The Food Safety and Quality Control System in Czech RepublicThe thesis describes the way how is the food safety control and quality protection provided in Czech republic. There is the law definition of the all forms of food during the food production chain from the primary production up to sale to the consumer in the work. The thesis focuses on the requirements laid down in the Czech and European food law on the food producers and sellers. The thesis also deals with the food contamination and quality aspects - nutrition value and quality branding. There is also chapter about the quality management system certification and chapter about the current cases related with the safe food area in the Czech republic in 2012 (Methanol, Polish technical salt and horse lasagne).

<p>The crossing of host barriers (intestinal, blood-brain, and placental) is a critical step for systemic infections caused by entero-invasive pathogens. In the intestine, the epithelial cells are the first line of defense against enteric pathogens. <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> is a facultative-intracellular foodborne pathogen that first crosses the intestinal barrier to cause a systemic infection. However, the underlying mechanism is not well understood.</p><p><br></p> <p>We demonstrate that <i>Listeria</i> adhesion protein (LAP) promotes the translocation of <i>L. monocytogenes </i>across the intestinal barrier in mouse models (A/J and C57BL/6). Relative to the wild-type (WT; serotype 4b) or the isogenic bacterial invasion protein Internalin A mutant (Δ<i>inlA</i>) strain, the <i>lap^─</i> strain showed significant defect in translocation across the intestinal barrier and colonization of the mesenteric-lymph nodes, liver and spleen in the early phase of infection (24 h and 48 h). LAP induces intestinal epithelial barrier dysfunction for increased translocation as evidenced by increased permeability to 4-kDa FITC-dextran (FD4), a marker of paracellular permeability, in the serum and urine of WT and Δ<i>inlA</i>- infected mice and across Caco-2 cell barrier, but not the <i>lap^─</i> mutant strain. Microscopic examination confirmed localization of the WT and Δ<i>inlA</i> strains in the tight junction, a crucial barrier of intestinal paracellular permeability, in the mouse ileal tissue but the <i>lap^─</i> strain remained confined in the lumen. LAP also upregulates TNF-α and IL-6 in intestinal epithelia of mice and in Caco-2 cells for increased permeability. </p><p><br></p> <p>Investigation of the underlying molecular mechanisms of LAP-mediated increase in intestinal permeability by using <i>lap^─</i> mutant strain, purified LAP and shRNA-mediated Hsp60 suppression, we demonstrate that LAP interacts with its host receptor, Hsp60, and activates the canonical NF-κB signaling, which in turn facilitates myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK)-mediated opening of the epithelial barrier via the cellular redistribution of major epithelial junctional proteins claudin-1, occludin, and E-cadherin. Pharmacological inhibition of NF-κB or MLCK in cells or genetic ablation of MLCK in mice (C57BL/6) prevents mislocalization of epithelial junctional proteins, intestinal permeability and <i>L. monocytogenes</i> translocation across the intestinal barrier.</p> <p><br></p><p>Furthermore, LAP also promotes <i>L. monocytogenes </i>translocation across the intestinal barrier and systemic dissemination in a Mongolian gerbil that are permissive to the bacterial invasion proteins; InlA-and InlB-mediated pathways; similar to that in humans. We show a direct LAP-dependent and InlA-independent pathway<i> </i>for <i>L. monocytogenes</i> paracellular translocation across the intestinal epithelial cells that do not express luminally accessible E-cadherin. Additionally, we show a functional InlA/E-cadherin interaction pathway that aids <i>L. monocytogenes</i> translocation by targeting cells with luminally accessible E-cadherin such as cells at the site of epithelial cell extrusion, epithelial folds and mucus-expelling goblet cells. Thus, <i>L. monocytogenes</i> uses LAP to exploit epithelial innate defense in the early phase of infection to cross the intestinal epithelial barrier, independent of other invasion proteins.</p><p><br></p> <p>This work fills a critical gap in our understanding of <i>L. monocytogenes </i>pathogenesis and sheds light to the complex interplay between host-pathogen interactions for bacterial crossing of the crucial intestinal barrier.</p> <br>

The issue of food scandals originating from unsafe food has in recent years caught the attention of the public. Consequently, the number of food recalls has increased, and food retailers and food producers are getting questioned regarding their ability to provide consumers with safe food products. Thus, because the primary responsibility to deal with this problem is the food business operators who have real control over the products within the Food Supply Chain (FSC). Even though food safety has received more interest from academic researchers and practitioners in the latter years, we could identify that previous literature still lacks research on food recalls. In addition, prior research interprets food recalls as generalizable within the FSC and does not have its various product flows in mind. In order to fill the research gap, this study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of food recalls in the context of the different product flows within the FSC from a retailer perspective. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate how the occurrence and the consequences of food recall differ across various product flows within the FSC by focusing on four elements. The elements include the challenges within the FSC to ensure food quality, the reasons behind food recall, the types of food recall, and the consequences they infer. The current study had finally answered the following research question: “How do the occurrence and the consequences of food recalls differ across various product flows within the FSC?” In order to answer the research question and address the purpose of the thesis, a qualitative study was conducted by focusing on Swedish food retailers and conducting interviews with responsible Purchasers within each of the product flows, and additionally, Quality Assurance Managers. The sample of the semi-structured interviews was selected based on the position and experience of food recalls within the retailers. This to assure that the interviewees possessed sufficient insights regarding the studied field to fulfill the purpose of the study and answer its research question. From the gathered data, several themes were derived through the thematic analysis, and the analysis and discussion regarding the elements led us to a conclusion. The result confirmed that the various product flows, and in some cases, even specific products within the flows, need to be taken into consideration when the occurrence and the consequences of food recalls are addressed within the FSC. This is because the different product flows include different products with different characteristics making them more or less complex to handle along the chain and when carrying out food recalls. Even though previous theories assume a general approach, the findings still confirmed the theories regarding the challenges within the FSC to ensure food quality, the reasons behind recalls, the types of recalls, and the consequences the recalls can infer. However, the main differences found between our study and prior research regarding the FSC were that supply chain-related reasons are more commonly related to food reclaims and that environmental consequences are considered an additional consequence of food recalls.

Background and motivation Informal food vending has many benefits that range from food security for the urban poor, to contribution to local economies. Yet, the street food sector is not recognized and is treated as a major public health risk. This is based partly on perceptions of local authorities that street food vendors are undesirable, or are a temporary phenomenon that will disappear in due course as a result of development. Moreover, a number of studies have documented contamination of street foods with pathogenic microorganisms like Staphylococci aureus and enteric organisms. The former can grow and express virulence in foods such as meat and meat products post cooking. To date no participatory risk analysis methods have been applied to informal markets in Tshwane, to study the food value chain of ready-to-eat (RTE) chicken and quantify the risk of exposure to selected foodborne diseases, or to determine predictors for contamination of RTE chicken sold by informal vendors. Methodology A cross-sectional analytical study design was adopted to achieve the objectives of the present study. The study area was city of Tshwane, Gauteng Province, South Africa. The study population was informal vendors selling RTE chicken to commuters at taxi and bus stations and the sampling design involved cluster sampling. Markets were the sampling units and the informal vendors the units of concern. All clusters (n=13) that were identified were included in the study and all informal vendors located within the markets were invited to be part of the study. A total of 237 vendors agreed to be interviewed, have checklists filled in for their vending stalls, and provided a sample of RTE chicken (n= 237) for laboratory analysis. Participatory Risk Analysis, a novel approach to understanding food safety in data scarce environments, was used to collect data for analysis. Participatory research methods employed in this study included: check-lists and structured interviews with informal vendors, proportional piling and focus group discussions. Enumeration of bacterial colonies from RTE chicken samples was performed using 3MTM PetrifilmTM plates (3M, St. Paul. Mn, USA). Data for the demographic profile of vendors (n=237) was analysed using descriptive statistics to establish means and proportions. Thematic analysis combined with descriptive statistical analysis was used to establish and quantify the food value chain of informally traded RTE chicken. Stochastic risk analysis using @Risk 4.5 (Palisade Corp., Ithaca, N.Y.), was used to estimate the risk of staphylococcal food poisoning from consumption of street-vended RTE chicken. Univariable and multivariable regression models were developed using Stata 9.0 (StataCorp, College Station, Texas, USA) to determine predictors for contamination of RTE chicken with E. coli and coliform bacteria respectively. Results The majority of vendors in the markets studied were females (92%), and were between 25-50 years of age. Very few young people (< 25 years) were involved. More than half of the vendors (69.47%) ran the informal food outlet as a personal business. The minority were long term employees (15.04%) or were hired to help out for a short period of time (0.88%). A high level of literacy was observed among informal vendors. Assessment of hygiene practices showed a low level of compliance with regard to possession of a certificate of acceptance, washing of hands and utensils in the same container and controlling flies at the vending site. The environment in which informal vendors operated was not conducive to production of safe food. This means that Key 1 of the WHO five keys to safer food that requires that food production takes place in a clean environment was violated. Contamination of RTE chicken was associated with the use of water collected and supplied in containers of questionable microbiological status. This was because vendors also violated Key 5 of the WHO five keys to safer food, which requires that raw materials, including water used to prepare food should be of a high microbiological quality. However, high compliance was observed with regard to the following aspects: not wearing jewellery while preparing food, using cutlery to pick up RTE chicken, washable floors (concrete slabs and cemented floors), use of potable municipal water, preparing food in a closed structure (temporary or permanent) and locating vending stalls within 30m from the toilets. Four food value chains for RTE chicken, sold by informal vendors, were identified showing extensive cross-over from the formal to informal sector. This extensive cross-over, was corroborated by the fact that over 79.3% of the RTE chicken sold on informal markets in Tshwane metropolis, was sourced from formal markets such as supermarkets or wholesalers. The food value chain for RTE chicken was short, meaning that it involved very few stages from farm to fork. Furthermore the tendency was for the RTE chicken to be purchased, cooked and consumed the same day. Although the prevalence of contamination of RTE chicken with S. aureus was high (44%), the risk of staphylococcal food poisoning was estimated to be only 1.3% (90% CI: 0% - 2.7%) for each meal of RTE chicken consumed. The mean S. aureus counts in the RTE chicken was 103.6 (90% CI: 103.3 – 103.9). This level was lower than the 105 CFU/g needed to induce staphylococcal food poisoning. While contamination of RTE chicken with E. coli (6.32 %) was low, contamination with coliforms (23.21 %) was moderate. This suggests a moderate level of food hygiene. The fly population at the stalls where the RTE was on display, intermittent washing of hands, the location of the stall >30 m from the toilets and holding RTE chicken at <70 C were identified as important predictors of contamination with E. coli. Whereas, the use of potable toilets without hand washing facilities and poor hand washing practices were a positive predictor for contamination with coliforms. Conclusions The informal trade in food in Tshwane is dominated by women and for the majority of these vendors the informal trade in food, is the main source of employment. A risk communication strategy needs to take this into consideration. There is need for intervention to improve the hygiene in the informal markets and ensure that informal vendors observe the WHO five keys to safe food. The high level of literacy observed among informal vendors is good news, as it presents a situation of educated vendors; a fertile ground for initiatives aimed at improving their lives and the service they offer to their customers. There is neither a food policy aimed at ensuring food security for the urban poor nor evidence it is being implemented. This is supported by the high number of vendors operating in temporary structures. There is a need for the municipal authorities to intervene, to provide appropriate structures. Planning of new taxi ranks should include a proper food market, with facilities that meet the legal requirements for production of safe food. Informal vendors have demonstrated an awareness of the need to practice good food hygiene as proved by the compliance with certain hygienic food handling practices. The link between the formal and informal markets suggests that the informal market of RTE chicken is well-established with a reliable source of raw chicken. Furthermore, the strong inter-linkage between the formal and informal value chain for RTE chicken, further confirms the informal sector as a potential market for locally produced product. It also emphasizes its potential to impact on the economy of the city. In addition, this strong inter-linkage, suggests that the risks associated with the formal sector might be mirrored in the informal. Therefore, as the supermarket proliferation takes root in the rest of Africa, this food value chain and its associated risks might become the norm on the continent. The present study shows that participatory risk analysis is a good way to obtain data on informal markets. Such data can then be subjected to quantitative microbial risk analysis using sophisticated biostatistical techniques, to determine and quantify the microbial risks. The low risk of staphylococcal food poisoning proved that despite the poor working conditions under which the informal food vendors prepare food, they are able to produce food that is unlikely to result in food poisoning. However, due to the high prevalence of contamination of RTE chicken with S. aureus, there is a need for the informal vendors in these markets to be trained to improve hygienic food handling practices. On the positive side, the present study demonstrated that high prevalence of contamination does not always translate into high risk. The relatively low to moderate level of contamination with E. coli and coliforms respectively, suggests a low risk of enteric foodborne diseases from ingestion of RTE chicken. Given that some and not all hygiene practices were significantly associated with contamination of RTE chicken, monitoring authorities should emphasise identified predicators to reduce the risk of contamination and the subsequent risk of contracting foodborne diseases. The difference in hygiene scoring highlights that the one-size-fits all approach to monitoring of informal markets may not be effective. These need to be tailored to suit the individual informal markets. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / Paraclinical Sciences / PhD / Unrestricted

Die Globalisierung des Agrarhandels führt zu komplexen Lieferketten, was weitreichende Folgen für die Lebensmittelsicherheit haben kann. Entsprechende internationale Vorkommnisse stellen die zuständigen Behörden vor die Herausforderung, Risiken sachgemäß zu managen und zu bewerten. Bei der Analyse von aufgetretenen Problemfällen wurden erhebliche Wissenslücken hinsichtlich der Rolle der Logistik aufgedeckt. Um das Forschungsgebiet der globalen Warenströme abzubilden, wurde anhand einer qualitativen Textanalyse multidisziplinärer Literatur - angelehnt an den Grounded Theory-Ansatz - ein konzeptioneller Bezugsrahmen am Beispiel von Agrarrohstoffen entwickelt. Dieser diente als Grundlage für eine Fallstudie zur empirischen Untersuchung der potentiellen Kontamination von Agrarrohstoffen mit Mykotoxinen. Hierzu wurden Experteninterviews mit 24 Akteuren aus den Bereichen Logistik, Handel, Beschaffung und Richtlinien und Standards durchgeführt. Wir haben verschiedene Ebenen der wichtigsten Konzepte innerhalb (z.B. Logistikprozesse und Hauptakteure) und außerhalb (z.B. Globale Driver) der Warenströme von Agrarrohstoffen bestimmt. Mit Hilfe der Fallstudie konnten wir zudem kritische Dimensionen (z.B. Maßnahmen zur Lebensmittelsicherheit, menschlicher Faktor, Hafenmerkmale) und entsprechende kritische Faktoren für die Lebensmittelsicherheit und ihre Wechselbeziehungen identifizieren. Die Studie zeigt die Notwendigkeit integrativer und nachhaltiger Lösungen, wie die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Wirtschaftsakteuren, als auch mit Behörden, sowie politische Anreize, um z.B. mehr Transparenz und Sorgfalt im Qualitätsmanagement als auch Investitionen in neue Technologien (z. B. Blockchain) im Logistiksektor zu erreichen. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse sollten in bestehende und neue Instrumente, die zur Klärung internationaler Lebensmittelsicherheitsvorfälle oder in der Risikofrüherkennung eingesetzt werden und entsprechend der Dynamik des Sektors auf EU- und internationaler Ebene ständig aktualisiert und erweitert werden. / The globalization of agricultural trade leads to complex supply chains, which can have far-reaching consequences for food safety. International food safety incidents are challenging competent authorities to assess and manage food safety risks appropriately. Analysis of respective occurrences revealed substantial knowledge gaps regarding the role of logistics. To map the research area of global commodity flows, a conceptual framework - using agricultural commodities as an example - was developed based on qualitative text analysis of multidisciplinary literature, inspired by the Grounded Theory approach. This served as the foundation for a case study to empirically investigate the potential contamination of agricultural commodities with mycotoxins. For such purpose, expert interviews were conducted with 24 stakeholders from logistics, trade, procurement, and regulations and standards. We identified different levels of key concepts within (e.g., logistics processes and key actors) and outside (e.g., global drivers) the commodity flows of agricultural commodities. The case study further allowed us to identify critical dimensions (e.g., food safety measures, human factor, port characteristics) and corresponding critical factors for food safety and their interrelationships. The study demonstrates the need for integrative and sustainable solutions, such as collaboration between economic actors, as well as with authorities, policy incentives, for example to achieve more transparency and diligence in quality management, as well as more investments in new technologies (e.g. blockchain) in the logistics sector. The knowledge gained calls to be integrated into existing and new tools used to verify and assess international food safety incidents or in early risk detection, and should constantly be updated and expanded according to the unfolding dynamics of the sector at EU and international levels.

[ES] El objetivo 2 para el desarrollo sostenible de la ONU es hambre cero. Concretamente, se trata de poner fin al hambre, lograr la seguridad alimentaria (SA) y la mejora de la nutrición y promover la agricultura sostenible. Hay que destacar que la inseguridad alimentaria no es un problema exclusivo de países en desarrollo, sino que en los países llamados desarrollados parte de la población tiene problemas para garantizar una nutrición adecuada. Por otro lado, si bien hasta la fecha gran parte del debate sobre la SA se ha centrado en aspectos relacionados con la accesibilidad y la producción de alimentos, se observa una tendencia hacia un concepto más integral de la SA que abarca también los cambios ambientales globales. Por esta razón, investigadores, gobiernos y organismos internacionales están proponiendo medidas de diversa índole, enfocadas en garantizar la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional de la población, por un lado, y en contrarrestar los impactos negativos que las actividades de producción y consumo de alimentos tienen sobre el medio ambiente y el cambio climático. En este sentido, el registro de datos relacionados con variables económicas y medioambientales, junto al conocimiento de expertos en estas áreas y el uso de herramientas de estadística aplicada, han contribuido a que, a partir de evidencias objetivas, se formalicen de una forma estructurada y coherente las acciones que pueden modificar el comportamiento social y económico de todos los agentes involucrados. En este contexto, la teoría económica en general, y la teoría del consumidor en particular, a partir del registro y procesado detallado de información estadística relacionada, han hecho posible analizar algunos aspectos de las actitudes, comportamientos y preferencias del consumidor. Dichos aspectos pueden ser utilizados como señales de las posibles reacciones que los consumidores tendrían en su demanda por algunos alimentos ante cambios en variables de mercado que no puede controlar, como los precios, o ante acciones de política pública que también pueden modificar sus decisiones de consumo tales como la aplicación de impuestos y/o subsidios, los cuales finalmente afectarán sus metas alimentarias y nutricionales. Por otro lado, el análisis de ciclo de vida (ACV) ha adquirido una gran fortaleza en términos de evaluación medioambiental. En concreto, el ACV en su variante consecuencial (ACV-C) presenta interés para la valoración de las posibles consecuencias sobre el medioambiente ante cambios exógenos en variables económicas o de política medioambiental. En la literatura relacionada con ACV-C se utilizan las elasticidades para conocer la denominada relación de sustitución entre productos alternativos. En general, una elasticidad es una medida cuantitativa que relaciona el cambio porcentual en términos de cantidades para una variable en particular con el cambio porcentual que tenga cualquier otra variable. De esta manera se pueden modelar los cambios que se presentan a corto y largo plazo en los indicadores medioambientales como consecuencia de cambios en variables como los precios o la cantidad de insumos utilizados en la producción de un bien o servicio. Ante este escenario, el objetivo de esta tesis es proponer nuevas metodologías para evaluar la seguridad alimentaria (SA) y la sostenibilidad ambiental asociada al consumo de alimentos, con el fin de promover una seguridad alimentaria sostenible. Los casos de estudio desarrollados se centrarán en España y se utilizarán herramientas metodológicas que involucren la aplicación de la teoría del consumidor, la perspectiva de ciclo de vida y algunos métodos estadísticos. El alcance del objetivo planteado se ha logrado a partir de cuatro objetivos secundarios, y cada uno de ellos ha quedado reflejado en sendos capítulos de la tesis, de los cuales dos se han concentrado en analizar la seguridad alimentaria y los dos restantes en los aspectos medioambientales. / [CAT] El segon dels Objectius per al Desenvolupament Sostenible de la ONU és fam zero. Concretament, es tracta de posar fi a la fam, aconseguir la seguretat alimentària (SA) i millorar la nutrició i promoure la agricultura sostenible. Cal destacar que la inseguretat alimentària no és un problema exclusiu de països en desenvolupament, sinó que als països anomenats desenvolupats part de la població té problemes per a garantir una nutrició adient. Per altra banda, encara que gran part del debat al voltant de la SA s'ha centrat en aspectes relacionats amb l'accessibilitat i la producció d'aliments, s'observa una tendència cap a un concepte més integral de la SA que abasta també els canvis ambientals globals. Per aquesta raó, investigadors, governs i organismes internacionals estan proposant mesures de diversa índole, enfocades a garantir la seguretat alimentària i nutricional de la població, d'una banda, i a contrarestar els impactes negatius que les activitats de producció i consum d'aliments tenen sobre el medi ambient i el canvi climàtic. En aquest sentit, el registre de dades relacionades amb variables econòmiques i ambientals, conjuntament amb el coneiximent d'experts en aquestes àrees i l'ús d'eines d'estadística aplicada, han contribuït a que a partir de evidències objectives es formalitzen de forma estructurada i coherent les accions que poden modificar el comportament social i econòmic de tots els agents involucrats. En aquest context, la teoria econòmica en general, i la teoria del consumidor en particular, a partir del registre i processament detallat d'informació estadística relacionada, han fet possible analitzar alguns aspectes de les actituds, comportaments i preferències del consumidor. Aquests aspectes poden ser utilitzats com a senyals de les possibles reaccions que els consumidors tindrien en la seua demanda per alguns aliments davant canvis en variables de mercat que no pot controlar, com ara els preus, o davant accions de política pública que també poden modificar les seues decisions de consum, tals com l'aplicació d'impostos i/o subsidis, els quals finalment afectaran les seues metes alimentàries i nutricionals. D'altra banda, l'anàlisi de cicle de vida (ACV) ha adquirit una gran fortalesa per a la avaluació ambiental. En concret, l'ACV en la seua variant conseqüencial (ACV-C) presenta interès per a la valoració de les possibles conseqüències sobre el mediambient davant canvis exògens en variables econòmiques o de política medioambiental. En la literatura relacionada amb l'ACV-C s'utilitzen paràmetres econòmics como ara les elasticitats, per a conèixer la denominada relació de substitució entre productes alternatius. En general, una elasticitat es una mesura quantitativa que relaciona el canvi percentual en quant a quantitats d'una variable en particular amb el canvi percentual que té qualsevol altra variable. D'aquesta manera es poden modelar els canvis que es presenten a curt i llarg termini em els indicadors mediambientals a conseqüència de canvis en variables como ara els preus o la quantitat d'inputs utilitzats en la producció d'un bé o servei. Davant d'aquest escenari, l'objectiu d'aquesta tesi es proposar noves metodologies per a avaluar la seguretat alimentària (SA) i la sostenibilitat ambiental associada al consum d'aliments, amb la fi de promoure una seguretat alimentària sostenible. Els casos d'estudi desenvolupats se centraran en Espanya, i s'utilitzaran eines metodològiques que involucren l'aplicació de la teoria del consumidor, la perspectiva de cicle de vida i alguns mètodes estadístics. L'abast del objectiu plantejat s'ha aconseguit a partir de quatre objectius secundaris, i cadascun d'ells ha quedat reflectit en respectius capítols de la tesi, dels cuals dos s'han centrat en analitzar la seguretat alimentària, i els dos restants en els aspectes medioambientals. / [EN] The second of the UNO's Sustainable Development Goals is zero hunger. The aim is to end hunger, achieve food security (FS) and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. It must be highlighted that food insecurity is not a problem exclusively for developing countries, but in the so-called developed countries, part of the population has also problems to achieve adequate nutrition. On the other hand, although to date much of the debate on FS has focused on aspects related to accessibility and food production, there is a trend towards a more comprehensive concept of food security that also encompasses global environmental changes. Thus, researchers, governments, and international organizations as FAO are proposing various measures and focused on guaranteeing food and nutritional security of the population and, in addition, on counteracting the negative impacts that food production and consumption generate on the environment and climate change. Along these lines, the recording of economic and environmental data, together with experts' knowledge in these areas, and the use of applied statistics are fundamental so that, from objective evidence, actions to modify the economic and social behavior of the individuals involved be formulated in a structured and coherent way. In this context, the economic theory in general, and the consumer theory in particular, accompanied by detailed recording and processing of statistical information, have made possible to analyze many aspects related to the attitudes, behaviors, and preferences of consumers. These aspects may be used as signals of their possible consumers' demand reactions for some foods in the face of changes in market variables that they cannot control, such as food prices, or in the face of public policy actions that may also alter their decisions such as taxes and /or subsidies, which will ultimately affect your food and nutritional situation. On the other hand, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has gained great importance as to environmental assessment. Specifically, consequential LCA (C-LCA) arises as a tool to assess the potential consequences on the environment in view of exogenous changes in specific economic variables, or environmental policies. When reviewing the literature on C-LCA, elasticities are used to find out the so-called substitution ratio between alternative products. Generally, an elasticity is a quantitative measure that relates the percentage change of a specific variable with the percentage change of another variable. In this way, we can model short and long term changes of the environmental indicators as a consequence of changes of variables such as the price or the amount of inputs applied in the production of a good or service. Taking the foregoing, the objective of this dissertation is to propose new methodologies to evaluate Food Security (FS), and the environmental sustainability associated with food consumption, in order to promote a sustainable food security. The case studies developed will be focused on Spain, and methodological tools that involve the application of consumer theory, LCA, together with statistical methods will be used for this. The scope of the stated objective has been achieved from four secondary objectives, each of them reflected in respective chapters of this dissertation. Two of the chapters focus on analyzing food security, and the remaining two on environmental aspects. Initially, in the absence of FS measurement tools that allow the formulation of strategies in terms of regions or regional blocks, a new methodology for measuring food insecurity based on the dimensions of access and stability consumption is proposed and implemented in chapter 2. To this aim, the values of different price and income elasticities for nine animal sourced foods (ASF) are integrated by using quarterly data of for the period 2004-2015 in the 17 Spanish regions. The results / Forero Cantor, GA. (2020). Incorporación de consideraciones de estabilidad y sostenibilidad ambiental en la seguridad alimentaria. El caso de España [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/158733

Tesis por compendio / [ES] La sociedad actual demanda un mayor control en la seguridad y calidad de los alimentos que se consumen. Esta preocupación se ve reflejada en los diferentes planes estatales y europeos de investigación científica, los cuales, plantean la necesidad de innovar y desarrollar nuevas técnicas analíticas que cubran los requerimientos actuales. En el presente documento se aborda el problema de la presencia de residuos químicos en la miel. El origen de los mismos se debe, fundamentalmente, a los tramientos veterinarios con los que se tratan enfermedades y parásitos en las abejas, y a los tratamientos agrícolas con los que las abejas se ponen en contacto cuando recolectan el néctar en cultivos próximos a las colmenas. La Agencia Europea de Seguridad Alimentaria (EFSA) confirma esta realidad al notificar numerosas alertas sanitarias en la miel. En los últimos años, los métodos de análisis basados en inmunosensores piezoeléctricos se han posicionado como la base de una técnica de cribado muy prometedora, la cual puede ser empleada como técnica complementaria a las clásicas de cromatografía, gracias a su sencillez, rapidez y bajo coste. La tecnología de resonadores High-Fundamental Frequency Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (HFF-QCMD) combina la detección directa en tiempo real, alta sensibilidad y selectividad con un fácil manejo y coste reducido en comparación con otras técnicas. Además, está tecnología permite aumentar el rendimiento del análisis mediante el diseño de arrays de resonadores en un mismo sustrato (Monolithic HFF-QCMD). En este documento se presenta el diseño de un array de 24 sensores HFF-QCMD, junto con un cartucho de micro-fluídica que traza diversos microcanales sobre los diferentes elementos sensores, a los que hace llegar la muestra de miel diluida a analizar. El cartucho actúa también como interfaz para realizar la conexión entre el array de resonadores y el instrumento de caracterización de los mismos. Para obtener el máximo partido del array diseñado, se desarrolla un método de medida robusto y fiable que permite elevar la tasa de adquisición de datos para facilitar la toma de registros eléctricos de un elevado número de resonadores de forma simultánea, e incluso en varios armónicos del modo fundamental de resonancia. La gran sensibilidad de la tecnología HFF-QCMD a los eventos bioquímicos a caracterizar se extiende también a otro tipo eventos externos, como son los cambios de temperatura o presión, lo que es necesario minimizar con el fin de reducir el impacto que estas perturbaciones no deseadas provocan en la estabilidad y fiabilidad de la medida. Con este fin, se desarrolla un algoritmo de procesado de señal basado en la Discrete Transform Wavelet (DTW). Finalmente, todos los desarrollos tecnológicos realizados se validan mediante la implementación de un inmunoensayo para la detección simultánea, en muestras de mieles reales, de residuos químicos de naturaleza química muy diferente, a saber, el fungicida tiabendazol y el antibiótico sulfatiazol. / [CA] La societat actual demanda un major control en la seguretat i qualitat dels aliments que es consumeixen. Aquesta preocupació es veu reflectida en els diferents plans estatals i europeus d'investigació científica, els quals, plantegen la necessitat d'innovar i desenvolupar noves tècniques analítiques que cobrisquen els requeriments actuals. En el present document s'aborda el problema de la presència de residus químics en la mel. L'origen dels mateixos es deu, fonamentalment, als tractaments veterinaris amb els quals es tracten malalties i paràsits en les abelles, i als tractaments agrícoles amb els quals les abelles es posen en contacte quan recol·lecten el nèctar en cultius pròxims als ruscos. L'Agència Europea de Seguretat Alimentària (EFSA) confirma aquesta realitat notificant nombroses alertes sanitàries en la mel. En els últims anys, els mètodes d'anàlisis basades en immunosensors piezoelèctrics s'han posicionat com la base d'una tècnica de garbellat molt prometedora, la qual pot ser emprada com a tècnica complementària a les clàssiques de cromatografia, gràcies a la seua senzillesa, rapidesa i baix cost. La tecnologia de ressonadors High-Fundamental Frequency Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (HFF-QCMD) combina la detecció directa en temps real, alta sensibilitat i selectivitat amb un fàcil maneig i cost reduït en comparació amb altres tècniques. A més, està tecnologia permet augmentar el rendiment del anàlisi mitjançant el disseny d'arrays de ressonadors en un mateix substrat (Monolithic HFF-QCMD). En aquest document es presenta el disseny d'un array de 24 sensors HFF-QCMD, juntament amb un cartutx de microfluídica que estableix diversos microcanals sobre els diferents elements sensors, als quals fa arribar la mostra de mel diluïda a analitzar. El cartutx actua també com a interfície per a realitzar la connexió entre l'array de ressonadors i l'instrument de caracterització d'aquests. Per a traure el màxim partit a l'array dissenyat, es desenvolupa un mètode de mesura robust i fiable que permet elevar la taxa d'adquisició de dades per a facilitar la presa de registres elèctrics d'un elevat nombre de ressonadors de manera simultània, i fins i tot en diversos harmònics del mode fonamental de ressonància. La gran sensibilitat de la tecnologia HFF-QCMD als esdeveniments bioquímics a caracteritzar s'estén també a un altre tipus esdeveniments externs, com són els canvis de temperatura o pressió, la qual cosa és necessari minimitzar amb la finalitat de reduir l'impacte que aquestes pertorbacions no desitjades provoquen en l'estabilitat i fiabilitat de la mesura. A aquest efecte, es desenvolupa un algorisme de processament de senyal basat en la Discrete Transform Wavelet (DTW). Finalment, tots els desenvolupaments tecnològics realitzats es validen mitjançant la implementació d'un immunoassaig per a la detecció simultània, en mostres de mel reals, de residus químics de naturalesa química molt diferent, a saber, el fungicida tiabendazol i l'antibiòtic sulfatiazol. / [EN] Currently, society demands greater control over the safety and quality of the food consumed. This concern is reflected in the different states and European plans for scientific research, which establish the necessity to innovate and develop new analytical techniques that meet current requirements. This document addresses the problem of the presence of chemical residues in honey. Its origin is fundamentally due to the veterinary treatments against diseases and parasites in bees, and also to the agricultural treatments with which the bees come into contact when they collect the nectar in crops close to the hives. The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) confirms this reality by notifying numerous health alerts in honey. In recent years, analysis methods based on piezoelectric immunosensors have been positioned as the basis of a very promising screening technique, which can be used as a complementary technique to the classic chromatography, thanks to its simplicity, speed and low cost. High-Fundamental Frequency Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation (HFF-QCMD) resonator technology combines direct real-time detection, high sensitivity and selectivity with easy handling and low cost compared to other techniques. In addition, this technology allows increasing the performance of the analysis through the design of resonator arrays on the same substrate (Monolithic HFF-QCMD). This document presents the design of an array of 24 HFF-QCMD sensors, together with a microfluidic cartridge that establish various microchannels on the different sensor elements, to provide them the diluted honey sample to be analyzed. The cartridge also acts as an interface to make the connection between the array of resonators and the characterization instrument. To get the most out of the designed array, a robust and reliable measurement method has been developed that allows increasing the data acquisition rate to facilitate electrical parameters readout from a high number of resonators simultaneously, and even in several harmonics of the fundamental resonance mode. The great sensitivity of the HFF-QCMD technology to the biochemical events to be characterized also is extended to other types of external events, such as changes in temperature or pressure, which must be minimized in order to reduce the impact that these unwanted disturbances cause in the stability and reliability of the measurement. To this end, a signal processing algorithm based on the Discrete Transform Wavelet (DTW) is developed. Finally, all the technological developments carried out are validated through the implementation of an immunoassay for the simultaneous detection, in real honey samples, of chemical residues of very different chemical nature, namely, the fungicide thiabendazole and the antibiotic sulfathiazole. / The authors would also like to thank Jorge Martínez from the Laboratory of High Frequency Circuits (LCAF) of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) for assistance with profilometry, and Manuel Planes, José Luis Moya, Mercedes Tabernero, Alicia Nuez and Joaquin Fayos from the Electron Microscopy Services of the UPV for helping with the AFM, and SEM measurements. M.Calero is the recipient of the doctoral fellowship BES-2017-080246 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Madrid, Spain). This research was funded by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness with FEDER funds (AGL 2016-77702-R) and European Commission Horizon 2020 Programme (Grant Agreement number H2020-FETOPEN-2016-2017/737212-CATCH-U-DNA - Capturing non-Amplified Tumor Circulating DNA with Ultrasound Hydrodynamics) for which the authors are grateful. Román Fernández is with the Center for Research and Innovation in Bioengineering (Ci2B), Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain and with Advanced Wave Sensors S.L., Paterna, València, Spain. (e-mail: rfernandez@awsensors.com); Yolanda Jiménez, Antonio Arnau and María Calero are with the Center for Research and Innovation in Bioengineering (Ci2B), Universitat Politècnica de València, València, Spain; Ilya Reiviakine is with Advanced Wave Sensors S.L., Paterna, Valencia, Spain and with the Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98150 USA; María Isabel Rocha-Gaso and José Vicente García are with Advanced Wave Sensors S.L., Paterna, València, Spain. / Calero Alcarria, MDS. (2022). Development of a novel high resolution and high throughput biosensing technology based on a Monolithic High Fundamental Frequency Quartz Crystal Microbalance (MHFF-QCM). Validation in food control [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/182652 / Compendio

<p dir="ltr">The necessity for on-farm, point-of-need (PON) nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) arises from the prolonged turnaround times and high costs associated with traditional laboratory equipment. This thesis aims to address these challenges by developing devices and a user-interface application designed for the efficient, accurate, and rapid detection of <i>Bacteroidales</i> as an indicator of fecal contamination on fresh produce farms.</p><p dir="ltr">In pursuit of this, I collaborated with lab members to engineer a Field-Applicable Rapid Microbial Loop-mediated isothermal Amplification Platform, FARM-LAMP. This device is portable (164 x 135 x 193 mm), energy-efficient (operating under 20 W), achieves the target 65°C with ± 0.2°C fluctuations, and is compatible with paper-based biosensors for loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). Subsequently, I led the fabrication of the microfluidic Field-Applicable Sampling Tool, FAST, designed to deliver high-throughput (10 samples per device), equal flow-splitting of fluids to paper-based biosensors, eliminating the need for a laboratory or extensive training. FARM-LAMP achieved 100% concordance with standard lab-based tests when deployed on a commercial lettuce farm and FAST achieved an average accuracy of 89% in equal flow-splitting and 70% in volume hydration.</p><p dir="ltr">A crucial aspect of device development is ensuring that results are easily interpretable by users. To this end, I developed a Python-based image analysis codebase to quantify sample positivity for fecal contamination, ranging from 0% (no contamination) to nearly 100% (definite contamination) and the concentration of field samples. It utilizes calculus-based mathematics, such as first and second derivative analysis, and incorporates image analysis techniques, including hue, saturation, and value (HSV) binning to a sigmoid function, along with contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE). Additionally, I developed a preliminary graphical user interface in Python that defines a prediction model for the concentration of <i>Bacteroidales</i> based on local weather patterns.</p><p dir="ltr">This thesis encompasses hardware development for on-field quantification and the creation of a preliminary user-interface application to assess fecal contamination risk on fresh produce farms. Integrating these devices with a user-interface application allows for rapid interpretation of results on-farm, aiding in the effective development of strategies to ensure safety in fresh produce operations.</p>

2011年5月臺灣爆發不肖業者將具有毒性之塑化劑添加入合法食品添加物─起雲劑當中，販賣給多家食品業者，用以生產各種食品及飲料，戕害國民健康。惟案件中消費者僅獲賠求償額的兩千分之一，差距甚大，明顯不如預期，更是引發社會諸多撻伐。本論文藉由上述塑化劑案件，探討食品安全消費訴訟消費者求償困境並檢討現行法的缺失與不足，以符合消費者權益保障之宗旨。 文章中首先針對食品安全消費訴訟特性以及我國食品管制上主管機關的權責劃分進行概念性介紹，並就訴訟中消費者可主張的民法、消費者保護法、食品安全衛生管理法上請求權基礎進行要件及爭點說明。其次，就損害賠償之概念及損害進行界定與討論。另由於此類型訴訟，消費者食用問題產品後，多半不會產生立即性身體傷害或臨床病徵，導致訴訟上消費者就其所受之損害難以舉證而敗訴，故本文藉由參酌美國毒物侵權行為訴訟上之損害認定，將損害概念擴張至損害或「損害之虞」，以解決訴訟上消費者損害認定不易的難題。 此外，於因果關係舉證方面，則藉由德國環境責任法、德國基因科技法上之原因推定理論、美國法上市場佔有率責任之因果關係以及日本法上疫學因果關係理論，作為此類型訴訟我國因果關係認定之參考，並就損害賠償範圍、我國懲罰性賠償金制度的引進、目的、重要爭點等析述討論之。最後，本論文藉由實務上判決，觀察現行食品安全衛生管理法第56條法院適用情形，從中檢討現行條文不盡完備之處，並嘗試提出相關修法建議，希冀可作為將來立法者修法之參考。 / In May, 2011 the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration reported that plasticizers, such as: di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP) and di(iso-nonyl)phthalate (DINP), were illegally added to clouding agents used in foods and several beverages.The endocrine disruptors have been linked to developmental problems with children and pregnant women, etc.This paper would mainly discuss the issues of the reflection of civil liabilities arising from food scandals, particularly focus on the plasticizer food scandal in Taiwan. First, the author gives an overview of consumer litigation of food safety, food administration in Taiwan, and the basic of claim such as the Civil law, the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation as well as the Consumer Protection Law.Secondly, interprets the concept of civil compensationand expand the traditional concept of personal injury to risk of injury (the plaintiff has not manifested any symptoms of disease but may suffer from illness in the future) by referring to toxic tort.Thirdly, illustrates the special rules on causation in the aspect of the environmental liability law, the biotech law and the market share liability to solve the problems of the causation.Fourthly,probes the compensation scope and punitive damages. Finally,by observing court decisions on article 56 of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation, the author analyzes the deletion of existing legal norms and suggests a proposal for law amendments.

代表國際合作的國際組織對於國家的行為有什麼影響？趨同或趨異？這個問題國關學界主要是新現實主義與新自由制度主義兩個主流理論在進行辯論；前者的研究顯示，國際組織或其它國際合作類型，只是主權國家（特別是強權國家）的工具，本身沒有獨立性，更遑論能制約國家行為或導引國家行為的協調一致。而後者從賽局理論推演出合作的可能與必要性，並認為制度（或建制）是有效維繫合作關係與調和各國行為，進而穩定國際秩序的方法。 然而，在世界貿易組織的架構下，國際貿易合作中食品衛生安全的相關衝突一直存在著。而在國際貨幣基金或世界銀行的架構下，糧食援助的合作似乎造成許多受援國境內的糧食危機未減反增。這樣的結果與新自由制度主義的論點不符，同時暗示著維繫國際合作的制度（或建制）可能具有不當性或偏重對特定法益的保護。另一方面，這樣的情況也無法透過新現實主義得到周延的解釋，因為合作中的權力爭奪並不是只單單發生在體系層次，並且最後影響或主導結果的行為者也非該理論向來強調的主權國家。 當前國際食品貿易的進/出口規範與具有結構調整性質的糧食援助機制究竟是過度保護了貿易自由，還是能為每一個個人可能遭遇的食品衛生風險或糧食危機提供必要之保障？這是本研究的首要顧念。透過個案研究與過程追蹤的方法，本文認為在無政府狀態2.0的環境下，國際食品貿易與糧食援助的制度（或建制）存在著法益失衡與不當性；是一種無法公允保障進口國消費者食品安全或受援國農民糧食主權的合作模式。這樣的結果在既有的國關理論得不到全面性的分析和解釋，因此文中提出「寧靜政治」的論述對之進行補充，說明擁有貿易出口利益的國家，其政府在國內層次如何因為寧靜政治現象而流失權力（退位），成為跨國公司的代理人，而非最高的主權享有者與治權行使者。同時，在體系層次，這些國家還為跨國公司爭取利益最大化，假國際合作之名攻佔食品進口國或糧食受援國的國內市場，釀成公共衛生或糧食主權上的危機。 研究結果顯示，跨國公司是造成國際制度（或建制）成為失衡天秤與喪失正當性的幕後原兇。也是在國際經貿這個議題領域中導致國家退位的關鍵行為者。從強調資本主義和貿易自由化的經濟學角度來看，這或許是市場機制正常的發揮，即使有人不樂見，也毋需過於擔心。然而，任何「自由」都不能是毫無限制地，也不該是無所節度的。全球經貿自由化與市場資本主義的發展若是繼續以目前的方式在運作與擴張，跨國公司累積的財富與權力就會在更多的議題領域超越或擊退主權國家，屆時除了食品衛生安全與糧食安全外，恐怕還會有更多攸關人類安全的法益在商品化的國際市場上漸漸淪為類奢侈財。 從理性選擇的角度來看，此種結果或許是國家在參與經貿合作前本能預見之事，但基於理性選擇，認為這是可以忍受的代價。然而，本文質疑國家（特別是小國）所付出的代價真能讓其在合作過程中換取到大於損失的利益。就像個案中台灣在進口美國牛肉的問題上，或墨西哥在糧食援助的計畫裡，這些國家並沒有在國際合作中得到預期的好處，反而失去了原本可以享有的衛生安全與糧食自主性。退一步言，假設這些國家真的從合作中得到大於損失之利益，那麼這些利益的分配在其國內層次上往往也不否符合公平與正義。毋寧，利益最後只是由特定少數的行為者所享有，但衛生安全風險或糧食基本權的不利益卻轉嫁由進口國或受援國的全體人民買單。