Probiotic bacteria are added to commercial yoghurts as adjunct cultures, to impart health benefits to consumers. To gain maximum therapeutic benefit, the bacteria must remain viable over the shelf life of the yoghurt. Studies have shown, however, that the viability of these bacteria decreases significantly over this period and in some products, is negligible prior to the expiry date. Some strains of probiotic bacteria are oxygen sensitive. Yoghurt has been found to contain a significant concentration of dissolved oxygen and it has been proposed that this has a negative effect on probiotic viability. In this research, several tests were conducted and observations made. Experiments were conducted with non-commercial probiotic cultures to observe the effect of low oxygen environment on probiotic viability. No significant difference existed in viability between probiotic bacteria stored in oxygen reduced yoghurt and regular yoghurt. All yoghurt stored in oxygen barrier packaging material displayed enhanced shelf-life properties, this was observed in replicated experiments. Oxygen barrier packaging combined with an oxygen scavenging material was found to be the most effective oxygen removal system, particularly when used with set type yoghurt. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Cereal based foods, including breakfast cereals and Asian noodles are potentially good sources of selenium. Although these are major foods consumed globally, their contribution to dietary intakes of selenium is unclear. In addition, there has been very limited research into the effect of processing steps on the analysis and apparent retention of selenium. The low levels typically present in foods and the presence of multiple chemical forms of the element provide significant analytical challenges to research in this area. Therefore, the aims of this study were firstly to evaluate and validate procedures for extraction and measurement of selenium in wheat flour. Secondly, the procedure has been applied to analysis of selenium in cereal foods. The methods employed were firstly validated using wheat-based reference materials and then samples of various breakfast cereals as well as different styles of Asian noodles were analysed. Selenium was extracted using closed- v essels by microwave digestion with a mixture of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide, followed by determination through Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The optimum conditions for selenium determination in cereal based foods involved the digestion of 0.1 g samples using 1 mL of nitric acid and 1 mL of hydrogen peroxide. The addition of 1% (v/v) methanol was found to enhance the sensitivity of the ICP-MS system. Two particular isotopes of selenium (77 and 82) could be effectively employed in the analysis and there was no significant decrease in total selenium in the digested extracts during storage for up to twelve days under refrigeration and room temperature conditions. Good precision levels were obtained and the total selenium levels in the breakfast cereal samples ranged from 0.059 to 0.378 µg/g. For white salted noodles the values varied between 0.057 and 0.712 µg/g, for yellow alkaline noodles, 0.109 to 0.265 µg/g and 0.077 to 0.284 µg/g for fried instant noodles. There was no appar ent change observed in total selenium during the processing of fried instant noodles, indicating the effectiveness of the extraction method developed here. It is concluded that microwave digestion is an effective approach to sample extraction, the procedures validated in this study are suitable for cereal grain foods and that there is considerable variation in the selenium contents of breakfast cereal and Asian noodle products.

This paper is about the conflict between the Middle East and the Western world after the Danish newspapers’ cartoon publications of the prophet Muhammed in October 2005. The conflict resulted in massive reactions in the Middle East and the Danish-Swedish dairy company Arla Foods, was boycotted during six months in 2006. The aim of this study is to describe how the biggest Swedish daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter and three Saudiarabic newspapers Al-Hayat, Al-Watan and Shark Al-Awsat described "the Other" during the crisis in the year of 2006. Another aim is to describe how Arla Foods managed the consumer boycott. The ideas about "the Other" that were expressed in the media are seen as a discourse with the aim of maintaining and/or creating a "Us and Them viewpoint". Earlier theoretical studies are being presented, not at least Foucault, Schutz and Baumans and Mays contribution to the "Us and Them viewpoint" and their sociological approach. The main questions in the paper are; what ideas were expressed in the Saudiarabic newspapers against the Western world and the other way around; what ideas were expressed in the Swedish newspaper against the Middle East? The third question is; how Arla Foods handled the reactions in Saudi arabia due to the cartoon publications and how the company management reacted in order to reduce the damage of the consumer boycott ? The result of this study shows that an "Us-and Them viewpoint" exists in both the Saudiarabic and Swedish newspapers. Three themes can be outlined. First of all, the Swedish focus on freedom of speech and its lack of understanding on why the cartoons caused such massive reactions in the Middle East. Second, the massive criticism against the Western world for publishing the "islamphobic" cartoons and causing all the hatred. Third, the ideas of more calm and ressentment between the people, respecting Islam as a religion and freedom of speech at the same time. Arla Foods reacted to the crisis by applying risk management and also by dissociating itself from the publications by an information campaign that was published in 25 different Arabic newspapers. Finally, the company made a reset of the communication stra   strategy adopting a more global mindset although being a Scandinavian company.

Extraction of fructo-oligosaccharide syrups from grated jerusalem artichoke (JA) tubers was studied by water at 20-60&deg / C by determining the yield, degree of polymerization (DP), product profile (DP of up to 6) and prebiotic effect using Lactobacillus plantarum on samples harvested between October and April, stored for 0-20 days. The optimum solvent to solid ratio was 4, the duration of shaking water bath extraction was 40 min and yield based on JA were 12-17%. Temperature was found to improve yield and functionality, and citric acid, at 26 mM, improved the color and darkness by 70 and 80%, respectively. Short-time (1 min) microwaving prior to extraction increased the yield by about 20%, decreased the amount of sugars with DP 1 and 2 and increased the amounts of oligosaccharides (OS) with DP 3-6, although the prebiotic effect increased only slightly / while the color and darkness of the syrup were tripled. Ultrasound-assisted-extraction (USE) gave best performance at 3 min duration / decreased the amounts of sugars with DP 1-2, increased the amounts of OS with DP 3-6, with 18% decrease in the yield. The better functionality of USE syrups were also indicated by 2.5 times higher growth rate of L.plantarum. The application of USE at 60&deg / C compared to 20&deg / C almost tripled the amounts of functional sugars. In order to obtain the largest proportion of monosaccharide units as functional sugars, 10 day storage at 4&deg / C after harvest was indicated. Ultrasonication did not affect the color but the darkness was doubled. The density and viscosity of all the syrups were practically the same.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-102). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Saint Mary's University, 2009. / Includes abstract. Supervisor: Kevin Kelloway. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-75).

Thesis (M. App. Sc.)--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on March 8, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Dissertation advisor: Dr. Nicholas Kalaitzandonakes. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.) in Food Science and Human Nutrition--University of Maine, 2002. / Includes vita. Bibliography: leaves 43-48.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 56 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 31-32).