered from already existing life cycle analyses. The environmental impacts studied are energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, land use, pesticide use and eutrophication potential. In general, the idea behind organic farming is to proceed a more natural way of producing food. Farm animals’ natural behaviour should therefore be benefitted and no pesticides or synthetic fertilisers are used (Nilsson, 2006). This leads to lower yields from the fields and all of the three commodities need bigger land use in organic farming than in conventional. All of the three commodities have a bigger eutrophication potential, except for one beef farm where the impact is the same as conventional. Greenhouse gas emissions from milk and beef production are similar to conventional, while in wheat production the impact is lower. The impacts energy use and pesticide use are lower for all of the three commodities (Cederberg and Darelius, 2000; Cederberg and Flysjö, 2004; Cederberg and Nilsson, 2004; Nilsson, 2006). The conclusion from this report is that neither organic nor conventional food production has a smaller environmental impact than the other. It is important to stress this and to spread knowledge about this so we do not replace one bad alternative with another bad one. Instead a new sustainable method to produce food must be invented, perhaps combining conventional and organic food production.
De planetära gränserna visar den negativa påverkan människan har på miljön idag. Genom konceptet “planetära gränser” går det att se när ett system kommer att nå sin gräns genom att beräkna systemets resiliens. En stor negativ miljöpåverkan är massproduktionen av mat, vilken mestadels har påverkat cykeln för kväve och fosfor, men även andra aspekter som markanvändning och minskad biodiversitet (Rockström et. al, 2009). En metod som strävar efter att minska den negativa miljöpåverkan från matproduktion är ekologisk matproduktion (Swedish Board of Agriculture, 2016a). Dock är metoden kritiserad av professorer som tvivlar på dess egenskaper (Kirchmann et. al., 2014). Syftet med den här rapporten är att presentera miljöpåverkan som konventionell respektive ekologisk mat producerad i Sverige har. Analysen har baserats på råvarorna vete, mjölk och biff. Den innehåller även fakta om de två olika produktionsprocesserna. Rapporten är en granskning av tidigare gjorda livscykelanalyser där resultatet har hämtats ifrån dem. De olika aspekter som har studerats är energianvändning, växthusgasutsläpp, markanvändning, användning av bekämpningsmedel samt potentiell övergödning. Tanken bakom ekologisk matproduktion är att det ska vara en mer naturlig produktion av mat. På bondgårdar ska boskapens naturliga levnadssätt gynnas och inga bekämpningsmedel eller syntetiska gödningsmedel får användas (Nilsson, 2006). Detta leder till lägre avkastning från åkrar och för samtliga av de tre råvarorna krävs det större markanvändning i ekologisk produktion än i konventionell. För råvarorna vete och mjölk innebär ekologisk produktion en större övergödningspotential, medan biff ger ungefär samma övergödning som i konventionell produktion. Växthusgasutsläpp från mjölk och biff i ekologisk produktion liknar den för konventionell, samtidigt som vetet i ekologisk produktion ger lägre växthusgasutsläpp jämfört med den konventionella. Påverkan för energianvändning och användning av bekämpningsmedel är lägre för samtliga tre varor i den ekologiska produktionen (Cederberg and Darelius, 2000; Cederberg and Flysjö, 2004; Cederberg and Nilsson, 2004; Nilsson, 2006). Slutsatsen som dragits från den här rapporten visar att varken ekologisk eller konventionell matproduktion har en lägre miljöpåverkan än den andra. Det är viktigt att belysa detta och att sprida kunskap om ämnet för att undvika att ersätta en negativ produktionsmetod med en annan. Istället behöver en mer hållbar produktionsmetod för mat utvecklas, kanske kan man kombinera ekologisk och konventionell produktion för att få ut det bästa av de båda.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. It is the most commonly diagnosed psychosocial problems in childhood with continuing impact into adulthood. This systematic review aims to identify the role of food additives, specifically artificial food coloring, in ADHD and its symptoms. PubMed, Sciencdirect, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar databases (1991-April 2012) were searched, which was supplemented by manual searches of the reference lists. Seven randomized or quasicontrolled trials of elimination diet were summarized. Six of these studies showed artificial food coloring was positively associated with ADHD and its symptoms. This review provides some evidence that artificial food coloring plays a role in ADHD and its symptoms. However, the studies reviewed only showed behavioral improvement after eliminating certain type of artificial food coloring, which does not imply artificial food colorings cause ADHD. Additionally, small sample size, inconsistent definition of artificial food colouring, subjectively reported ADHD using various assessment tools, and possibly publication bias limit the generalizability of the findings. If causal, reducing the intake of artificial food coloring could provide an alternative treatment of ADHD in the future. Understanding the mechanism underlying the association may provide insights into the developmental origins of ADHD.
published_or_final_version
Public Health
Master
Master of Public Health

Master of Science
Food Science Institute
Delores Chambers
Psychographic Questionnaires: A Comparative Review of Structures and Scales In recent years there has been a growing trend toward integrating psychographic profiles into sensory studies with the aim of more holistically explaining consumer segmentation and preferences. With this shift in approach have come questions on the nature of psychographic scales and the theoretical implications of their structure. Given the plethora of existing psychographic scales in common practice, the purpose of this review is to give a concise overview in the breadth of structures, with the aim of helping sensory researchers identify the most appropriate scale for their needs. The review begins with a critical comparison of the three most common scale classes: Likert, Semantic Differential, and Behavioral Frequency, and their relative advantages and disadvantages. Following that, a review of psychographic questionnaire design highlights differences from sensory practices, drawing attention to sources of response bias in specific design typologies which may reduce data quality in a product design.

Stress-related psychological ill health has increased dramatically in Europe. A diagnosis equivalent to occupational burnout can be found in the Swedish version of the tenth edition of the “International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems" by the World Health Organization. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare lists treatment suggestions including a section of self-care that recommended something that could be translated to “a sensible diet” (“vettig kost”) without providing evidence for what could constitute a sensible diet. By using the hypothesis of burnout being a stress-mediated decrease in neurogenesis which in turn decrease the ability to cope with stress, this article systematically reviews the efficacy of dietary polyphenols on neurogenesis in rodents to evaluate if dietary polyphenols could constitute a part of a sensible diet for burnout patients. Dietary polyphenols significantly increased various parts of neurogenesis, in rodents subjected to stressors, in some cases demonstrating effect sizes comparable to antidepressants. Adverse effects have been observed in extremely high doses and young rodents not exposed to induced stressors with a putative high level of neurogenesis.

Background Obesity was known to be caused by imbalance in energy in food consumption and energy output in daily activities. It has become a public health epidemic all over the world. Obesity associated diseases has brought large burden on the healthcare systems. Morbidity and mortality related to obesity are increasing. Overconsumption of calorie from away-home-food has a large contribution to the epidemic. Dining out frequently is associated with overconsumption of calorie in food selected and intake, in which its popularity is on the rise. Calorie labeling on restaurant menus has got mixed evidence on reducing calorie in food selection and consumption. This paper aims to review and synthesize relevant evidence among randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness of energy labeling in restaurant menu and total energy in food purchase and consumption so that possible causal relationship could be inferred and implications on future researches and policies could be provided. Methods A literature search was conducted using PubMed and Cochrane Library to locate relevant articles in English that examined the effectiveness of calorie labeling on energy reduction in food selection and consumption from 1966 to 30 June 2014. Results Twelve RCTs were included, with most of them (nine studies) conducted in the US. Overall, all the studies evaluated the effectiveness of calorie labeling on energy in food selection, 4 RCTs involved evaluated the effectiveness of calorie labeling on energy in food consumption. Studies were categorized into groups of real, laboratory and simulated settings for comparisons. In total, eight out of twelve RCTs revealed a significant calorie reduction in food selection with energy labeling, with proportional calorie reduction ranging from 8.3% to 36.7%. While in evaluating the effectiveness of calorie labeling on food consumption, three out of the four RCTs showed a significant calorie reduction in the intervention group, with proportional energy reduction ranging from 6.2% to 11.4%. One RCT showed a significant increase in calorie consumption after the study meal. Six of the 12 studies had recruited normal weight participants, and they found mixed results in calorie reduction of food selection with energy labeling, while 4 RCTs recruited averagely overweight participants and found significant calorie reduction in food selection. This difference in effectiveness of calorie labeling among various weight status of participants suggested that this policy would be more effective in secondary prevention of obesity rather than primary prevention. There was more evidence showing that calorie labeling is effective on reducing calorie in food selection in consumption in this systematic review among studies reviewing calorie reduction in food selection and consumption at a short period of time. Conclusions Mandating calorie labeling on restaurant menus could possibly reduce the energy in food selection and consumption. A minimal reduction in calorie in food selection and consumption might possibly bring a large population benefit. However, more scientifically rigorous researches were called for a longer exposure period of time to evaluate its sustainability in altering people's eating behaviour.
published_or_final_version
Public Health
Master
Master of Public Health

Objective: To systematically review the feasibility and effectiveness of recent school lunch interventions in primary schools and whether they instil positive changes to childhood dietary habits and help prevent obesity. Background: Childhood obesity is a growing concern affecting 42 million children (2010) and increasing daily, and may be linked to adult obesity. Lunch contributes 24% of daily energy, making school lunch interventions monumentally important in reducing consumption of high fat and/or sugar foods, and increasing fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake. Methods: A literature search was conducted for studies with interventions in primary school environments that aimed to alter the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and unhealthy foods high in fat or sugar. Studies were only suitable if they utilized randomized controlled trial (RCT) or cluster RCT designs, and included relevant outcome measures for F&V or macronutrient consumption. Relevant studies published between January 1st 2000 and May 31st 2013 were identified through PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Cochrane Trials, and bibliographies of relevant studies. Results: Nine studies were included in this systematic review from the US or UK, with varied direct and indirect interventions to alter school lunch nutrition either through F&V or improved macronutrient content. Environmental changes to child attitudes towards F&V, such as verbal encouragement, classroom curriculums and audio-visual stimuli, were significantly effective in all 4 studies, whereas 2 studies with changes to F&V availability without involving students had mixed results. Direct reductions to fat content in school lunches produced significant results in 2 of 4 studies, with increased carbohydrate intake compensating for lower fat, resulting in non-significant total energy changes. One of 3 environmental interventions also had similar trends in macronutrient intake. Total energy change was only significant in 1 of 6 studies. Conclusion: Overall interventions for childhood obesity had moderate success, and most were unable to meet primary dietary goals set out by researchers. Ineffectiveness of interventions may be due to parental influences at home, early childhood dietary habits, disproportionately low SES in study samples, among other factors. Further research on targeting calorie intakes, parental involvement, snack food reduction, and related fields is recommended.
published_or_final_version
Community Medicine
Master
Master of Public Health

The Red River Delta in Vietnam is one of the regions whose quaternary aquifers are polluted by arsenic. Chronic toxification by arsenic can cause severe illnesses such as cancer, skin lesions, developmental defects, cardiovascular and neurological diseas-es, and diabetes. In this study, a food processing craft village in the Red River Delta was investigated regarding the potential risk faced by the population due to arsenic. The potential sources of arsenic are the groundwater, the crops grown in the sur-roundings, and animal products from local husbandry. However, the occurrence of arsenic in nature is variable, and its bioavailability and toxicity depend very much on its specification: trivalent compounds are more toxic and often more mobile than pen-tavalent compounds, while inorganic species are generally more toxic than organic ones. Local conditions, such as the redox potential, strongly influence its specification and thus potential bioavailability. The introduction to this work elucidates the key factors which potentially cause human exposure to arsenic: the geological setting of the study area, land and water use pat-terns, and the current state of research regarding the mobilization, bioavailability and plant uptake of arsenic. Although the study area is located in a region where the groundwater is known to be moderately contaminated by arsenic, the level of arsenic in the groundwater in the village had not previously been determined. In this study, water use in the village was examined by a survey among the farmers and by water analyses, which are present-ed in the following chapters. Four main water sources (rain, river, tube well and a pub-lic municipal waterworks) are used for the different daily activities; the highest risk to human health was found to be the bore well water, which is pumped from the shallow Holocene aquifer. The water from the bore wells is commonly used for cleaning and washing as well as to feed the animals and for food processing. Products like noodles and rice wine were examined as well as local pork and poultry. Vegetables from the gardens and rice plants from the surrounding paddy fields were sampled and ana-lyzed. All plants were found to have accumulated arsenic, leafy vegetables showing the highest arsenic concentrations. The results are discussed and compared, and conclusions are drawn in the last part. The reducing conditions in the paddy fields are likely to have a strong influence on arsenic uptake in rice plants and on transport to the aquifer. The installation of a wastewater treatment plant under the research project INHAND, which was funded by the BMBF German Ministry of Education and Research, led to lower arsenic concen-trations in the groundwater. Soaring industrialization, the growing population, and the consumers’ changing behav-ior will widely affect land and water use and hence the potential mobilization of arse-nic. In order to mitigate further human exposure to arsenic, wastewater needs to be treated and the reducing conditions in the rice fields need to be decreased by means of enhanced cultivation methods.:Abstract III Zusammenfassung V Acknowledgements VII Contents IX List of abbreviations XIII List of tables XVII 1 Scope of this work 1 2 Introduction 2 2.1 Geographical and geological setting of the study area 2 2.2 Hydrological situation 5 2.2.1 Surface water 5 2.2.2 Impact of human activities on surface water quality and distribution 6 2.2.3 Hydrogeology 7 2.3 Arsenic occurrence 7 2.3.1 Arsenic toxicity 8 2.3.2 Risk potential of arsenic in diet 10 2.4 Arsenic contamination in the groundwater resources of the Red River Delta 11 2.4.1 Occurrence and origin of arsenic in the Red River Delta 12 2.4.2 Mobilization processes 13 2.4.3 As mobilization in paddy fields 15 2.5 Arsenic occurrence in daily rural activities 16 2.5.1 Arsenic in soil 17 2.5.2 Arsenic in drinking water 19 2.5.3 Phytoaccumulation: Current state of research 20 2.5.4 Bioavailablity 22 2.5.5 Arsenic uptake in rice plants 23 2.5.6 Arsenic in meat and animal products 26 2.5.7 Arsenic uptake in golden apple snails 27 2.5.8 Processing: Wine and noodles 28 2.5.9 Arsenic concentrations in wastewater, activated sludge and digestate 29 2.6 Iron and manganese in the nutrient chain 30 2.7 Land and water use in the Red River Delta 31 2.7.1 Historical and political aspects of rural development in Vietnam 33 2.7.2 Craft villages in the Red River Delta 34 3 Materials and methods 36 3.1 Soil sample analyses 36 3.2 Well sampling 37 3.3 Wastewater and sludge analyses 37 3.4 Food analyses 38 3.5 Site visit and field observations 39 3.6 Questionnaire 39 4 Results 40 4.1 Soil samples 40 4.1.1 Total arsenic and total heavy metal concentrations 40 4.1.2 Sequential fractionation procedure 41 4.2 Arsenic in the water cycle in Dai Lam 43 4.2.1 Groundwater analyses 43 4.2.2 Water use in Dai Lam 47 4.2.3 Wastewater in Dai Lam 50 4.3 Arsenic in sewage sludge 51 4.4 Arsenic in manure samples 52 4.5 Arsenic in food samples 52 4.5.1 Rice 52 4.5.2 Arsenic in leaf vegetables 53 4.5.3 Arsenic in poultry products 56 4.5.4 Arsenic in pork samples 57 4.5.5 Arsenic in snails 57 4.6 Economic and demographic development potential 58 5 Discussion 61 5.1 Soil samples 61 5.2 Groundwater samples 62 5.2.1 High arsenic concentrations 62 5.2.2 Strong temporal and spatial variation 63 5.2.3 Weak correlation between measured parameters 69 5.3 Wastewater and sewage sludge 70 5.4 Pig manure 71 5.5 Daily exposure to As from dietary intake 71 5.6 Effects of land and water use on water quality and public health 76 5.7 Against the background of the transition economy 77 6 Conclusion 80 7 Perspectives (further work) 85 8 References 86 9 Annex 110

The Red River Delta in Vietnam is one of the regions whose quaternary aquifers are polluted by arsenic. Chronic toxification by arsenic can cause severe illnesses such as cancer, skin lesions, developmental defects, cardiovascular and neurological diseas-es, and diabetes. In this study, a food processing craft village in the Red River Delta was investigated regarding the potential risk faced by the population due to arsenic. The potential sources of arsenic are the groundwater, the crops grown in the sur-roundings, and animal products from local husbandry. However, the occurrence of arsenic in nature is variable, and its bioavailability and toxicity depend very much on its specification: trivalent compounds are more toxic and often more mobile than pen-tavalent compounds, while inorganic species are generally more toxic than organic ones. Local conditions, such as the redox potential, strongly influence its specification and thus potential bioavailability. The introduction to this work elucidates the key factors which potentially cause human exposure to arsenic: the geological setting of the study area, land and water use pat-terns, and the current state of research regarding the mobilization, bioavailability and plant uptake of arsenic. Although the study area is located in a region where the groundwater is known to be moderately contaminated by arsenic, the level of arsenic in the groundwater in the village had not previously been determined. In this study, water use in the village was examined by a survey among the farmers and by water analyses, which are present-ed in the following chapters. Four main water sources (rain, river, tube well and a pub-lic municipal waterworks) are used for the different daily activities; the highest risk to human health was found to be the bore well water, which is pumped from the shallow Holocene aquifer. The water from the bore wells is commonly used for cleaning and washing as well as to feed the animals and for food processing. Products like noodles and rice wine were examined as well as local pork and poultry. Vegetables from the gardens and rice plants from the surrounding paddy fields were sampled and ana-lyzed. All plants were found to have accumulated arsenic, leafy vegetables showing the highest arsenic concentrations. The results are discussed and compared, and conclusions are drawn in the last part. The reducing conditions in the paddy fields are likely to have a strong influence on arsenic uptake in rice plants and on transport to the aquifer. The installation of a wastewater treatment plant under the research project INHAND, which was funded by the BMBF German Ministry of Education and Research, led to lower arsenic concen-trations in the groundwater. Soaring industrialization, the growing population, and the consumers’ changing behav-ior will widely affect land and water use and hence the potential mobilization of arse-nic. In order to mitigate further human exposure to arsenic, wastewater needs to be treated and the reducing conditions in the rice fields need to be decreased by means of enhanced cultivation methods.

The water-energy-food nexus approach, where closely-connected water, energy and food sectors and their interlinkages are considered together, can be useful to fully understand and address impediments to these sectors’ security and their sustainable development. This study is a review of the current status of the water-energy-food nexus in India, main interlinkages and main challenges to the sustainable development of the nexus. One of the main interlinkages is irrigation in the water-food connection, as the majority of water withdrawn in India is used for agriculture. The water-energy interlinkages are crucial not only in the context of hydropower generation, but also due to the large amounts of water being used for cooling of fossil fuel and nuclear power plants. The pressure on water resources is exacerbated by rainfall reductions in India caused by climate change. Social and economic factors, such as population growth, change in food habits, economic growth and technological advances, further increase the demand for water, energy and food. This all poses significant challenges related to water availability and, as a result, water, food and energy security in India.

Obesity is a major cause of all preventable deaths in the United States. Many health problems can develop due to obesity. Some of the problems that can develop are cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, osteoporosis and bone fractures, and dental diseases. The mean percentage of adults aged 20 and over who are overweight, including obesity is 71.6%. The mean prevalence of obesity in the US is 39.8% of adults in all age groups. The current review aims to systematically analyze ABA interventions that include an experimental intervention targeting an increase in exercise, healthy eating practices, or educational interventions targeting exercise or healthy eating in order to evaluate the efficacy of currently existing interventions and predict or suggest possible interventions to be conducted in the future. Secondly, this review attempted to emphasize the relative lack of ABA interventions directed toward increasing exercise and healthy eating in individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities. Methods of gathering, classifying, and organizing studies were discussed, as well as the criteria for inclusion or exclusion.

Master of Science
Food Science
Delores H. Chambers
Tools are available, through various reference books, to develop a purposeful sensory quality program. Some companies already have a strong sensory program in place; others may require a cultural change to facilitate the implementation. This paper indicates some of the challenges to be overcome, covers some current quality control (QC) sensory practices and addresses advantages and disadvantages of expert tasters Some specific issues regarding sensory evaluations of alcohol beverages are discussed and critical factors in production are reviewed with discussion on the potential for off taint development.

The primary goal of this paper is to critically examine five of the top nine US fast food chains to look at their history and to determine what factors have lead to their massive success. The companies that will be analyzed include: McDonald's, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Domino's Pizza, and Subway. Similarities and differences of these companies are compared and contrasted throughout the paper and clearly demonstrate how each company has managed to capture and maintain major market share in their respective food categories. Areas that are examined range from product quality to to business models to consumer psychology. A review of these companies reveals that there are specific success factors for each, and one overarching factor for all. Specific factors include, but are not limited to marketing technique, organizational structure and overall business concept. The one factor that seems critical to all is entering the market with an innovative and unique concept.

In ecological risk assessment, mechanistic effect models (MEMs) are thought to overcome the limitation of standard laboratory single species test by accurately extrapolating the models to population-level. This review introduces the basic theory of MEMs-dynamic energy budget theory which can connect with toxicokinetic/ toxicodynamic models to describe the interaction of toxicants and organisms. This review summarizes some typical MEMs which simulate different scenarios, pesticides and species, and compared their modelling performance according to the guidance on good effect models of European Food Safety Authority, in order to judge if it is accounting for all modelling steps. In addition, a summary of the linkage of MEMs in pesticides ecological risk assessment have been discussed, especially evaluating the linkage results of ‘MODELINK’ workshop. However, there is no genuine application of MEMs in pesticides ecological risk assessment in real world today, because there is no validated model built with acceptable predictive power to motivate the ecological assessors or shareholders to use effect models confidently. Therefore, there is still a long way to develop an effect model which is valid enough and has strong prediction power.

Trabalho Complementar apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Licenciada em Ciências da Nutrição
Sarcopenia is defined as the progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and functional performance and is considered a major threat to healthy ageing. There is a growing body of evidence linking nutrition with sarcopenia parameters in the elderly. Therefore, the present study aims to review the literature and to analyze the existent information regarding nutritional interventions for preventing or treating sarcopenia in older adults. Nutritional interventions present as a promising strategy when it comes to prevent or delay the development of sarcopenia, especially in sedentary individuals. The most studied approaches are a balanced diet, adequate intake of proteins (especially those rich in leucine) and there is also data regarding the role of supplementation with leucine or/and HMB in this condition. Moreover, there is also evidence linking omega-3 fatty acids to the management of sarcopenia. The effect of minerals such as selenium and magnesium in sarcopenia are worth further exploring since the little evidence existing on this topic shows that they can be relevant on the prevention of sarcopenia. In conclusion, there is promising evidence on nutrition and diet as key strategies to prevent and treat sarcopenia while promoting physical function and quality of life. Notwithstanding this, further studies are needed in order to strengthen the evidence and to establish specific nutritional recommendations for preventing or treating sarcopenia in older adults.
esquelética e do desempenho funcional e é considerada uma grande ameaça ao envelhecimento saudável. Existe um conjunto crescente de evidência que associa a nutrição e a sarcopenia nos idosos. Assim, o presente estudo tem como objetivo rever a literatura e analisar a informação existente sobre intervenções nutricionais que previnam ou tratem a sarcopenia em idosos. As intervenções nutricionais apresentam-se como a estratégia mais promissora quando se trata de prevenir ou retardar o desenvolvimento da sarcopenia, especialmente em indivíduos sedentários. As abordagens mais estudadas são uma alimentação equilibrada, a ingestão adequada de proteínas (especialmente as ricas em leucina) e existe também evidência sobre o papel da suplementação com leucina e/ou HMB nesta condição. Além disso, existem alguns estudos sobre a associação dos ácidos gordos ómega-3 com o tratamento da sarcopenia. O efeito de minerais como o selénio e o magnésio na sarcopenia necessita de mais investigação, uma vez que a pouca evidência existente sobre este tópico mostra que podem ser relevantes para a prevenção da sarcopenia. Em conclusão, existe informação promissora acerca da nutrição e da alimentação como estratégias-chave para a prevenção e tratamento da sarcopenia, além da promoção da função física e da qualidade de vida. No entanto, são necessários mais estudos para reforçar esta evidência de forma a que seja possível estabelecer recomendações nutricionais específicas para a prevenção ou tratamento da sarcopenia nas pessoas idosas.
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A Brucelose é uma zoonose causada por bactérias do gênero Brucella que têm no leite cru, e seus derivados, uma importante via de transmissão para o homem. Considerando a situação endêmica da brucelose no Brasil e que o consumo de queijos fabricados com leite cru é um hábito persistente, torna-se relevante a organização das informações disponíveis para a futura e necessária estimativa do risco associado ao consumo deste tipo de produto. Os dados foram levantados com o uso da Revisão Sistemática de Literatura, sobre os diversos fatores que podem modular a sobrevivência da bactéria no queijo. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que há poucos dados, especialmente quantitativos, sobre o tema. Forneceram dados qualitativos 16 artigos, dentre estes 4 (totalizando 9 experimentos) foram utilizados para análise quantitativa por meta-análise, pelo método de meta-regressão. Os resultados demonstraram existir influência do tempo de cura sobre a diminuição da população bacteriana, também associada a valores reduzidos de pH e atividade de água. Foram detectadas lacunas de conhecimento relacionadas a dose infectante, a interação deste agente com a microbiota natural do leite e do queijo, e a falta de dados experimentais sobre o comportamento de sobrevivência da Brucella em queijos. A obtenção destes dados poderá facilitar a construção de modelos de predição da sobrevivência deste agente nestes produtos futuramente.
Brucellosis is a zoonosis, caused by a bacterium from the genus Brucella that have in raw milk and dairy products an important route of transmission for man. Considering that bovine brucellosis is endemic in Brazil, and that the consumption of cheeses made with raw milk is a persistent habit, the organization of the available information becomes relevant, for the estimation of the risk associated with the consumption of this type of product in the future. The data were collected using systematic literature review, on the various factors that can modulate the survival of the bacteria in milk and cheese. The results obtained show that there are few data, especially quantitative, on the subject. Qualitative data were provided from 16 articles, 4 of which (9 different lab experiments) were used for quantitative analysis by meta-analysis, using the meta-regression method. The results detected the influence of de curing time on the decrease of the bacterial population, also associated to reduced values of pH and water activity. Knowledge gaps about infectious dose, antagonistic/synergistic interactions from this agent with the natural cheese/milk microbiota and a lack of experimental data about the Brucella survival behavior in cheeses were also detected by this research. The obtaining of these data may facilitate the construction of models for predicting the survival of this agent in these products in the future.

Mestrado em Engenharia Alimentar - Instituto Superior de Agronomia
In the current market, ensuring a system of quality management is very important because it enables the company to a quality management more effective and efficient use of products or services, and is the point of confidence to customers, attracting potential business in abroad. To this end, many food businesses certified in the ISO 22 000:2005 standard, that defines the requirements for a Food Safety Management. With the change of attitude to quality, this is no longer only the responsibility of the production area, but also of the administration. This has shown the need to measure quality. To facilitate the measurement of quality of products and services, firms make use of management indicators, or use the data that is collected regularly and act in order to provide important information of the state management system implemented. This information is brought to the Management Review and is the top management who have a responsibility to look to analyze, to update the food security policy of the company and to redefine the objective of quality. The information offered by management indicators focus on the most sensitive points of the management system implemented, which will help top management to take the necessary corrective action to the improvement of the system, as well as preventive measures to be prevented the reappearance non-compliance. It is then up to the directors of departments involved in food quality and safety, to seal the effective implementation of these measures The management indicators are therefore important tools not only measurements and but also quality management, that they have the ability to operate at key points of the system, changing its course. However, should be seen by top management as a means to aid in the management of quality and not as an end in themselves. Well, they allow the identification and control requirements, contributing to the continuous improvement of the management system implemented. For the management indicators may represent the most accurate possible, the reality that they study, there should be standards for comparison, which also makes the comprehension of information much easier. However, it is important to note that the management indicators have variability, which may be the result of causes within the company.

Social and ecological sustainability applications are a significant way to bring equality, equity, and happiness in society. Food waste and food security are two of the most significant problems the people have to tackle the next years. In every country, there are huge problems regarding the food waste which cause serious health problems and pollution not only in the atmosphere but in the subsoil as well. Contrary to that, there is a countless number of people facing food security issues every day across the globe. These problems occurred in Greece as well due to the modern way of living on one hand and the financial crisis on the other. A combination of technological ideas in the economic field of the circular economy could be applied to succeed in sustainable solutions. In this thesis, a literature search conducted in order to identify similar problems in Greece. There are very worrying statistics that indicate the massive food waste that is happening in Greek households. Additionally, the literature search for food security and unemployment reveals the significant problem occurred in society as a result of the financial crisis. An additional search in the field of the circular economy reveals excellent solutions in the agricultural machinery sharing and refactoring that could be applied locally, exploiting the existing infrastructure of the community. These solutions help small and young farmers to improve their financial situations. The author is exploring the effects of the financial crisis in the local economy in an effort to apply technological solutions in a form of a mobile application to interconnect people and make the donation, sharing and job search easier for the community. The ultimate goal of this study is to develop an application that could help the community to move towards social and ecological sustainability. Even though the ideas applied in this thesis are fresh to the community in the author’s region, the results of this work indicate that there are significant support and willingness to contribute. The development efforts are focusing on a mobile application where its features are focusing on the best possible interconnection among people of the community. Participants believe that the application interconnection along with the features provided, like the food donation, food sales, machinery sharing and job search among people of the community, could bring positive results reducing the food waste, promoting the circular economy, and toning the local economy in general. The data have shown that the author is moving towards the right path in his first attempt to present these ideas to the community in his region. Every participant in this study embraces his efforts finding potential value in the provided features of the application.

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária
Atualmente, o sistema HACCP é uma metodologia internacionalmente reconhecida e amplamente aceite que é aplicada para garantir a segurança dos alimentos desde a produção ao consumo. A avaliação e o seguimento deste sistema periodicamente é um dos maiores elementos-chave para o manter bem implementado, eficaz, adequado e capaz de controlar os perigos de origem alimentar por eliminação, prevenção ou redução para níveis aceitáveis. A Plataforma de Pescado Fresco, pertencente ao Grupo Auchan, foi pioneira na produção e venda de peixe fresco preparado e embalado numa atmosfera aeróbica, no setor de distribuição português. A relevância da submissão do sistema de gestão de segurança dos alimentos à revisão está relacionada com o seu compromisso, preocupação e responsabilidade em demonstrar as suas capacidades para minimizar todos os riscos durante as etapas do processo e fornecer padrões de excelência, conhecer as procuras e as expectativas da sociedade moderna, conquistar a confiança do consumidor e garantir a conformidade com os princípios regulamentares. Os principais objetivos deste estudo foram rever e avaliar a implementação e eficácia do sistema HACCP nesta unidade, aplicando os requisitos da ISO 22000:2005, e sugerir atualizações e melhorias. Houve uma auditoria inicial de diagnóstico para avaliar todas as condições e práticas de higiene e segurança alimentar, que consistiu em várias observações in loco e apreciações cuidadosas da documentação e registos. A análise dos resultados demostrou que os programas de pré-requisitos e o sistema HACCP estavam, na generalidade, em concordância. Contudo, foram identificadas oportunidades de melhoria, através da introdução do Método do Índice de Qualidade, para análise sensorial de matéria-prima, introdução de programas de pré-requisitos operacionais, redução dos pontos críticos de controlo e tornando mais completa a descrição do produto, diagramas de fluxo de processo, identificação de perigos e avaliação de riscos, entre outras considerações críticas.
ABSTRACT - REVIEW OF THE HACCP SYSTEM OF AUCHAN’S PLATFORM OF FRESH FISH - Currently, HACCP system is an internationally recognized and widely accepted methodology that is applied to assure food safety from production to consumption. The assessment and follow-up of this system routinely is one of the greatest key elements to maintain it well implemented, effective, suitable and capable to control foodborne safety hazards by prevention, elimination or reduction to acceptable levels. The Platform of Fresh Fish, belonging to Auchan Group, was a pioneer in the production and sale of fresh fish prepared and packed in an aerobic atmosphere, in the Portuguese distribution sector. The relevance of the food safety management system’s submission for review is related to its commitment, concern and responsibility to demonstrate their capabilities to minimize all risks during the processing stages and provide standards of excellence, meet the demands and expectations of modern society, gain consumer trust and ensure compliance with regulatory principles. The main objectives of this study were to review and assess the implementation and effectiveness of the HACCP system in this unit applying the requirements of ISO 22000:2005 and suggest updates and improvements. There was an initial audit of diagnosis to evaluate all food safety and hygiene conditions and practices, which consisted of several observations in loco and careful assessments of documentation and records. The analysis of results proved that prerequisite programs and HACCP system were generally in accordance. However, opportunities for improvement were identified by introduction the Quality Index Method, for sensory analysis of raw material, introduction an operational prerequisite programs, reduction of critical control points and making more complete the product description, process flow diagrams, identification of hazards and risk evaluation, among other critical considerations.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att studera de språkliga skillnaderna mellan anonyma och offentliga professionella matrecensenter, samt undersöka hur restaurangrecensioner påverkar restaurangägare. De tre frågeställningarna som har undersökt syftet var: Hur skiljer sig språket i de anonyma recensionerna gentemot de offentliga och påverkas språket i en recension av anonymiteten? Hur upplevs recensionen av restaurangägaren och har det någon betydelse om recensionen är skriven av en anonym eller offentlig kritiker? Hur skiljer sig språket beroende på om recensionen är positiv eller negativ? Undersökningen har utförts genom en kvantitativ metod med textanalys som redskap för undersökningen. Analyserna har gjorts på sex olika matkritikers recensioner. Textanalyserna gjordes på totalt 60 recensioner skrivna av tre anonyma kritiker respektive tre offentliga kritiker. Studiens andra syfte var att undersöka recensionernas inverkan på restauranger. Denna del av undersökningen har varit kvalitativ där intervjuer har gjorts med två restaurangägare. Resultatet av den kvantitativa undersökningen har visat på att det finns språkliga skillnader mellan anonyma och offentliga recensenters texter. Studien visade i den kvalitativa delen att genomslagskraften från restaurangrecensioner är hög. Restauranger påverkas följaktligen av recensioner publicerade angående deras restauranger. Slutsatsen var att restaurangrecensioner skiljer sig åt i språket mellan anonyma och offentliga skribenter samt att restauranger blir påverkade av båda negativa och positiva recensioner. Detta öppnar upp en debatt för att förändra kulturen av att ha anonyma recensenter i Sverige.
The aim of this study was to examine the grammatical and linguistic differences between anonymous and public food critics and to study how restaurant reviews affect restaurant owners. The three questions that have examined the aim was: How does the language differ in the anonymous reviews in comparison to the public and is the language in a review affected by the anonymity? How is a review perceived by a restaurant owner and does it matter if the review is written by an anonymous or public critic? How does the language differ depending on if the review is positive or negative? The study has used a quantitative method where text analysis as a tool for the examination was chosen. The analyses have been conducted on 60 reviews in total, written by three anonymous critics and three public critics.  The second aim was to investigate what influence food reviews have on restaurants. This part of the study was qualitative where interviews have been conducted with two restaurant owners. The outcome of this study shows that there were linguistical differences between anonymous and public food critics reviews. It also demonstrated in its qualitative section that food reviews have major impact on restaurants. Consequently, restaurants are greatly affected by reviews published regarding their restaurants. The conclusion of the study was that restaurant reviews differentiate between anonymous and public writers and that restaurants are affected by both negative and positive reviews. This opens a debate regarding the culture about having anonymous critics in Sweden.

The literature review paper is a critique of studies on the topic of compliance/adherence/concordance with medical advice in young people with insulin dependent mellitus (IDDM). It is noted that the body of research under scrutiny does not have a coherent conceptual or methodological framework. Such issues affect the reliability and validity of many results to such an extent that it can be difficult to assess the usefulness of the findings. It is concluded that there is currently a political change that sees a move into more collaborative research with young people and the clinicians who work with them. The empirical paper is a study comparing self care in young people with diabetes or severe food allergy. Some significant within and between group differences were found in the relationships between self care and Multidimensional Health Locus of Control. Implications of the findings for young people are discussed. Recommendations are made for future research particularly for the severe food allergy group where this study is the first to investigate psychosocial aspects of self care.

Orientador: Helena Teixeira Godoy
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-03T14:50:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Prado_MarceloAlexandre_D.pdf: 10679979 bytes, checksum: 271e49a76278f93376a9b985c59b1111 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003
Resumo: O uso de corantes artificiais pelas indústrias de alimentos em todo o mundo é bastante difundido, isto porque os corantes permitem suplementar ou repor a coloração perdida durante o processamento e ou estocagem, e assim garantir a aceitabilidade do produto frente ao consumidor, sendo utilizados ainda como um importante instrumento para garantir a uniformidade dos produtos em linhas de produção de larga escala. Do ponto de vista da saúde pública, existem diferentes opiniões quanto à inocuidade dos diversos corantes artificiais utilizados em alimentos. Muitos estudos mostram que esses aditivos podem causar uma série de males à saúde da população quando consumidos de forma incorreta, seja por abusos da indústria ou exagero no consumo. O fato é que, técnicas analíticas para a determinação desses corantes devem ser desenvolvidas, e principalmente validadas, para garantir a segurança alimentar dos produtos que ingerimos. No presente trabalho foram desenvolvidos e validados dois métodos para a determinação de corantes artificiais em bebidas alcoólicas, utilizando duas diferentes técnicas, a cromatografia a líquido de alta eficiência (CLAE) e a eletroforese capilar (EC). Os métodos foram desenvolvidos para a separação simultânea dos onze corantes artificiais permitidos para uso em alimentos no Brasil. No método por CLAE, para a separação dos corantes, utilizou-se coluna de fase reversa e eluição por gradiente, com fase móvel composta por água/metanol. Na EC a separação ocorreu utilizando um capilar de sílica, com 73 cm de comprimento efetivo, preenchido com uma solução tampão composta por fosfato (10mmol/L) e dodecil sulfato de sódio (l0mmol/L), a pH 11, com aplicação de voltagem de 25 kV. Nos dois métodos, a detecção dos corantes foi feita na região do visível e a quantificação através de curvas de calibração externa. Os limites de detecção obtidos ficaram na faixa de 0,1 a 0,4 µ tg/mL e 0,4 a 2,5 µ tg/mL, enquanto os limites de quantificação foram de 0,2 a 1,3 µ tg/mL e 1,3 a 7,1 µ tg/mL para a CLAE e EC, respectivamente. As taxas de recuperação, em dois níveis de concentração, para todos os corantes foram de 95,2 a 103,2% para a CLAE, e de 92,6 a 104,0% para a EC. Os valores de repetibilidade calculado para padrões e amostras demonstraram a boa precisão para os dois métodos desenvolvidos. As metodologias propostas e validadas foram aplicadas em 45 amostras de bebidas alcoólicas de diferentes fabricantes brasileiros, sendo: 6 aguardentes aromatizadas, 9 coolers, 7 aperitivos, 3 coquetéis, 8 licores e 12 vinhos tinto. Não houve diferença significativa entre os dados obtidos pelos dois métodos. Em todas as amostras analisadas, os teores de corantes artificiais encontrados estavam em conformidade com a legislação brasileira
Abstract: The use of synthetic dyes for the food industries in the whole world is sufficiently spread out, it is because the colors allow to supplemental or to replace the lost coloration during the processing and or storage, and thus to guarantee the acceptability of the product front to the consumer, being used still as an important instrument to guarantee the uniformity of the products in the production. Of the point of view of the public health, there are different opinions about the safety of the different synthetic dyes used in foods. Much of the studies show that these additives can be dangerous for the health of the population when consumed inadequately, either for abuses of the industry or exaggerate in the consumption. The fact is that, analytical methods for the determination of these colors must be developed, and mainly validated, to guarantee the alimentary security of the products that we ingest. In the present work they had been developed and validated two methods for synthetic dyes determination in alcoholic beverages, using two different techniques, the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary eletrophoresis (CE). The methods had been developed for the simultaneous separation of the eleven synthetic dyes allowed for use in foods in Brazil. In the method for HPLC, for the separation of the synthetic dyes, a reverse phase column was used with gradient elution system composed by water/methanol. In the EC method the separation occurred using a silica capillary with 73 cm of effective length, filled with buffer phosphate solution (l0mmol/L) with sulpfate dodecyl sodium (SDS) (10mmol/L), at pH 11, with application 25kV of voltage. The detection and quantification were done made in same manner for the two methods, using absorption in the visible region and external standardization, respectively. The detection limits were 0.1 to 0.4 µ g/rnL and 0.4 to 2.5 µ g/rnL, while quantification limits were 0.2 to 1.3 µ g/rnL and 1.3 to 7.1 µ g/rnL for HPLC and CE, respectively. Recovery percentage at two levels of concentration for all the synthetic dyes were of the order of 95.2 to 103.2% for HPLC, and of92.6 to 104.0% for CE. The values of repeatability calculated for standards and samples demonstrated the precision of the two methods. The proposed and validated methods were used to analyses 45 alcoholic beverage samples of different Brazilian manufacturers, being: 6 perfumed spirits, 9 coolers, 7 bitters, 3 cocktails, 8 liquors and 12 red wines. The data obtained were the two methods did not present significant difference. It was observed that the limits permitted by Brazilian Legislation for the use of these synthetic dyes were respected in the analyzed samples
Doutorado
Mestre em Ciência de Alimentos

Tesis por compendio
[ES] Algunos productos se caracterizan por su falta de homogeneidad, lo que significa que productos con diferentes características pueden ser obtenidos de un mismo proceso de producción debido a factores incontrolables como la naturaleza de las materias primas o las condiciones ambientales durante la producción. Hay cuatro aspectos que caracterizan la falta de homogeneidad en el producto: los subtipos homogéneos que se obtienen de un mismo lote de producción, la cantidad de productos que componen cada subtipo, el valor de cada uno de los subtipos, y el estado de los productos. La falta de homogeneidad en el producto dificulta la gestión de los procesos de las empresas y cadenas de suministro en el momento en el que los clientes requieren homogeneidad entre las unidades de producto que adquieren. Un ejemplo de esto se produce en el sector de la cerámica, en el que los clientes requieren que todas las unidades que van a ser ensambladas juntas tengan el mismo color, espesor y calidad por razones estéticas y de seguridad. Otro ejemplo es el extraído del sector agroalimentario, en el que el mercado final requiere productos que cumplan con un tamaño mínimo, un color particular, o sabor en el caso de las frutas. Además, el sector agroalimentario tiene la complejidad añadida producida por el deterioro de los productos a lo largo del tiempo, y la necesidad de los mercados de ofrecer a los clientes productos con una mínima duración tras su venta. En esta Tesis, se define como productos heterogéneos a aquellos productos que se pueden clasificar en subtipos homogéneos con una cantidad variable, mientras que los productos perecederos son aquellos que, además de ser heterogéneos, tienen falta de homogeneidad en su estado. De acuerdo con estos conceptos, el sector cerámico comercializa productos heterogéneos mientras que el sector agroalimentario comercializa productos perecederos. Esta Tesis propone marcos conceptuales y modelos de Investigación Operativa que soporten la gestión de cadenas de suministro con productos heterogéneos y perecederos en la toma de decisiones centralizada y distribuidas relacionadas con los niveles de decisión estratégica, táctica y operativa. El objetivo es mejorar la competitividad, sostenibilidad y flexibilidad de la cadena de suministro para adaptarse a los requerimientos del mercado bajo condiciones de incertidumbre. Para esto, se han propuesto modelos de Investigación Operativa deterministas e inciertos, cuyos resultados se comparan concluyendo que los resultados obtenidos con los modelos inciertos se adaptan mejor al comportamiento real de las cadenas de suministros.Los modelos de Investigación Operativa propuestos han contribuido a tres áreas de investigación: problemas operativos en el sector cerámico, problemas estratégicos en el sector agroalimentario y problemas de planificación en el sector agroalimentario. Las principales novedades en los problemas operativos en el sector cerámico son el modelado de las características de las baldosas cerámicas, la consideración de los requerimientos de homogeneidad entre unidades de diferentes líneas de pedido, y la posibilidad de realizar entregas parciales y entregas con retraso. Esta Tesis contribuye a los problemas estratégicos en el sector agroalimentario al diseñar una cadena de suministro completa de productos agroalimentarios frescos considerando el aspecto perecedero de los productos e integrando decisiones tácticas, y determinando el impacto real que tiene considerar el aspecto perecedero de los productos durante el diseño de la cadena de suministro ...
[CA] Alguns productes es caracteritzen per la seua falta d'homogeneïtat, el que significa que productes amb diferents característiques poden ser obtinguts d'un mateix procés de producció degut a factors incontrolables com la naturalesa de les matèries primeres o les condicions ambientals durant la producció. Hi ha quatre aspectes que caracteritzen la falta d'homogeneïtat en el producte: els subtipus homogenis que s'obtenen d'un mateix lot de producció, la quantitat de productes que componen cada subtipus, el valor de cada un dels subtipus, i l'estat dels productes. La falta d'homogeneïtat en el producte dificulta la gestió dels processos de les empreses i cadenes de subministrament en el moment en què els clients requerixen homogeneïtat entre les unitats de producte que adquirixen. Un exemple d'açò es produïx en el sector de la ceràmica, en el que els clients requerixen que totes les unitats que seran acoblades juntes tinguen el mateix color, grossària i qualitat per raons estètiques i de seguretat. Un altre exemple és l'extret del sector agroalimentari, en el que el mercat final requerix productes que complisquen amb una grandària mínima, un color particular, o sabor en el cas de les fruites. A més, el sector agroalimentari té la complexitat afegida produïda pel deteriorament dels productes al llarg del temps, i la necessitat dels mercats d'oferir als clients productes amb una mínima duració després de la seua venda. En aquesta Tesi, es definix com a productes heterogenis a aquells productes que es poden classificar en subtipus homogenis amb una quantitat variable, mentres que els productes peribles són aquells que, a més de ser heterogenis, tenen falta d'homogeneïtat en el seu estat. D'acord amb aquests conceptes, el sector ceràmic comercialitza productes heterogenis mentres que el sector agroalimentari comercialitza productes peribles. Aquesta Tesi proposa marcs conceptuals i models d'Investigació Operativa que suporten la gestió de cadenes de subministrament amb productes heterogenis i peribles en la presa de decisions centralitzada i distribuïdes relacionades amb els nivells de decisió estratègica, tàctica i operativa. L'objectiu és millorar la competitivitat, sostenibilitat i flexibilitat de la cadena de subministrament per adaptar-se als requeriments del mercat sota condicions d'incertesa. Per a açò, s'han proposat models d'Investigació Operativa deterministes i incerts, els resultats es comparen concloent que els resultats obtinguts amb els models incerts s'adapten millor al comportament real de les cadenes de subministraments. Els models d'Investigació Operativa proposats han contribuït a tres àrees d'investigació: problemes operatius en el sector ceràmic, problemes estratègics en el sector agroalimentari i problemes de planificació en el sector agroalimentari. Les principals novetats en els problemes operatius en el sector ceràmic són el modelatge de les característiques de les rajoles ceràmiques, la consideració dels requeriments d'homogeneïtat entre unitats de diferents línies de comanda, i la possibilitat de realitzar lliuraments parcials i lliuraments amb retard. Aquesta Tesi contribueix als problemes estratègics en el sector agroalimentari al dissenyar una cadena de subministrament completa de productes agroalimentaris frescos considerant l'aspecte perible dels productes, integrant decisions tàctiques, i determinant l'impacte real que té considerar l'aspecte perible dels productes durant el disseny de la cadena de subministrament ...
[EN] Some products are characterised by their lack of homogeneity, what means that products with different characteristics can be obtained from the same production process due to uncontrollable factors such as the nature of raw materials or the environmental conditions during production. There are four aspects that characterize the lack of homogeneity in the product: the homogeneous subtypes to be obtained from a production lot, the quantity of products that belong to each subtype, the value related to each of the subtypes and the state of the products. The lack of homogeneity in the product hinders the management of the supply chain or company's processes at the time customers require the homogeneity among the acquired units of product. An example of this is produced in the ceramic tile sector, in which customers need all acquired ceramic tiles that are going to be jointly assembled to have the same colour, thickness and quality for aesthetic and safety reasons. Another example is the extracted from the agri-food sector, in which final markets require products that meet some characteristics such as a minimum size, a particular colour or flavour in the case of fruits. In addition, the agri-food sector has the added complexity produced by the deterioration of products over time, and the need of markets to offer to end consumers products with a minimum durability after sale. In this Thesis, heterogeneous products are defined as products for which different subtypes can be obtained in a variable quantity while perishable products are those that, apart from being heterogeneous, have a lack of homogeneity in their state. According to these concepts, ceramic sectors would commercialize heterogeneous products while the agri-food sector would do so with perishable products. This Thesis proposes conceptual frameworks and Operations Research models to support the management of supply chains with heterogeneous and perishable products in centralized and distributed decision-making processes related to strategic, tactical and operative decisional levels. The objective is to improve the supply chain competitiveness, sustainability and flexibility to adapt to market requirements under uncertain conditions. For this, both deterministic and uncertain Operations Research models have been proposed, whose results are compared concluding that results obtained with uncertain models better fit with the behaviour of real supply chains. The proposed Operations Research models have contributed to three research areas: operational problems in the ceramic sector, strategic problems in the agri-food sector and planning problems in the agri-food sector. Main novelties in the ceramic operational problems are the modelling of the characteristics of ceramic tile products, the consideration of homogeneity requirements between units from different order lines, and the possibility of making partial deliveries and delayed deliveries. This Thesis contributes to strategic problems in agri-food products by designing an entire fresh agri-food supply chain considering the perishability of products and integrating tactical decisions, and by determining the real impact that considering the products' perishability has on the supply chain design process ...
This Thesis has been developed in the Research Centre of Management and Production Engineering (CIGIP, for its acronym in Spanish “Centro de Investigación en Gestión e Ingeniería de Producción”) of the Universitat Politècnica de València with the support of the predoctoral grant Programme of Formation of University Professors (FPU, for its acronym in Spanish “Formación de Profesorado Universitario”) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Ref. FPU15/03595). The supervisors of this Thesis are Dr. Angel Ortiz, and Dra. María del Mar Alemany Diaz that are Professors in the Research Centre of Management and Production Engineering (CIGIP) of the Universitat Politècnica de València. The FPU grant has been endorsed by the supervisor Dr. Ángel Ortiz. This Thesis has also been supported by the project ‘RUC-APS: Enhancing and implementing Knowledge based ICT solutions within high Risk and Uncertain Conditions for Agriculture Production Systems’ (Ref. 691249) funded by the EU under its funding scheme H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015, the project ‘Methods and models for operations planning and order management in supply chains characterised by uncertainty in production due to the lack of product uniformity’ (PLANGES-FHP) (Ref. DPI2011- 23597) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. The projects RUC-APS and PLANGES-FHP have been led by the one of the supervisors of this Thesis Dr. María del Mar Eva Alemany. In order to obtain the international mention for this Thesis, three months of research stages have been made in the research agency Agenzia Lucana di Sviluppo e di Innovazione in Agricoltora, located in Metaponto (Italy)
Esteso Álvarez, A. (2020). Operations research models for the management of supply chains of perishable and heterogeneous products in uncertain contexts. Application to the agri-food and ceramic sectors [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/141099
TESIS
Compendio

Class of 2010 Abstract
OBJECTIVES:The main purpose of this study was to review recent and good quality studies of the antimicrobial therapy of for moderate to severe (“limb threatening”) DFI. The analysis of these studies was to conclude with one or two “standard” approach to the routine management of this clinical entity. METHODS: This literature review study consisted of an evaluation of clinical trials that compare two or more active systemic antimicrobial regimens for the treatment of moderate to severe (i.e., “limb-threatening”) diabetic foot infections in human patients. Literature sources were identified primarily from OVID MEDLINE, but also included additional tertiary sources. The primary criteria for the clinical studies were: prospective, controlled, randomized and investigator blinded. Studies had to be published after the year 2003, and be available in full-text in English. RESULTS: Ultimately, only four studies were found that met the criteria for consideration. Trials differed in numerous features. All four studies were sponsored by the manufacturer of one of the comparator drugs. Three of the four were non-inferiority design. Evidence is lacking that any of the suggested regimens are superior. CONCLUSIONS: Instead of meeting our original goal of concluding that one or two regimens could be the “standard” management of DFI, we were limited to commentary on the quality and applicability of the current literature on this clinical entity. Numerous suggestions for improvement in the clinical information provided by DFI studies were offered. We eagerly anticipate the publication of the updated IDSA guideline document on DFI.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
O primeiro objetivo da Tese consistiu na identificação e caracterização dos instrumentos de aferição epidemiológicos que vêm sendo propostos para a abordagem de IA domiciliar, bem como na síntese de suas propriedades psicométricas. Para tal, realizou-se busca sistemática em três bases de dados eletrônicas: MEDLINE, LILACS e SciELO. Não houve delimitação do período de publicação. Os resultados são apresentados no artigo intitulado Household food insecurity: a systematic review of the measuring instruments used in epidemiological studies. Foram identificados 24 instrumentos, todos breves e de fácil aplicação. A maioria foi desenvolvida nos Estados Unidos. O instrumento HFSSM apresentou o maior número de estudos de utilização e psicométricos, podendo ser recomendado sem hesitação. O segundo e principal objetivo desta Tese foi avaliar se a ocorrência de violência psicológica e física entre parceiros íntimos pode ser considerada um fator de risco para a ocorrência de Insegurança Alimentar (IA) domiciliar. As informações que subjazem a pesquisa originaram-se de um inquérito domiciliar realizado no Distrito de Campos Elíseos, Município de Duque de Caxias, entre abril a novembro de 2010. A população de estudo foi selecionada por meio de amostragem por conglomerados em três estágios (setor censitário, domicílio, indivíduo) com técnicas de amostragem inversa para a seleção dos domicílios. A amostra do estudo incluiu 849 mulheres que no período da entrevista relataram possuir algum relacionamento amoroso nos 12 meses anteriores. As informações foram obtidas por meio de entrevista utilizando-se um questionário estruturado, contendo instrumentos previamente validados, como a Revised Conflict Tatics Scales (CTS2) para a mensuração das violências e a Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar (EBIA) para a IA domiciliar. Utilizou-se a análise de caminhos (Path Analysis) na análise de dados o que permitiu explorar as relações entre as violências, entre estas e o Transtorno Mental Comum (TMC), este último e a IA, bem como as relações mais distais do modelo teórico. Os resultados são apresentados no artigo intitulado Violência entre parceiros íntimos, transtornos mentais comuns e insegurança alimentar: modelagem de equações estruturais. A hipótese central deste estudo foi corroborada, na medida em que tanto a violência psicológica, como a violência física se mostraram importantes fatores de risco para a IA, via a ocorrência de TMC. Contrariamente ao esperado, notou-se um maior efeito da violência psicológica do que da violência física na ocorrência do desfecho. Espera-se que a divulgação dos resultados desta Tese auxilie os profissionais e gestores na área de segurança alimentar e nutricional, bem como pesquisadores da área na tomada de decisões em relação ao instrumento de aferição a ser utilizado para a caracterização das situações e ampliem o olhar sobre o problema, incorporando outros fatores de risco, tais como as violências entre parceiros íntimos, aqueles estritamente econômicos, habitualmente considerados no debate sobre os determinantes e estratégias de enfrentamento da IA.
The first goal of the Thesis that consisted of identifying and characterizing the epidemiological measurement instruments that have been proposed for addressing HFI and synthesis of its psychometric properties. To this end, we performed a systematic search of three electronic databases: MEDLINE, LILACS and SciELO. There was no definition of the publication period. The results are presented in the article entitled "Household food insecurity: a systematic review of the measuring instruments used in epidemiological studies". Twenty-four instruments were identified; all brief and of easy application. The majority were devised in the United States. The HFSSM instrument had the largest number of use studies and psychometric and can be recommended without hesitation. The second and main objective of this Thesis was to evaluate the occurrence of physical intimate partner violence (IPV) of psychological type and can be considered a risk factor for the occurrence of household food insecurity (HFI). The information underlying the research originated from a household survey conducted in the District of Campos Elíseos, in the city of Duque de Caxias, between April and November 2010. The study population was selected using cluster sampling in three stages (census tract, household, individual) with inverse sampling techniques to the selection of households. The study sample included 849 women (82.03% of the interviews for the study background) than during the interview reported having a romantic relationship in the last 12 months. Information was obtained through interviews using a structured questionnaire containing previously validated instruments such as the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2) to measure the IPV and Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA) for HFI. The results are presented in the article titled "Intimate partner violence, common mental disorders and food insecurity: a survey- based structural equation modeling analysis". The central hypothesis of this study was corroborated, and IPV psychological presented both as direct kick in the occurrence of HFI effect, while the physical type of IPV only had indirect effect via CMD . It is hoped that the dissemination of the results of this thesis assists professionals and managers in the area of food security as well as researchers in the field in making decisions regarding the measurement instrument to be used for the characterization of situations and broaden the look about the problem, incorporating other risk factors such as intimate partner violence, strictly economic ones usually considered in the debate on the determinants and coping strategies of food insecurity.

Visualizations, web technologies and mobile devices are subjects which are trending nowadays in the world of technology and many research projects are tackling different issues. The originality of the thesis is in the aspect of bringing all these mentioned subjects together and providing findings that will help web designers when implementing visualizations for mobile phones. The thesis explores the use of web technologies for the visualization of complex data for mobile devices, both looking at the technical state of the art and capabilities, and at the difference in information needs for users in a mobile usage context. The first part deals with an in-depth research of the existing projects that deal with similar issues, analyzing the official documentation of the technologies and the community of developers. The other part of the research is focused on providing insights on the required changes for adapting to the needs of mobile device users by doing a usability testing on a specific visualization. The results provide information valuable for adapting visualizations, such as font sizes, color combinations, animation complexity and data simplicity. The use case that is used for feeding the visualizations with data belongs to the domain of eco visualizations, in particular dealing with sustainable food consumption.

Le retour à la naturalité a favorisé le développement des compléments alimentaires à base de ressources végétales qui apparaissent comme un réservoir quasi-infini de nutriments et de substances naturelles bioactives. Ceci fait de l’extraction solide/liquide une étape incontournable au sein des industries intéressées par ce type de molécules. Avec les préoccupations environnementale set sociétales, il est devenu nécessaire d’inventer et développer de nouveaux procédés qui répondent aux six principes de l’éco-extraction. Cette démarche a totalement inspiré cette thèse qui a pour principal objectif le développement d’une technique d’éco-extraction assistée par ultrasons en substitution de la technique conventionnelle. Ce travail a permis de montrer qu’il était possible d’intensifier l’extraction de composés d’intérêt en utilisant les ultrasons avec une meilleure sélectivité et de meilleurs rendements d’extraction. Une attention particulière a été accordée à la compréhension des mécanismes d’action des ultrasons via une étude macroscopique et microscopique approfondie des structures végétales. Cette investigation a prouvé que les ultrasons agissent différemment en fonction des structures végétales et de leurs propriétés morphologiques et chimiques qui leur confèrent un degré de résistance plus ou moins important face à l’action des ultrasons. Partant de ces résultats, l’étude macroscopique et microscopique a été définie comme un outil de décision pour une extraction ciblée. Cette variabilité a été aussi constatée à l’échelle industrielle prouvant davantage l’importance de l’analyse microscopique. Enfin, le procédé d’extraction par ultrasons a été adopté à l’échelle industrielle pour ses performances d’extraction et pour son empreinte environnementale significativement réduite par rapport au procédé CV. Ce travail a également conduit à des travaux complémentaires sur l’étude du potentiel de solubilisation des produits naturels en vue d’une utilisation pour l’extraction de composés végétaux difficiles à solubiliser dans l’eau. Des résultats prometteurs ont été obtenus en termes de pouvoirs de solubilisation et d’extraction notamment à partir de la matière végétale broyée. Les résultats de cette dernière partie soulèvent cependant des questions qui pourraient faire l’objet de futures recherches et de perspectives pour ce travail qui sont principalement liés à l’étude des problèmes liés au changement du solvant et au prétraitement de la matière première et de la faisabilité industrielle de ce nouveau procédé
With recent trends in the increasing interest to environmental, economic and safety considerations,extraction techniques have largely focused on finding solutions with sustainable and green values toimplement in food processing, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. In this context, new “green”extraction techniques were developed such as Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction (UAE). The mainobjective of this thesis is industrial implementation of this new process in substitution to theconventional (CV) process. It has been shown in this work that the extraction of compounds ofinterest from rosemary and other plant matrices could be intensified using ultrasound, and thatdifferent performance gain could be achieved according to the plant matrix structural properties.Indeed, macroscopic and microscopic investigation of untreated and treated raw materials provedthat US act through different mechanisms and its resulting impacts can be extremely limited by plantstructural morphological and chemical properties, especially those of the specialized structures.Significant variability in performance gain was also observed at the industrial scale. Overall, USappears as a promising technique with a significant performance gain in terms of extraction yield andselectivity. Moreover, this process presents low environmental footprint compared to the CV one.Finally, it has been shown that natural products, such as honey and fruit juices, can be used toimprove solubilization and extraction of molecules that are poorly soluble in water. Encouragingresults were obtained in terms of solubilization and extraction abilities, especially from ground rawmaterials. However, these results raise questions related to the feasibility of industrialimplementation of this new process

Companies continually seek to improve their business model through feedback and customer satisfaction surveys. Social media provides additional opportunities for this advanced exploration into the mind of the customer. By extracting customer feedback from social media platforms, companies may increase the sample size of their feedback and remove bias often found in questionnaires, resulting in better informed decision making. However, simply using personnel to analyze the thousands of relative social media content is financially expensive and time consuming. Thus, our study aims to establish a method to extract business intelligence from social media content by structuralizing opinionated textual data using text mining and classifying these reviews by the degree of customer satisfaction. By quantifying textual reviews, companies may perform statistical analysis to extract insight from the data as well as effectively address concerns. Specifically, we analyzed a subset of 56,000 Yelp reviews on fast food restaurants and attempt to predict a quantitative value reflecting the overall opinion of each review. We compare the use of two different predictive modeling techniques, bagged Decision Trees and Random Forest Classifiers. In order to simplify the problem, we train our model to accurately classify strongly negative and strongly positive reviews (1 and 5 stars) reviews. In addition, we identify drivers behind strongly positive or negative reviews allowing businesses to understand their strengths and weaknesses. This method provides companies an efficient and cost-effective method to process and understand customer satisfaction as it is discussed on social media.