Preparation and Characterization of Boza Enriched with Nonfat Dry Milk and Its Impact on the Fermentation Process.

Boza is an indigenous, traditional, low-alcohol and highly viscous beverage prepared by fermenting cereals. Its thick and gel-like consistency make it suitable for consumption via spoon. Although boza is a nutritious beverage, its protein content is very low (<2%). A new type of boza was developed by incorporating nonfat dry milk (NFDM) to elevate the protein content of the beverage. Different NFDM amounts (10 to 40% w/v) were added to determine the best concentration and fermentation time based on the refractive index and pH values at room temperature (0-48 h). The best sample was further characterized by rheological analyses and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The sample with 10% NFDM was the best, as fermentation was successfully performed, and further addition of NFDM increased the initial pH. The refractive index and pH decreased from 21.9 ± 0.1 to 11.8 ± 0.1 and 5.77± 0.50 to 4.09 ± 0.35 during fermentation, respectively. The samples exhibited shear-thinning, solid-like behavior, and a gel-like structure. FTIR analysis by independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) demonstrated that unfermented slurry and the fermented product could be effectively differentiated. With the addition of 10% NFDM, the increase in the protein content of the boza medium became significant.

Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC): Current Food Safety and Quality Standards for Complementary Foods.

Food safety is imperative, especially for infants and young children because of their underdeveloped immune systems. This requires adequate nutritious food with appropriate amounts of macro- and micronutrients. Currently, a well-established system for infant food is enforced by the regulatory bodies, but no clear system exists for complementary food, which is consumed by children from the age of 6 month to 24 months. As the child grows beyond 6 months, the need for nutrients increases, and if the nutritional needs are not fulfilled, it can lead to health problems, such as stunted growth, weak immune system, and cardiovascular diseases. Hence, it is important to have regulatory bodies monitoring complementary food in a similar capacity as is required for infant formula. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the existing regulatory bodies, such as the Codex Alimentarius, International Standard Organization (ISO), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), etc., and their regulations specifically for infant formula that can be adopted for complementary foods. This study focuses on the development of a hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls (HARPC)-based food safety plan to ensure safe food processing and prevent any possible outbreaks.

Migration of Quaternary Ammonium Cations from Exfoliated Clay/Low-Density Polyethylene Nanocomposites into Food Simulants.

Clay/polymer nanocomposites (CPNs) are polymers incorporating refined clay particles that are frequently functionalized with quaternary ammonium cations (QACs) as dispersion aids. There is interest in commercializing CPNs for food contact applications because they have improved strength and barrier properties, but there are few studies on the potential for QACs in CPNs to transfer to foods under conditions of intended use. In this study, we manufactured low-density poly(ethylene) (LDPE)-based CPNs and assessed whether QACs can migrate into several food simulants under accelerated storage conditions. QACs were found to migrate to a fatty food simulant (ethanol) at levels of ∼1.1 µg mg-1 CPN mass after 10 days at 40 °C, constituting about 4% total migration (proportion of the initial QAC content in the CPN that migrated to the simulant). QAC migration into ethanol was ∼16× higher from LDPE containing approximately the same concentration of QACs but no clay, suggesting that most QACs in the CPN are tightly bound to clay particles and are immobile. Negligible QACs were found to migrate into aqueous, alcoholic, or acidic simulants from CPNs, and the amount of migrated QACs was also found to scale with the temperature and the initial clay concentration. The migration data were compared to a theoretical diffusion model, and it was found that the diffusion constant for QACs in the CPN was several orders of magnitude slower than predicted, which we attributed to the potential for QACs to migrate as dimers or other aggregates rather than as individual ions. Nevertheless, the use of the migration model resulted in a conservative estimate of the mass transfer of QAC from the CPN test specimens.

High Throughput Quantification of Quaternary Ammonium Cations in Food Simulants by Flow-Injection Mass Spectrometry.

Background: A flow-injection MS (FI/MS) method was evaluated for the quantitation of quaternary ammonium cations (QACs) in simple food simulants. Methods: The calibration standard was dimethyldioctadecyl ammonium ion (C18-C18), and the internal standard was benzyldimethylhexadecyl (BDMHD) ammonium ion. Calibration standards based on the C18-C18 ion were prepared in ethanol with a range of 5 to 500 ppb and contained 100 ppb BDMHD. The mobile phase was 90 + 10 (v/v) acetonitrile-5 mM aqueous ammonium acetate and flowed directly into an electrospray source of the mass spectrometer. Detection was accomplished by single ion recording (SIR) in positive mode. Results: Calibration curves were linear with coefficients of determination above 0.995, and the LOQ was 5 ppb. Recoveries of four QACs derived from Arquad 2HT-75, a commercially available surfactant, were measured in common food simulants: ethanol, water, 10% (v/v) ethanol in water, and 3% (v/v) aqueous acetic acid. A solvent exchange procedure was employed for the three aqueous solvents, which included complete evaporation of the sample followed by reconstitution in ethanol prior to injection. The solvent exchange method minimized losses because of QAC adsorption on glass surfaces. Recoveries ranged from 74.4 ± 4.0 to 106.7 ± 6.6% for the two most abundant Arquad 2HT-75 component cations, dimethyldioctadecyl ammonium and dimethyloctadecyl-hexadecyl ammonium. Conclusions: This method is suitable to quantify trace levels of QACs in food simulants as part of exposure evaluations related to their use in emerging food contact materials.