Identifying key priorities for research to protect the consumer with food hypersensitivity: A UK Food Standards Agency Priority Setting Exercise.

INTRODUCTION: Food hypersensitivity (FHS), including food allergy, coeliac disease and food intolerance, is a major public health issue. The Food Standards Agency (FSA), an independent UK Government department working to protect public health and consumers' wider interests in food, sought to identify research priorities in the area of FHS. METHODS: A priority setting exercise was undertaken, using a methodology adapted from the James Lind Alliance-the first such exercise with respect to food hypersensitivity. A UK-wide public consultation was held to identify unanswered research questions. After excluding diagnostics, desensitization treatment and other questions which were out of scope for FSA or where FSA was already commissioning research, 15 indicative questions were identified and prioritized by a range of stakeholders, representing food businesses, patient groups, health care and academia, local authorities and the FSA. RESULTS: 295 responses were received during the public consultation, which were categorized into 70 sub-questions and used to define 15 key evidence uncertainties ('indicative questions') for prioritization. Using the JLA prioritization framework, this resulted in 10 priority uncertainties in evidence, from which 16 research questions were developed. These could be summarized under the following 5 themes: communication of allergens both within the food supply chain and then to the end consumer (ensuring trust in allergen communication); the impact of socio-economic factors on consumers with FHS; drivers of severe reactions; mechanism(s) underlying loss of tolerance in FHS; and the risks posed by novel allergens/processing. DISCUSSION: In this first research prioritization exercise for food allergy and FHS, key priorities identified to protect the food-allergic public were strategies to help allergic consumers to make confident food choices, prevention of FHS and increasing understanding of socio-economic impacts. Diagnosis and treatment of FHS was not considered in this prioritization.

Evaluation of a postbiotic on Salmonella enterica prevalence, serotype diversity, and antimicrobial resistance in the subiliac lymph nodes of cull dairy cattle.

This study aimed to determine whether the farm-level use of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based postbiotic was associated with Salmonella prevalence and concentration, serotype diversity, and antimicrobial resistance in the subiliac lymph nodes (LN) of cull dairy cows. In collaboration with two commercial processing plants in the Southwestern (SW) and Northeastern (NE) regions of the U.S., cull dairy cattle lots processed in the same week from dairy farms that fed or not the postbiotic were sampled. Up to 20 LN were collected from dairy cattle from each supplier farm at least once every season. Samples were analyzed for Salmonella by culture and quantitative PCR methods, and isolates were subjected to serotype identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Although a numerically lower prevalence was observed, the pre-harvest administration of the postbiotic was not significantly associated with Salmonella prevalence in cull dairy cattle. However, Salmonella prevalence significantly varied by region; the SW region showed a higher prevalence than the NE region. Whereas dominant Salmonella serotypes included Montevideo, Mbandaka, Muenster, Cerro, Meleagridis, and Anatum, the probability of isolating a dominant serotype did not significantly vary by feed additive status (FAS) or region, but varied by season. Up to 34 isolates (out of 391) exhibited resistance to each antimicrobial, with the highest number of isolates exhibiting resistance to streptomycin and ciprofloxacin, however, this did not significantly vary by FAS, season, or region. The precise reasons for the lack of effectiveness of the postbiotic in reducing Salmonella burden are unknown, however, varied administration durations of the postbiotic due to culling at different lactation cycle stages or during dry periods may have hindered its impact, especially if dairy cows were culled early. Other factors may include dietary components, farm management practices, and external environmental influences.

Association between Tulathromycin Treatment for Bovine Respiratory Disease and Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles among Gut Commensals and Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens Isolated from Feces of Beef Steers.

ABSTRACT: This study was conducted to evaluate the association between a therapeutic dose of tulathromycin for bovine respiratory disease in beef steers and the antimicrobial and multidrug resistance profiles of the gastrointestinal tract commensals Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. and the foodborne pathogens Salmonella enterica and Campylobacter spp. isolated from fecal samples. Individual fecal samples were collected on days 0, 14, and 28 from 70 beef steers that were housed in a single pen and had been treated or not treated with tulathromycin. Samples were cultured for bacterial isolation, and isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility with the broth microdilution method to determine the MICs of clinically relevant antimicrobials used in both human and veterinary medicine. Generalized linear mixed effects models were fitted to estimate the prevalence of the bacterial species and the prevalence of resistant isolates over time and between treated and nontreated cattle and of multidrug-resistant isolates. Model-adjusted mean prevalences of E. coli, Enterococcus spp., S. enterica, and Campylobacter spp. were 99.5, 85.9, 1.5, and 17.7%, respectively. The prevalence of erythromycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. was significantly higher on day 14 (59.7%) than on day 28 (22.2%). A higher prevalence of erythromycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. was found in samples from treated (59.3%) than in samples from nontreated (27.6%) animals. Multidrug resistance (three or more antimicrobial classes) was observed in 8.4% of E. coli isolates and 62.7% of Enterococcus isolates. The administration of tulathromycin was significantly associated with an increased prevalence of erythromycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. isolates.