New food sources and production systems:a comparison of international regulations and China’s advancements in novel foods with synthetic biology

The global shift towards sustainable food systems has sparked innovations in food sources and production systems,including cell-based meat,plant-based food products,precision fermentation,and 3D food printing.These advancements pose regulatory challenges and opportunities,with China emerging as a critical player in adopting and regulating new food technologies.This review explores the international landscape of new food sources and production systems(NFPS),focusing on China’s role and regulatory approaches compared to global practices.Through this comparative analysis,we aim to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on food safety regulation,offering insights and recommendations for policymakers,industry stakeholders,and researchers engaged in the global food system’s evolution.This comprehensive overview underscores the dynamic nature of regulatory frameworks governing NFPS,highlighting the international efforts to ensure food safety,consumer protection,and the sustainable evolution of the food industry.

Effect of a Nutrition Education Intervention on Food Safety Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Mothers of Children under 5 Years in the Peri-Urban Areas of Bobo-Dioulasso: Before and after Study

Background: This study assessed the effect of a nutrition education intervention. This intervention aimed to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of mothers on food safety in the peri-urban areas of Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso. Methods: A total of 243 mothers of children under 5 years in the peri-urban of Bobo-Dioulasso were administered the FAO questionnaire for food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices assessment during two cross-sectional surveys, before and after the intervention, in January and October 2017. The intervention included two components consisting of a theoretical phase (counselling and discussion) and cooking demonstrations implemented for ten months. To account for the before-and-after design of the study, the McNemar’s test was used to assess the effect of the intervention on food safety KAP of mothers of children under 5 years. Results: The mean age of mothers was 29 ± 6.2 years and 50.6% of them were between 20 and 29 years old. One for knowledge (cooking thoroughly with, p-value = 0.0001) and another for attitudes (perceived benefits of reheating leftovers before eating them, p-value = 0.0001), significantly increased after the intervention. In terms of food safety practices, all the indicators (cleaning of dirty surfaces, plates and utensils and storage of perishable foods) significantly increased (all p = 0.0001 Conclusion: This study provided some evidence of an effective nutrition education intervention for improving maternal KAP on food safety for their child’s feeding.

Food Hygiene and Safety Practices amongst Food Vendors in the Western Area, Sierra Leone

Food safety and hygiene practices require a multisectoral approach including food, water, sanitation, waste management, transport, education, trade, policies and programs that enable safe food preparation, storage and service. Unsafe food can cause illness keeping people from achieving their full potential and death. This was a descriptive study that uses a mixed method approach to derive insights into the characteristics of food vendors related to demography, knowledge, practices, infrastructure, compliance and recommendation for a policymaking framework. Using the Lemeshows’ sample size formula, 473 vendors from formal (restaurants) and informal (cookri-baffa/table top) sites were interviewed and observed. We found from discussions that respondents had a good understanding on how to keep food safe. However, observed practices were poor 93% handled food with their bare hands, 83% did not cover their hair, and 76% did not wear an apron whilst handling, preparing or serving food, 61% did not keep their finger nails clean or short and 57% did not wash their hand before preparing or serving food. Over half (51%) had access to a toilet but 32% reported their use required payment and emphasized their poor condition/inadequate management. Nearly half (47%) of the vending sites did not have a handwashing facility, with soap and water available. Only 7% reported having any authority oversight of food safety. Food safety and hygiene practices in most cookri shops and restaurants was ‘poor’ with very limited surveillance system in place by competent authorities for compliance of food operators. Hand washing, clean surroundings, and covered food were the most common and emphasized practices to mitigate the risks associated with unsafe food.

Personal glucose meters coupled with signal amplification technologies for quantitative detection of non-glucose targets:Recent progress and challenges in food safety hazards analysis

Ensuring food safety is paramount worldwide.Developing effective detection methods to ensure food safety can be challenging owing to trace hazards,long detection time,and resource-poor sites,in addition to the matrix effects of food.Personal glucose meter(PGM),a classic point-of-care testing device,possesses unique application advantages,demonstrating promise in food safety.Currently,many studies have used PGM-based biosensors and signal amplification technologies to achieve sensitive and specific detection of food hazards.Signal amplification technologies have the potential to greatly improve the analytical performance and integration of PGMs with biosensors,which is crucial for solving the challenges associated with the use of PGMs for food safety analysis.This review introduces the basic detection principle of a PGM-based sensing strategy,which consists of three key factors:target recognition,signal transduction,and signal output.Representative studies of existing PGM-based sensing strategies combined with various signal amplification technologies(nanomaterial-loaded multienzyme labeling,nucleic acid reaction,DNAzyme catalysis,responsive nanomaterial encapsulation,and others)in the field of food safety detection are reviewed.Future perspectives and potential opportunities and challenges associated with PGMs in the field of food safety are discussed.Despite the need for complex sample preparation and the lack of standardization in the field,using PGMs in combination with signal amplification technology shows promise as a rapid and cost-effective method for food safety hazard analysis.

Food safety regulatory systems in Europe and China:A study of how co-regulation can improve regulatory effectiveness

Food safety has received a great deal of attention in both developed and developing countries in recent years. In China, the numerous food scandals and scares that have struck over the past decade have spurred significant food safety regulatory reform, which has been increasingly oriented towards the public-private partnership model adopted by the Europe Union＇s （EU） food safety regulatory system. This paper analyzes the development of both the EU＇s and China＇s food safety regu- latory systems, identifies the current challenges for China and additionally considers the role of public-private partnership. The success of co-regulation in the food regulatory system would bring significant benefits and opportunities for China. Finally, this paper recommends additional measures like training and grants to improve the private＇s sector effectiveness in co-regulating China＇s food safety issues.

Problems of Rural Food Safety and Strategies of Constructing Supervision System

This paper expounds the practical necessity of constructing diversified rural food safety supervision system as follows: it is the necessary requirements of guaranteeing people's health and life safety; it is an important component of governmental function of social management and the logical extension of administrative responsibilities; it is the basis of maintaining order of rural society and constructing harmonious society. The main problems existing in the supervision of rural food safety are analyzed as follows: first, the legislative work of rural food safety lags behind to some extent; second, the supervision of governmental departments on rural food safety is insufficient; third, the industrial supervision mechanism of rural food security is not perfect; fourth, the role of rural social organizations in supervising food safety is limited; fifth, the farmers' awareness of food safety supervision is not strong. Based on these problems, the targeted strategies of constructing diversified rural food safety supervision system are put forward as follows: accelerate the legislation of rural food safety, and ensure that there are laws to go by; give play to the dominant role of government, and strengthen administrative supervision on rural food safety; perfect industrial convention of rural food safety, and improve industrial supervision mechanism; actively support the fostering of social organizations, and give play to the role of supervision of organizations; cultivate correct concept of rights and obligations of farmers, and form awareness of food safety supervision.

Willingness of farmers to participate in food traceability systems:improving the level of food safety

In order to solve frequently emerging food safety problems and adapt to the developing trends in the international food safety field, the Chinese government is establishing and developing food traceability systems. Whether or not food traceability sys- tems can guarantee food safety is a problem well worth discussing. Hence, we constructed a theoretical model to explore the effect of incentives in a food traceability system in order to improve food safety levels. The following results were obtained： enhancing the ef- fectiveness of a food traceability system, increasing the payment to farmers who supply safe agricultural products and strengthening the penalty for unsafe food supply actions are necessary conditions to improve the level of food safety. How to encourage farmers to use food traceability systems is another problem explored in our investigation. Based on a field survey on the willingness of vegetable growers to participate using a vegetable traceability system in Beijing, the first city in China to develop such a system, we used a de- scriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model to investigate the factors which dominate the decision on the part of farmers to participate in a food safety system. The results indicate that i： younger farmers are more likely to get involved in a food traceability system than older farmers, ii： income from non-agricultural activities decreases the willingness of farmers to participate, iii： the high- er the cost-benefit ratio of growing vegetables, the more likely for farmers to engage in a food traceability system, iv： farmers with a great concern for food safety information have a high propensity to participate and v： increased penalties against unsafe food supply actions and high-risk expectation are adverse incentives. In contrast, high-price expectation is a positive incentive for farmers to par- ticipate, while agricultural training, government subsidies and being part of an industrial organization will significantly strengthen the confidence of farmers to participate in a food safety system.

Environment and Awareness Influencing Food Safety in the Western Area, Sierra Leone

Food safety, nutrition, health and wellbeing are inextricably linked. This study investigated the environmental, awareness and practices amongst both food vendors and consumers in and around Freetown the capital of Sierra Leone. The population of the area has vastly out-grown the infrastructure laid down before and since independence. De-centralization of authority to local councils as recommended post-war has only been partial. The role of local versus central government in the planning and maintenance of water, sanitation and market-infrastructure and related policies was explored. This is a qualitative study that used semi-structured interviews with vendors, consumers and 29 key informants. Amongst an estimated population of 5386 actors in food services a sample size of 309 vendors, consumers in and around the 12 busiest market hubs in Western Area Urban and Rural Districts were sampled. Most of the respondents described “food safety” as “good-to-eat, well taken care-off, and free from germs”. The respondents cited that main causes to unsafe food are poor hygienic practices: 38%, contamination by flies: 28%, uncovered food/ improper handling/poor personal hygiene: 21%, and environmental factors, such as improper refuse disposal: 11%. Respondents expressed that consuming unsafe foods can lead to diarrhoea: 34%, food poisoning: 24%, vomiting: 17%, stomach ache/pain: 16%, or typhoid: 9%. Various measures to improve food safety were cited as hand washing: 60%, cleaning surroundings: 57%, covering food: 56%, washing utensils: 52%, covering hair: 42% and using a face mask: 32%. However almost 76% of food vendors interviewed were trading near gutters, where muddy/dirty water settled, with slippery floors, discarded plastic waste, flies and inadequate water, sanitation, and/or storage facilities. None of the food vendors had had any formal training on food safety. Despite progress recently made in solid and liquid waste management during the “Transform Freetown” agenda much more improvement in infrastructure and behaviour change is required. Similarly, despite improvements in formal market facilities the pattern of informal street trading remains the most prevalent especially for the poor. The link between “safe food” and good health was only partially understood, whilst the widespread application of recommended practices to reduce risks was lacking due in part to inadequate infrastructure. As the importance of food safety becomes better understood by administrators and the public the investments required in infrastructure and social and behavioural change will contribute towards a healthier environment and outcomes.

A Study to Assess Basic Food Safety Knowledge among University Students

Background: University students who visit off-campus university cafeterias during their academic life may lack some basic food safety knowledge. Study Aim: To evaluate university students’ basic knowledge of food safety in off-campus cafeterias. To explore whether the knowledge reported was influenced by the students’ educational backgrounds. Objects and Methods: Students from three different universities in Saudi Arabia were included. University A represented medical majors, University B represented a mix of both majors medical and non-medical, and University C represented only non-medical majors. Data Collection: An electronic questionnaire was circulated among 500 university students to evaluate their knowledge of food safety. The questionnaire had three main sections covering the cafeteria’s location as a food serving area, staff hygiene skills, and food preparation standards. The 5-point Likert scale consists of the following points: yes, maybe, no, it does not matter, I do not know. Only a “yes” answer indicated a positive response and proper awareness of the subject. Results: A total of 408 students participated, and the results showed significant differences in student knowledge between the three universities. In fact, University A’s students had better overall knowledge than University C’s students (0.001 < P). However, there was no significant difference between University A’s and University B’s students. The positive responses for the first part of the questionnaire which focused on off-campus cafeteria location, for 18 statements were from 26% to 90.4%. The positive responses for the second part of the questionnaire that focused on staff skills, for 8 statements were from 54.4% to 87.3%. Finally, the positive responses for the third part of the questionnaire which focused on food preparation, for 9 statements were 54.4% to 87.3%. Conclusion: Based on the overall comparison among universities, University A’s students have more knowledge in food safety in comparison to University C’s. University B’s students showed no significant difference with the latter two universities. The overall results suggest that students’ educational backgrounds can contribute effectively to the general knowledge of food safety.

Application of"Six Thinking Hats"in the Investigation and Improvement of Hidden Dangers in Food Safety

With the development of economy,people's living standards are constantly improving,and the requirements for food safety are getting higher and higher.The Food Safety Law stipulates that enterprises should implement the main responsibility of food safety,and the investigation and improvement of food safety hazards plays an important role in improving the food safety management level of enterprises and reducing food safety risks.This paper combines the innovative thinking mode of six thinking hats with food safety,discusses the application mode of six thinking hats in food safety investigation and improvement,and hopes to improve food safety level through this way.

Tb^(3+)-nucleic acid probe-based label-free and rapid detection of mercury pollution in food

Mercury is a threatening pollutant in food,herein,we developed a Tb^(3+)-nucleic acid probe-based label-free assay for mix-and-read,rapid detection of mercury pollution.The assay utilized the feature of light-up fluorescence of terbium ions(Tb^(3+))via binding with single-strand DNA.Mercury ion,Hg^(2+)induced thymine(T)-rich DNA strand to form a double-strand structure(T-Hg^(2+)-T),thus leading to fluorescence reduction.Based on the principle,Hg^(2+)can be quantified based on the fluorescence of Tb^(3+),the limit of detection was 0.0689μmol/L and the linear range was 0.1-6.0μmol/L.Due to the specificity of T-Hg^(2+)-T artificial base pair,the assay could distinguish Hg^(2+)from other metal ions.The recovery rate was ranged in 98.71%-101.34%for detecting mercury pollution in three food samples.The assay is low-cost,separation-free and mix-to-read,thus was a competitive tool for detection of mercury pollution to ensure food safety.

Physico-Chemical and Nutritional Properties of a Food Broth Based on Nere (Parkia biglobosa)

Purpose: Diet and eating habits are major risk factors for the health and the development of disease, such as, for example, metabolic disorder leading to cardiovascular pathology and cancer, decreased immunity exposing to infections. This study of the physico-chemical and nutritional properties of a soumara-based food broth was carried out with the aim of promoting the consumption of organic broth made from nere seeds (soumara). That is to alleviate certain metabolic diseases, which is a matter of food safety, and also to limit the risk for the health about the consumption of some cooking stocks on the market. Methods: Several natural ingredients such as nere seeds (soumara), ginger, black pepper, parsley and garlic were used to create a nere-based stock. All these ingredients were freeze-dried and the powder obtained was used to make the broth, regarding their physical and chemical properties. Results: The broth had a good protein content of 17.41 ± 0.367 g/100g, a lipid content of 16.80 ± 0.08 g/100g and a fiber content of 8.66 ± 0.04 g/100g. In terms of nutritional values, the broth showed good levels of calcium 184.21 ± 0.09 mg/100g, potassium 50.04 ± 1.45 mg/100g and iron and zinc. In terms of antioxidant activity, the broth also showed good antioxidant activity. Conclusion: Regarding the properties of our food broth, whose composition is based on natural ingredients, could be recommended for consumption and, its properties, could play an important role in preventing and combating certain metabolic diseases.

Model of Integrated Management System for Quality and Food Safety of Biscuit Products

The revised version of ISO 9001：2015 places a demand before many food producers to face the problem of updating the old or developing new food quality and safety management systems. In order to help the organizations in this endeavor, this paper presents a model for planning and implementation of IMS （integrated management system） for quality and food safety, using the example of biscuit products manufacturing, and explains its conception. The integrative approach is based on the synergetic effect between the mutually related business processes. It has been established that the introduction of the model can help the biscuit producers in efficiently addressing such challenges as limited resources, increasing competition, as well as higher expectations of customers and other stakeholders.

Evaluating the Impacts of Food Safety Policies on Japan's Rice Imports Based on the Simultaneous Buy and Sell System

This study evaluated the impacts of food safety policies on Japan's Simultaneous Buy and Sell rice imports through measuring tariff equivalents of food safety policies.In order to construct an estimated model,a Japanese consumer's utility function is introduced and developed with consumer's preference parameters and elasticity of substitution.In the empirical study part,Japan's positive list system and rice traceability were analyzed and assessed as critical food safety policies.Results showed that after the implementation of the positive list system,consumers'preference for foreign rice and the substitution elasticity diminished.This decreasing tendency was quite similar to the results after the enforcement of rice traceability.The tariff equivalents of food safety policies on imported rice fluctuated around ¥50 yen/kg from fiscal year 2000 to 2005 and decreased because of the global grain price hike after 2006.The tariff equivalents soared in 2010,which was induced by the traceability regulation,and then dulled during Japan's earthquake and tsunami in 2011.Subsequently,after the recovery from natural disasters,the tariff equivalents of food safety policies became higher.Therefore,food safety policies had made imported rice less attractive,weakened the competitive power of rice exporting countries,and had statistically significant impacts on Japan's rice importation.

Review of Food Safety Supervision for the Wholesale Market of Chinese Agricultural Products

With the continuous improvement of living standards, there is an increasingly concerned about food quality and safety issues. Especially in recent years,food safety incidents, breaking out frequently, have become the focus of people＇s attention, putting forward new demands on the regulation of food safety. This paper reviewed the Food Safety Supervision in China from food safety supervision mode,regulatory system defects and circulation supervision system, and also proposed the future research trends of food safety regulations for the wholesale market of Chinese agricultural products.

Is the Potential Interconnection between Antibiotic Susceptibility and Disinfectant Resistance a Threat to Food Safety?

The prevalence of antibiotic susceptibility and disinfectant resistance in bacterial pathogens causes a serious problem not only to food safety but also to public health, which directly or indirectly leads to treatment and disinfection failures. In this review, multidrug resistance, the mechanism of disinfectant resistance, the methods for detecting disinfectant resistance and the cross-resistance between an- tibiotics and disinfectants are summarized. More efforts should be devoted to explor- ing the professional guidance of using antibiotics and disinfectants, and to develop- ing the comprehensive detection with genetic and molecular methods is highly ex- pected.

Water quality, agriculture and food safety in China:Current situation, trends, interdependencies, and management

Water quality in China is becoming a severe challenge for agriculture and food safety, and it might also impact health of population via agriculture and food. Thus, it is causing widespread concern. Based on extensive literatures review and data mining, current situation of water pollution in China and its effects on food safety were analyzed. The 2nd National Water Resource Survey in China show that the surface water all over the country was under slight pollution and about 60% of groundwater is polluted. Drinking water quality is basically guaranteed in urban area but it is worrisome in rural areas. In addition, China is the largest consumer of fertilizer and pesticide in the world and the amounts of application still show increasing trends. Fertilizers and pesticides are the most important sources of pollution, which affect human health as persistent organic pollutants and environmental endocrine disruptors. Eutrophication of surface water and nitrate pollution of groundwater are serious threats to drinking water safety. Sewage irrigation is becoming a pollution source to China＇s water and land because of lacking of effective regulations. Although, with the advance in technology and management level, control of nitrogen and phosphorus emissions and reducing water pollution is still a major challenge for China.

Food safety controls in different governance structures in China's vegetable and fruit industry

Food safety issues constitute an international topic discussed by many scholars. Although there is an extensive body of literature on comparisons of food safety control practices across different governance structures, these studies have been conducted mainly in terms of qualitative and descriptive analysis. In addition, little attention has been given to family farms. This study addresses the food safety control practices adopted by firms with different governance structures in China. Food safety control is expressed by the following aspects, i.e., pollution-free, green, organic, and/or geographical indication prod- ucts certification, establishment of production records, and pesticide residue testing. Three types of governance structures that engage in agricultural production are distinguished： farmer cooperatives, agricultural companies, and family farms. The food safety control practices of various governance structures are investigated based on a database that comprises 600 vegetable and fruit enterprises in Zhejiang, China. The results show that （1） pesticide residue testing is adopted by the most firms, followed by products certification, and production records are adopted by the fewest firms, and （2） agricul- tural companies adopt more food safety control practices than family farms, while farmer cooperatives adopt the fewest food safety control practices. Governance structure features of a cooperative in terms of ownership, decision-making, and income distribution are the main reasons for the low level of food safety control in the cooperative.

The third-party regulation on food safety in China:A review

Stakeholders in the field of food safety management in China can be classified into three categories, government, food producers （farmers and enterprises）, and the third-party regulatory bodies. The third-party regulation has experienced rapid development in past twenty years, and recently received considerable attention from consumers and the central government. This paper provides a review about the development, problems and future trend of the third-party regulation on food safety in China. To be specific, five forms of the third-party regulation are assessed, including media exposure, the third-party certification, regulation by consumer associations, social movements promoted by non-governmental organiza- tions （NGOs）, and regulation by industry associations. The study concludes that media and consumer associations are the major players in the third-party regulation and are highly repudiated among customers. The food certification industry has developed rapidly, but is now facing crises of confidence among consumers because of its lack of self-regulation. NGOs and industry associations still remain in the early development stages of food safety management, and therefore, are of little importance in current regulatory bodies.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers’ food safety knowledge and behavior in China

This study assesses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Chinese residents’food safety knowledge and behavior,and explores the possible influence mechanism,namely,focus on media information.The study is based on internet survey data of 1373 residents in China.A series of econometric models are developed to estimate food safety knowledge and behavior of residents.Both the descriptive and econometric results indicate that the existence of COVID-19 cases in a community has a significantly positive effect on residents’food safety knowledge and behavior.Residents focusing on food safety-related information tend to have higher food safety knowledge and practice food safety behavior.When controlling the variable focused on food safety-related information,the marginal effects of the existence of COVID-19 cases in a community on residents’food safety knowledge and behavior significantly decrease.However,the decrease in consumers’food safety knowledge is quite minor.Hence,the COVID-19 pandemic indeed improves Chinese residents’food safety knowledge and behavior,while focus on food safety-related information is an important mechanism for improving food safety behavior.Moreover,the estimation results of the simultaneous equations model reveal that consumers’food safety knowledge has a significant and positive effect on their food safety behavior.Heterogeneous impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on residents’food safety knowledge and behavior among different regions and income groups are observed.The findings of this study provide evidence that public health events could enhance residents’safety awareness and behavior,while residents’focus on relevant information plays an important role in improving knowledge and impacting behavior.