Clostridium difficile has been recognized as one of the leading causes of nosocomial diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis in human hospitals and nursing homes since the 1970s; however, recent occurrences of community-acquired cases have led researchers to search for additional sources of these infections. Some of the possible sources being investigated include food animals and retail meat. The objective of this study was to compare the prevalence and genotypic characteristics of C. difficile isolated from a closed population in Texas consisting of both humans and swine. Implicit in this objective, we seek to investigate the possible food safety and occupational risks associated with swine and C. difficile. Isolation of C. difficile was performed utilizing an enrichment technique and restrictive media. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to test for the presence of the toxin A and B genes, the tcdC gene deletion, and the binary toxin gene. Genotypic characteristics were compared using PCR toxinotyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested using commercially available tests (ETest®) for 11 different antibiotics. Statistical comparisons (both parametric and non-parametric, and appropriate to the data) were performed both between and among host species. We tested 2,292 aggregated human wastewater samples and 2,936 swine fecal samples from 2004 to 2006 and found 271 (11.8 percent) and 252 (8.6 percent) to be positive for C. difficile, respectively. The prevalence of C. difficile among swine production groups differed significantly (p<0.05); however, prevalence in the human occupational group cohorts (swine workers and non-workers) did not differ (p=0.81). The majority of the human and swine isolates were a PFGE NAP7 (a variant pattern with 90.5 percent similarity) toxinotype V strain. Antimicrobial resistance levels and multi-resistance patterns were generally similar between host species; however, there was decreased susceptibility (p<0.05) to ampicillin, clindamycin, and imipenem observed in swine isolates, whereas there was decreased susceptibility (p<0.05) to ciprofloxacin in the human isolates. The similarity in C. difficile prevalence between swine workers and non-workers suggests a low occupational hazard of working with swine as it relates to C. difficile source. We also found that there is a decreased prevalence of C. difficile in late production groups in swine suggesting a lowered risk of food-borne exposure. However, the majority of the isolates derived from the human wastewater and swine appeared to be of very similar strain types, suggesting that a common environmental point source predominates for both hosts.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation examines changes in Hong Kong’s food safety institutions using an historical institutional approach. Hong Kong has faced enormous challenges in food safety over the last two decades. The avian flu crisis in 1997 and the malachite green crisis in 2005 were the two most notable examples. Both crises were recipes for institutional change. There was drastic reform in 2000 to form a unified food safety authority, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, to replace the old legacy of municipal councils and municipal service departments. The established municipal councils failed to sustain themselves and the government replaced them with new institutions. Moreover, in 2005, the government proposed a new Food Safety, Inspection and Quarantine Department to overcome failings in food safety. These changes and reforms developed in variance from what could have been expected using theories of punctuated equilibrium and critical juncture (which emphasize exogenous shocks). My investigation suggests that we should not just focus on critical junctures and exogenous shocks but also study the processes and events outside these events. We cannot take it for granted that a significant exogenous shock will automatically result in institutional change without exploring the role they play and the mechanisms involved. Other endogenous processes or gradual changes may disrupt the mechanisms of institutional reproduction. My research also suggests that the form of institutional change cannot be predicted based on critical junctures and exogenous events. Focusing on the features of political context and institutional properties, we can understand how it is possible to switch between different modes to fit the prevailing institutional and political context. Political appointees and senior civil servants, as change agents, need to focus on political barriers in the legislature before any institutional change in government can eventually succeed. Without major change in Hong Kong’s political system and landscape, there is less likelihood of introducing controversial policy changes, including institutional change. Change agents are more likely to make use of different modes of institutional change, such as layering and conversion, in order to circumvent political barriers and the stickiness of old institutions. / published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Lunch Is In The Bag (LIITB) was a multi-level behavioral intervention with the goal of increasing the amounts of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that parents pack in their preschoolers' lunches. The purpose of this dissertation project was to: 1) to examine the temperatures of perishable food items packed in preschoolers' sack lunches; 2) to examine parents' psychosocial constructs that relate to packing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains at four periods during the booster study; 3) to assess the servings of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains with the related nutrient content at four periods during the booster study. The four assessment periods are before LIITB, after LIITB, before the one-week booster, and after the one-week booster. Results showed that more than 97 percent of perishable food items in the sack lunches were stored at unacceptable temperatures (40-140°F). Servings of vegetables (-0.15, p=0.05) and whole grains (-0.53, p<0.0001) in preschool lunches decreased significantly before the booster in the intervention group. The booster increased the servings of vegetables (0.10, p=0.09) and whole grains (0.16, p =0.01) compared to booster baseline. The one-week booster increased thiamin, dietary fiber, and vitamin C content of foods in preschoolers' lunches. During the booster study, parents experienced improvement in psychosocial variables after LIITB and before the booster. Knowledge decreased before the booster. Parents' psychosocial variables were linked to packing more vegetables and significantly more whole grains due to the intervention. Education for parents and the public must focus on methods of packing safe, healthy lunches in order to prevent foodborne illness and chronic disease. The results of this study provide data for continued examination of an area of parental behavior related to packing lunches for their children. The booster study demonstrated that a booster was important for maintenance of program outcomes, and to increase the servings of vegetables and whole grains that parents packed in their preschool children's lunches. / text

This study analyzed the memory retention of University of Kentucky Dietetic and Hospitality students as it relates to food safety and sanitation knowledge originally presented on the ServSafe® certification exam. Dietetic and hospitality students take the ServSafe® certification course during the sophomore year of their degree program, but they are responsible for the sanitation and food safety information throughout their entire program of undergraduate study. The final sample consisted of 25 participants, with 84% (n=21) in the Dietetics program and 16% (n=4) in the Hospitality, Management and Tourism program. The mean difference in total score, domain one, domain two, domain three, domain four and domain five were statistically significant with a p-value <0.05. Domain three was the domain students recalled the most with a difference of 16.52%. Domains four and five were recalled least by students with a difference of 35.8% and 35.65%. The information found in this study can be used in the Department of Dietetic and Human Nutrition (DHN) and the Department of Hospitality, Management and Tourism (HMT) to enhance the food sanitation knowledge of students throughout their courses.

This thesis investigates the economic impact of food safety recalls on the capital share returns of publicly traded meat processing firms using the 2008 Listeria monocytogenes recall in Canada as a case study. The event study method was applied to this study to identify the size, direction and duration of abnormal returns to Maple Leaf Foods Inc. and Premium Brands Holdings which may have resulted from the Listeria recall. Results show that capital share returns to Maple Leaf Foods Inc. and Premium Brands Holdings were negatively impacted by the recall during the event window. Abnormal returns calculated during the post-event window provided evidence that Maple Leaf’s reaction to the announcement may have restored investor confidence in Maple Leaf shares to some degree and that Premium Brands Holdings lack of communication about their meat processing safety protocols may have negatively impacted Premium Brands share returns.

Poultry transport coops are rarely washed and demonstrate to be a major point of broiler carcass contamination. Our laboratory hypothesized that foaming disinfectants and cleaners commonly used within processing plants may be used to clean and disinfect poultry transport coops. The objective of this study was to evaluate treatments consisting of a low-pressure water rinse (LPWR), a foaming additive alone, foaming cleaner or peroxyacetic acid with a foaming additive to reduce bacteria on broiler transport coops. A high-pressure water rinse (HPWR) applied prior to and following treatments was also evaluated. Homogenized feces was evenly applied to the floors of pre-cleaned transport coops and allowed to dry. The first study used fresh layer feces and evaluated the treatments ability to reduce aerobic bacteria from the manure. The second study added a HPWR step to determine whether this technique would reduce bacteria. In the third study, Salmonella Typhimurium was added to the homogenized fecal slurry to evaluate how effectively these methods reduce aerobic bacteria and Salmonella on coop surfaces. The field study utilized laboratory treatments proven to be most effective on freshly soiled broiler integrator coops. All foaming treatments were applied using a compressed air foam system (CAFS) using a 1 inch fire hose. Ten minutes post-treatment, all surfaces were rinsed with a LPWR for 30 seconds to remove residual disinfectant. Samples were collected from the transport coops prior to and following treatments utilizing a flame sterilized 5 x 5 cm stainless steel template and a gauze swab pre-applied with buffered peptone water. All samples were stomached, serially diluted, spread plated onto agar plates, incubated for 24 h at 37° C and enumerated. The foam cleaner and peroxyacetic acid with a foam additive significantly reduced (P < 0.05) aerobic bacteria up to 4.84 to 5.17 logs, respectively when compared to the LPWR. The addition of a HPWR following product application significantly reduced bacteria on integrator coops, in the field study, but didn’t improve efficacy of our treatments in laboratory trials. These data suggest that a CAFS may be used in combination with disinfectants and cleaners to reduce bacteria on poultry transport coops.

No description available.

Household-level Canadian meat purchases from 2002-2008, a Food Opinions Survey conducted in 2008 at the national level and household-level egg purchases from 2002-2005 in Alberta and Ontario were used to explore consumer responses to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in Canada. The opinions survey focused on nutritional priorities, general and specific food safety concerns, and trust in government and food industry decision makers. The egg data set contained specific product information allowing us to distinguish purchases of conventional eggs from those of value-added eggs with perceived health attributes. Thus, the egg purchase data appeared to be an interesting proxy of revealed willingness-to-pay for health attributes and animal welfare attributes in products other than meat, and it served as a proxy of awareness and concern for farm-level production practices. Three measures of beef purchases were used to understand consumers‘ reaction to food risk. A random effects logit model was applied to test whether any beef was purchased during a given month. Consumption in terms of unit purchases was measured with a random effects negative binomial model, and consumption in terms of beef expenditure was measured with a standard random effects model. Regional differences appeared, with consumers in eastern Canada reacting most negatively to BSE. Consumers responded more to the perception that food decision makers are honest about food safety than to the perception that they are knowledgeable, in maintaining beef purchases during BSE events. Consumers who purchased value-added eggs reacted significantly more negatively to the second and third BSE events, as did those who reported increasing food safety concerns in the opinions survey. Their negative responses to BSE were stronger than those of consumers who purchased conventional products which indicated a relationship exists between concern for health and nutrition attributes and food safety. This study extends previous research by enlarging the time periods and more data sources which can be helpful to identify individual heterogeneity and the application of panel random effects models which also targets on controlling the unobserved and constant aspects of households.

Assessment of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points Principles in Primary School Feeding Schemes in the Western Region of Gauteng Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the need for standard hygiene and safety practices for the National School Nutrition Program (NSNP). Food safety procedures and practices can be implemented as part of the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP) program. Background: The National School Nutrition Program (NSNP) forms part of the Integrated Nutrition Program (INP) of South Africa and was implemented as a poverty alleviation strategy introduced in 1994 by government as part of the newly founded democratic Republic of South Africa. The NSNP is implemented in primary schools. Design: A questionnaire was designed to investigate, the hygiene and safety practices in primary schools in the Western Region of Gauteng. Both rural and urban schools using the NSNP were targeted. Research Project: The NSNP staff from 26 primary schools completed the research questionnaire focused on hygiene and safety practices. Results: Data collected indicated the need to implement a very basic HACCP program that include identifying the HACCP team, training for food handlers, standardized equipment and the implementation of hygiene and safety procedures. Conclusion: To implement HACCP in the NSNP, the role players from the managerial structures and food handlers at schools, the training needs of the target group and the equipment needed to comply with HACCP procedures, should to be identified. Documentation must be in place for monitoring, evaluation and verification procedures to implement the HACCP program. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Dietetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.