Cooking rice in excess water reduces both arsenic and enriched vitamins in the cooked grain.

This paper reports the effects of rinsing rice and cooking it in variable amounts of water on total arsenic, inorganic arsenic, iron, cadmium, manganese, folate, thiamin and niacin in the cooked grain. We prepared multiple rice varietals both rinsed and unrinsed and with varying amounts of cooking water. Rinsing rice before cooking has a minimal effect on the arsenic (As) content of the cooked grain, but washes enriched iron, folate, thiamin and niacin from polished and parboiled rice. Cooking rice in excess water efficiently reduces the amount of As in the cooked grain. Excess water cooking reduces average inorganic As by 40% from long grain polished, 60% from parboiled and 50% from brown rice. Iron, folate, niacin and thiamin are reduced by 50-70% for enriched polished and parboiled rice, but significantly less so for brown rice, which is not enriched.

Quantitative multiplex real-time PCR assay for shrimp allergen: comparison of commercial master mixes and PCR platforms in rapid cycling.

Real-time PCR has been used widely in numerous fields. In food safety, it has been applied to detection of microbes and other contaminants, including food allergens. Interest in rapid (fast) cycling real-time PCR has grown because it yields results in less time than does conventional cycling. However, fast cycling can adversely affect assay performance. Here we report on tests of commercial master mixes specifically designed for fast real-time PCR using a shrimp allergen assay we previously developed and validated. The objective of this work was to determine whether specialized commercial master mixes lead to improved assay performance in rapid cycling. Real-time PCR assays were carried out using four different master mixes and two different rapid cycling protocols. Results indicated that specialized master mixes did yield quality results. In many cases, linear ranges spanned up to 7 orders of magnitude, R(2) values were at least 0.95, and reaction efficiencies were within or near the optimal range of 90 to 110%. In the faster of the two rapid cycling protocols tested, assay performance and PCR amplification were markedly better for the shorter PCR product. In conclusion, specialized commercial master mixes were effective as part of rapid cycling protocols, but conventional cycling as used in our previous work is more reliable for the shrimp assay tested.

Two quantitative real-time PCR assays for the detection of penaeid shrimp and blue crab, crustacean shellfish allergens.

Food allergen detection methods must be able to specifically detect minute quantities of an allergenic food in a complex food matrix. One technique that can be used is real-time PCR. For the work described here, real-time PCR assays were developed to detect penaeid shrimp and blue crab, crustacean shellfish allergens. The method was tested using shrimp meat and crab meat spiked into several types of foods, including canned soups, deli foods, meat, seafood, and prepared seafood products. Foods were spiked with either shrimp or crab at levels ranging from 0.1 to 106 parts per million (ppm) and analyzed either raw or cooked by a variety of methods. Real-time PCR data were used to generate linear standard curves, and assays were evaluated with respect to linear range and reaction efficiency. Results indicate that both assays performed well in a variety of food types. High reaction efficiencies were achieved across a linear range of 6-8 orders of magnitude. Limits of detection were generally between 0.1 and 1 ppm. Cooking methods used to simulate thermal processing of foods had little effect on assay performance. This work demonstrates that real-time PCR can be a valuable tool in the detection of crustacean shellfish.