A key role of public relations is to manage crises, unexpected yet unpredictable events that cause emotional and physical harm (Coombs, 2007). Among the challenges in handling a crisis effectively is dealing with the various media in which information is presented. Because the use of social media in a crisis is a relatively new phenomenon, further understanding of the challenges and opportunities of these media is warranted. Part of meeting this challenge requires precise modeling of consumer responses to safety messages. To remedy gaps in our understanding of social media and food safety crisis communications, consumer intent to comply with a food safety message was evaluated within the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). Superimposed on the TPB intention model were possible moderator variables of message source (professional versus user-generated) and message reliability (confirmed versus unconfirmed information). Three focus groups provided background for the construction of a research instrument according to guidelines specified by Francis, Eccles, Johnston, Walker, Foy, et al. (2004). A 2x2 experimental design with four scenarios (message source x reliability), and realism checks of the scenarios were conducted. A pilot test with 130 undergraduate university students preceded administration of the instrument to a representative U.S. consumer panel of 400 participants. Results indicated that intent to comply with a food safety message was higher in response to messages in professional sources than in user-generated sources, but that the majority of this effect could be explained by participant age, which in turn predicted use of social media. Message reliability did not affect intent to comply—confirmed and unconfirmed messages had similar effects on intent to comply. All aspects of the TPB were confirmed by the current results with the exception of perceived behavioral control, which was so consistently strong that it was unable to predict variations in intent to comply with a food safety message. Consequently, the current data support the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) rather than the TPB. Implications of the results for public relations and crisis communications, limitations of the study, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The purposes of this study were to establish the reference values of element concentrations and to estimate the food safety and the nutrient values of essential elements in the aquaculture fish products in Taiwan. 31 species of fishes, 4 species of crustaceans and 3 species of molluscs were collected from 11 aquaculture areas in Taiwan from September to November in 2004 to 2006. Concentrations of Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Se, Sr and Zn in the muscles were analyzed. The results showed that the concentrations of those elements had significant difference among teleosteans, crustaceans and molluscs, excepted Hg and Se. Essential element concentrations in Cu, Sr and Zn were higher in invertebrates (shellfishes) than in vertebrates (teleosteans) but Co, Fe and Mn were higher in molluscs than others. All concentrations of non-essential elements excepted Hg were higher in molluscs. Significant species-differences were also found in our results, but not in the concentrations of Ag and Co in teleosteans. Among teleosteans, Trachinotus blochii (As and Se), Anguilla japonica (Cd and Zn), Lates calcarifer (Cu), Carassius auratus auratus (Fe), Epinephelus coioides (Hg), Rachycentron canadum (Hg) and Chanos chanos (Mn and Sr) contained the highest concentrations, showed in parenthesis. Whereas among shellfishes, Haliotis diversicolor (Ag), Meretrix lusoria (As, Cd, Co, Fe, Mn, Se and Sr), Corbicula fluminea (Co and Se), Scylla serrata (Hg and Zn) revealed the highest concentrations of those elements. The results were seminar to previous literatures reported for uncontaminated aquatic environment area worldwide, so they could be the reference values of element concentrations in the aquaculture fish products in Taiwan. The element concentrations in this study were all below the worldwide food safety standards of inorganic As = 1.0, Cd (for fish and crustaceans) = 0.2, Cd (for mollusks) = 2.0, Cu = 10, total Hg = 0.5, Se = 1.0 and Zn = 50 £gg / g wet wt. Based on the normal dietary habit of Taiwanese by consume 400g fishes and 200g shellfishes every week, the element concentrations of weekly intake were bellowed the standards of inorganic As = 15, Cd = 7 and organic Hg = 1.6 £gg / kg of body / week by PTWI, and could obtain more than 100% to Co and 58% to Se of RDA standards at the same time.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

Background: Listeria monocytogenes and ready-to-eat meats have garnered considerable attention in Canada over the past decade as a result of foodborne outbreaks and product recalls that continue to transpire. A number of factors suggest that ready-to-eat meats and Listeria monocytogenes are a wicked problem. They include (among others) the number of stakeholders involved in the processing, distribution and inspection of ready-to-eat meats in Ontario, the ubiquitous and hardy nature of the organism and the challenges associated with eliminating it from ready-to-eat meat products and processing environments. Since Ontario public health units play an integral part in the inspection of ready-to-eat meats in the province, it is important to determine their current role in the wicked problem in order to identify possible solutions for change. Purpose: The purposes of the study were: (1) to determine how Ontario public health units address the wicked problem of Listeria monocytogenes and ready-to-eat meats in their food safety inspection programs using the provincial regulatory framework in addition to the use of research, knowledge translation and innovation; and (2) to develop a theory that identifies gaps (if any) in public health unit inspection practices, provincial legislation or food safety research that serves to generate recommendations to reduce incidence of listeriosis resulting from consumption of RTE meat products. Methodology: The research design used the principles of grounded theory to lead the interview and survey methodology and subsequent data analyses. The study was completed in three phases. Interviews were conducted in the first 2 phases of the study while a survey was conducted in the last phase. Interviews were conducted with public health unit ‘food safety leads’ that met pre-determined eligibility criteria. Following methods used in previous studies,interview data were analyzed in 4 stages of theory development using a grounded theory approach. Through substantive coding and constant comparative methods, core categories were identified in each of the study phases. As a result, theoretical saturation was reached leading to the process of theoretical coding and the emergence of the study theory. Results: In total, 27 public health units of 36 participated in the study. Eleven public health units participated in the first 2 phases of the interviews while 25 public health units (for a total of 45 participants) participated in the survey. The study core category, 'reactive and regulatory practice' evolved from the results of the interviews and survey. As a result, it was determined that: (1) the Ontario provincial regulatory framework including the Food Premises Regulation is almost exclusively responsible for directing food safety inspection practices in food premises; (2) food safety inspection and investigation activities associated with listeriosis outbreaks are the focus of Listeria monocytogenes and ready-to-eat meat research; and (3) innovation and knowledge translation are not currently influenced by inspection practice as a result of the food safety framework which does not require or encourage it. Using the processes of theoretical integration and theoretical coding, the following theory emerged from the data analyses; Ontario public health units manage ready-to-eat meats and Listeria monocytogenes through general population and reactive regulatory processes that focus on local-level, end-product, hazard reduction strategies for established risks in inspected food premises. Strengths and Limitations: The study had several strengths including being the first of its kind to associate ready-to-eat meats and Listeria monocytogenes as a part of a wicked problem. It was also the first study to use grounded theory to illuminate the function and role of Ontario public health units in managing Listeria monocytogenes and ready-to-eat meats. There are a number of limitations to the study including the study sample size, participant inclusion process through provincial public health unit senior management, the generalizability of study results, and method of interviews conducted with participants. Implications: The results of the study have implications for public health researchers and policy/regulatory makers in the province of Ontario. It stresses improved management of Listeria monocytogenes and ready-to-eat meats in food premises using a proactive approach. Conclusions: Using a grounded theory approach, this study demonstrated that Ontario public health units manage ready-to-eat meats and Listeria monocytogenes through reactive and regulatory food safety inspection practices. Survey and interview results indicate that study participants aspire for evidence-based regulatory and program amendments that will allow for proactive and targeted microbial risk-reduction activities at the local level that focus on vulnerable populations. The study substantiates that amendments to the Ontario Food Safety program and in particular, the Food Premises Regulation are necessary.

White muscle samples of bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus, collected in the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean were analyzed for total (THg) and organic mercury (OHg) concentrations. A total of 231 white muscle samples showed that THg and OHg concentrations ranged from 0.217 to 0.386 (0.786 ¡Ó 0.386) and 0.143 to 2.222 (0.595 ¡Ó 0.238) mg/kg wet weight, which did not differ with other previous studies. THg and OHg were linearly correlated with fork length (cm) and body weight (kg). The THg and OHg concentrations of 121 bigeye tuna samples collected in the Atlantic Ocean were linearly correlated with fork length, body weight and age. The OHg of 110 bigeye tuna in the Indian Ocean were linearly correlated with fork length, body weight and age, but only the the THg concentrations were linearly correlated with fork length. The average THg and OHg concentrations of bigeye tuna from the Atlantic Ocean showed significantly higher value than those from the Indian Ocean (p< 0.05). Furthermore, the slope of the regression lines between mercury concentrations (THg and OHg) and fork length in the bigeye tuna from the Atlantic Ocean was significantly higher than those from the Indian Ocean (p< 0.05). It¡¦s suggested that different Hg accumulation patterns exist in the two oceans. In the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, 1.7% and 0% of the bigeye tuna, respectively, had OHg concentrations of the muscles above the authorized limit (< 2 mg/kg wet weight) set by the Department of Health, Taiwan, and 13% and 2.7%, respectively, of the levels exceeded the safety food standard (< 1 mg/kg wet weight) set by WHO and FDA. Accordingly, for adult men and women with 65 kg and 55 kg of body weight, the maximum allowable weekly intake of bigeye tuna are suggested to be 170 and 145 g, respectively.

The melamine incident 2008 was a global food crisis and drew attentions to other potential food safety risks. Although there are regulations and standards for food safety, but one common problem in food risk management is that it lacks on hazard indicators - indicators in ranking of food risk and control. The three algorithms developed in this article were: 1. A distribution fitting algorithm proposed to estimate population parameters for left-censored melamine data under log-normal assumption. 2. A risk index algorithm proposed to screen out food product categories with higher concentration without considering measurement uncertainty. 3. A misjudgment probability algorithm proposed to calculate the probability that food categories containing melamine more than legal limit but classified satisfactory under consideration of measurement uncertainty. The test results on melamine collected from the website of the Centre for Food Safety of Hong Kong are empirically analyzed by the proposed algorithms. The risk index (RI) and the consumer¡¦s risk (CR) of multiple food categories are discussed and compared in details. Based on risk index (RI) and consumer¡¦s risk (CR), we build a risk assessment process to help assess melamine risk and make sample strategy in surveillance programme. The proposed risk assessment process can be applied to other chemical contaminant problems such as plasticizer (phthalate esters) and ractopamine (paylean), etc.

Fresh produce is increasingly implicated in outbreaks of foodborne illness. Internalization of bacterial pathogens into produce is of particular concern as internalized pathogens are unlikely to be removed by surface sanitizers. It is therefore necessary to develop treatments that will reduce their prevalence and numbers on fresh produce. Irradiation is a penetrating nonthermal treatment that effectively eliminates bacteria. Irradiated baby spinach leaves up to 1.0 kGy showed negligible (P>0.05) changes in color, texture, vitamin C, total carotenoids, and chlorophyll content compared to non-irradiated controls throughout storage (15 days at 4oC). This research also shows that irradiation effectively reduces viable Escherichia coli cells internalized in lettuce, and that decontamination is not influenced (P>0.05) by lettuce variety. Irradiation effectively reduced the population of internalized pathogens in a dose-dependent manner (3-4 log reduction at 1.0 kGy). Microscopy images suggest that the contamination sites of pathogens in leafy vegetables are mainly localized on crevices and in the stomata. A careful design of the treatment (understanding dose distribution) will effectively eliminate pathogens while maintaining produce quality. The use of modified atmosphere packaging increased (P<0.05) the sensitivity of pathogens (Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp.) to irradiation in baby spinach leaves (up to 25%). Increasing concentration of oxygen increased (P<0.05) sensitivity of both microorganisms. Radiosensitization could be affected (P<0.05) by production of ozone, which increases with increasing dose-rate and oxygen concentration, and reducing temperatures. Antimicrobial effectiveness of various active compounds was determined against Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. Inclusion complexes were prepared with antimicrobial compounds and -cyclodextrin. The effectiveness of the microencapsulated compounds was tested by spraying them on the surface of baby spinach leaves inoculated with Salmonella spp. The increase in radiosensitivity (up to 40%) varied with the antimicrobial compound. Spherical poly (DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles with entrapped eugenol and trans-cinnamaldehyde were synthesized for future antimicrobial delivery applications. All loaded nanoparticles proved to be efficient in inhibiting growth of Salmonella spp. and Listeria spp. The entrapment efficiency for eugenol and trans-cinnamaldehyde was 98% and 92%, respectively. Controlled release experiments (in vitro at 37oC for 72 hrs) showed an initial burst followed by a slower release rate of the antimicrobial entrapped inside the PLGA matrix.

In this thesis, a feature extraction algorithm based on 2D Local Discriminant Bases (LDB) search is developed for acoustic and hyperspectral data. The developed algorithm extracts the relevant features by both eliminating the irrelevant ones and/or by merging the ones that do not provide extra information on their own. It is implemented on real world data to separate aflatoxin contaminated or high risk hazelnuts from the sound ones by using impact acoustic and hyperspectral data. Impact acoustics data is used to sort cracked and intact shell hazelnuts with high classification accuracy. Hypespectral images of the shelled and roasted (SRT) hazelnuts are used for classification and the algorithm extracted the spectral and spatial-frequency features for that classification. Aflatoxin concentration of the SRT category hazelnuts is automatically decreased to 0.7 ppb from 608 ppb by eliminating the detected contaminated ones.

Increased international trade has sparked a debate on the need to coordinate dispersedactivities in Global Value Chains, linking production to end consumers. Implementationof standards has in the literature on Global Value Chains been suggested as a wayto coordinate a value chain. We have investigated the value chain of shrimp andprawns production in Bangladesh, in order to analyze if standards placed by the EUhave proven a successful way to coordinate the value chain. The implementation ofstandards has been studied to capture the coordination in the value chain. A singlecase study was conducted with interviews from a sample of actors in direct or closeconnection to the production of shrimp and prawns in Bangladesh. The focus of thestudy has been on the perspectives of the individuals and if and how standards areimplemented successfully in a social context. The attempt has been to bridgeunderstandings of implementation of standards together with knowledge of the complexnature of Global Value Chains. The results show that there are multiple challengesto successful implementation of standards. Hurdles can especially be linked tothe ability to follow standards where lack of human- and financial resources havebeen found. In addition, the will to follow standards can have an impact when traditionalmethods stand in the way and immediate financial incentives are not in place.

Knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) is integral to the formation of evidence-informed policy. Prior to the work presented in this dissertation, a significant body of literature existed in the healthcare field regarding research-to-policy KTE; however, little was known about KTE between researchers and policymakers in the Canadian food safety system or the context-specific barriers that influence KTE. A mixed-methods approach was used, grounded in concepts from the healthcare literature, to explore Canadian food safety researchers’ KTE awareness and activities with policymakers, the barriers hindering KTE engagement and success, and timing and informational disparities between research and policy needs that may hinder KTE success. Canadian food safety researcher awareness of and engagement in KTE activities with policymakers was high. However engagement in activities identified as having the greatest potential for KTE success—i.e., collaboration with policymakers at all stages of the research process, provision of syntheses such as systematic reviews, and provision of a searchable database of research findings—was low relative to end-of-research dissemination of findings to policymakers. Several barriers were identified that limited KTE engagement and success from the researcher’s perspective, including an inability to identify relevant policymakers, high policymaker turnover, a lack of resources and support in the research organization, a perceived lack of KTE skills on the part of researchers, and an inability to break free from traditional publish-or-perish research roles. Apparent informational disconnects (i.e., research output not meeting policymakers’ apparent informational needs) were identified that may further hinder KTE and evidence-informed policymaking. While new methodologies, such as systematic review, have been adapted for food safety research, boosting researchers’ potential ability to produce policy-relevant evidence, a cultural shift must occur in research and policymaking organizations, if sustained KTE is to be successful. As well, significant future investment must be made on the part of research organizations and policymakers, if KTE barriers are to be mitigated. Future research should evaluate KTE tools (e.g., sustained linkages between researchers and policymakers, provision of syntheses, provision of access to a database of research findings) to identify specific methods that may facilitate research use in food safety policymaking. / Blake Graham Fellowship, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Public Health Agency of Canada