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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are potentially carcinogenic compounds formed during high-heat cooking. An emerging testing method known as QuEChERS—which stands for “Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe”—is designed to overcome the limitations of conventional PAH tests.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to water activity specialist and researcher Dr. Brady Carter about the importance of understanding water activity for shelf-life prediction, enhancing food safety and quality, and improving food system sustainability.

The guidance was developed to help manufacturers and laboratories in the design, conduct, evaluation, and reporting of Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) studies.

This article discusses the problem of false positive results when using propidium monoazide (PMA) in PCR testing for food safety. 

The list includes kits validated for Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Escherichia coli.

This episode of Food Safety Five discusses new academic publications exploring the limitations of a “zero-risk” approach to food safety and evaluating the limited benefits and trade-offs associated with intensified microbiological sampling.

Sponges far outperformed cotton swabs in laboratory experiments and real-world sampling in an RTE food production facility. The findings align with existing recommendations supporting the use of sponge-based sampling with neutralizers for environmental monitoring.

The updated Microbiology Laboratory Guidebook chapter on whole genome sequencing (WGS) of bacterial isolates now includes protocols for using both the Illumina MiSeq and MiSeq i100 sequencing platforms.

Researchers developed a quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) framework that evaluates the public health, environmental, and economic trade-offs of microbiological sampling plans. They suggested microbiological sampling may be most useful when risk-based or as a verification tool.

Garlic carries a distinct bacterial signature reflective of the soil in which it was grown, enabling geographic identification based on microbial composition. A novel method using microbiome data and AI analysis potentially offers a low-cost authentication technique.