Time and temperature abuse of milk in conditions representing a school cafeteria share table does not meaningfully reduce microbial quality.

Share tables (ST) are tables or stations in school cafeterias where students can return unopened foods and beverages, providing an opportunity to access these items at no cost. Currently, research suggests that milk is among the most wasted items in breakfast and lunch programs in the United States. Share tables present a simple solution for reducing milk waste, but research is needed to understand the microbial spoilage potential of milk in ST. To this end, uninoculated milk cartons and milk cartons inoculated with 2 to 3 log10(cfu/mL) Pseudomonas poae, a fast-growing psychrotroph, was exposed to ambient temperature during winter (mean temperature = 20.3°C) and summer (23.1°C) for 125 min, repeated over 5 d (the length of a school week). Microbial counts in the inoculated milk cartons increased linearly, exceeding the spoilage threshold of 6.0 log10(cfu/mL) after d 3 and after d 4 in the winter and summer season trials, respectively. In the winter trial, the microbial counts for uninoculated milk cartons never exceeded the lower limit of detection, 2.31 log10(cfu/mL), and in the summer trials, microbial counts never reached the spoilage threshold, indicating that initial contamination is a driving factor of microbial milk spoilage. Regardless of sharing status or seasonality, the greatest changes in counts for inoculated milk cartons occurred during overnight refrigeration, ranging from 0.56 to 1.4 log10(cfu/mL), while during the share table ranged from no observable change up to 0.29 log10(cfu/mL), emphasizing that school nutrition personnel should focus efforts on tightly controlling refrigeration temperatures and returning milk to refrigeration as soon as possible. A previously developed model for school cafeteria share tables was adapted to understand the typical residence time of milk in a simulated cafeteria with an ambient temperature share table for the summer and winter seasons over 1,000 wk. Milk was predicted to have a very short mean residence time (85 min) regardless of sharing status or season, with 99.8% of milk consumed, discarded, or donated within the first 2 d. As a result, only 3 out of 451,410 and 6 out of 451,410 simulated milks spoiled in the winter and summer seasons, respectively. The data generated here can be used to inform science-based decision-making for including milk in share tables, or applied to any system where one might have to accept short-term unrefrigerated storage of milk to meet a waste reduction or food security goal.

Milk Spoilage Model Predicts that Share Tables Would Not Meaningfully Increase Spoilage and Improved Storage Systems Can Reduce Spoilage.

School share tables offer opportunities for food recovery and increased access to healthy foods by allowing students to donate or consume unopened items, such as cartons of milk. However, stakeholders have concerns about temperature abuse potentially causing premature milk spoilage. While previous research showed short ambient temperature abuse of milk (under conditions representing share tables) does not meaningfully impact microbial milk quality, differences across school cafeterias (e.g., ambient temperatures, storage systems, bell schedules, refrigeration temperature) may limit the generalizability of this conclusion. To address this, the overnight refrigeration temperature and the milk's initial contamination were predicted to be the main drivers for milk spoilage. Share tables were predicted to only cause inconsequential microbial quality changes (4 spoiled milk per million served, which would be ≤2 milk cartons spoiled per school year) under short and medium bell schedules (≤125 min of total service), even without temperature control during the lunch period. Under long (221 min) and very long (266 min) bell schedules, share tables with ambient temperature storage were predicted to have higher milk spoilage (19 and 42 spoiled milk cartons per million served, respectively), and adding storage systems was predicted to reduce the decline in milk quality (12 and 24 spoiled milk cartons per million served, respectively). These results provide a resource to support science-based decision-making for the inclusion of milk in school cafeteria share tables, ultimately working to reduce food waste and address food insecurity.

An operant analog of food caching in the pigeon (Columba livia).

Although pigeons do not naturally cache and recover food items as found in members of the corvid and parid families, an operant analog of food caching and recovery in pigeons was studied in four experiments. Pigeons were trained to peck a caching key that added a fixed increment of time to the final duration of reinforcement obtained by pecking a payoff key. The same key served as the caching and payoff keys in Experiment 1, but separate caching and payoff keys were used in Experiments 2-4. In Experiments 2-3, each peck on a left red caching key added 0.5 s of reinforcement earned by pecking a right white payoff key. In Experiment 4, red or green caching keys appeared on different trials, with 0.5 s of reinforcement earned for pecking the red key and 1.0 s of reinforcement earned for pecking the green key. Pigeons showed an increased number of pecks on the caching key over ten sessions in Experiments 1-3 and more pecks on the green caching key than on the red caching key in Experiment 4.

Assessing the food recovery hierarchy concept from an eMergy accounting perspective: Validation and theoretical insights.

The food recovery hierarchy (FRH) is an important concept widely used worldwide as a guideline for food waste management policies. It consists of different options for food waste management hierarchically organized, in which source reduction is the most preferable option, followed by food donation, feeding animals, industrial use, composting, energy recovery, and landfilling. The most common approaches used in the literature to validate the FRH concept consider both, a user-side and donor-side perspectives. While the former are typical of methods such as life cycle assessment and ecological footprint that are extensively explored in the literature, the latter is typical of methods such as eMergy accounting (EMA), a perspective that remains unexplored. This study aims to overcome that literature gap by discussing: (i) The validity of FRH concept under an EMA perspective; (ii) The differences on saving natural resources depending on the adopted FRH option; (iii) Obtaining a mathematical model representing the saved emergy as a function of invested emergy. Results show that the FRH is confirmed under the EMA lens as expressed by the proposed emergy return index (ERI). The most preferable options within FRH are by far more efficient in saving emergy than the least preferable options (about 250 times better). The obtained model EMS=2.44E+22/EMI 0.51 describes the relation between the invested and saved emergy along the FRH hierarchy. Insights are presented to promote discussions on existing ERIs cluster within the FRH.

Food recovery and produce distribution as a system strategy for increasing access to healthy food among populations experiencing food insecurity: lessons for post-pandemic planning.

Using data from an intercept survey of 428 adults who received free surplus produce at five distribution sites and qualitative data from 15 interviews with site personnel, we examined facilitators (e.g. community partnerships, coalition support) and challenges (e.g. limited refrigerated storage, lack of transportation infrastructure) to operating a food recovery and distribution program in Los Angeles County. Overall, this food system intervention appeared to fill an unmet need for recipients, nearly 80% of whom were food insecure and 60% visited a site several months/year or monthly. For many living in this county's underserved communities, this effort was instrumental in increasing access to healthy food before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. To sustain/expand this program's reach, local governments and food assistance programs should provide greater coordination and oversight, and invest more resources into this food recovery and distribution infrastructure.

Initial assessment of the efficacy of food recovery policies in US States for increasing food donations and reducing waste.

In this paper, we examine the primary impact of two categories of food recovery policies on food donation and the secondary impact on food safety, food waste, and food insecurity in U.S. states. As one method of food recovery, food donation can reduce food waste while mitigating food insecurity, and it can be promoted in U.S. states through strong liability protection policies that provide legal protection to food donors and through tax incentivization policies that financially reward food donors via deductions and/or credits. To provide an initial evaluation of the effects of these policies, we coded each state's food recovery policies in 2012 and 2018 and compared strong policies versus weak policies. Using data from multiple sources, we found that states with stronger liability protection policies had more food donations, and states that provide tax incentivization had more food waste. Although our analyses were correlational, rather than causal, and were reliant upon limited data, our results demonstrate that the current food recovery policy landscape in U.S. states does relate to important food waste outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for crafting more effective policies that encourage food recovery.

A preliminary assessment of food policy obstacles in California's produce recovery networks.

California is a landmark setting for studying produce recovery efforts and policy implications because of its global relevance in agricultural production, its complex network of food recovery organizations, and its environmental and public health regulations. Through a series of focus groups with organizations involved in produce recovery (gleaning organizations) and emergency food operations (food banks, food pantries), this study aimed to deepen our understanding of the current produce recovery system and determine the major challenges and opportunities related to the produce recovery system. Operational and systematic barriers to produce recovery were highlighted by both gleaning and emergency food operations. Operational barriers, such as the lack of appropriate infrastructure and limited logistical support were found to be a challenge across groups and were directly tied to inadequate funding for these organizations. Systematic barriers, such as regulations related to food safety or reducing food loss and waste, were also found to impact both gleaning and emergency food organizations, but differences were observed in how each type of regulation impacted each stakeholder group. To support the expansion of food recovery efforts, participants expressed need for better coordination within and across food recovery networks and more positive and transparent engagement from regulators to increase understanding of the specifics of their unique operational constraints. The focus group participants also provided critiques on how emergency food assistance and food recovery are inscribed within the current food system and for longer term goals of reducing food insecurity and food loss and waste a systematic change will be required.

Natural Food Resource Valorization by Microwave Technology: Purslane Stabilization by Dielectric Heating.

The application of microwave-assisted drying is a promising technique due to the features of process sustainability that are usable for responsible productions. It is largely applied for the stabilization of food products, especially in the agro-food sector. In this study, the weed Portulaca oleracea L. (purslane), with its richness in antioxidant components in addition to its recognized pharmacological properties, has been considered due to its potential to be a natural, well-accepted future food. Attention was focused on the role of the heat and mass transfer rates involved in the drying processes on the nutritional profile of the dried products. For this purpose, different drying protocols (convective, microwave irradiation, microwave-vacuum irradiation) were applied to different parts of purslane herb (apical, twigs, entire structures) and chemical characterizations were performed by a GC/MS analysis of the extracts of the dried products. The results show that microwave treatments can assure a better preservation of fatty acids such as SFAs, MUFAs, and PUFAs (which constitute over 90% of the total components in the apical part, 65% in twigs, and 85% in microwave-vacuum-dried entire purslane samples) and phytosterols (their highest preservation was found in microwave-dried twigs) compared with convective treatments. The chemical composition variability as well as treatment times depend on the drying rates (in microwave treatments, the times are on a minute scale and the rates are up to three orders of magnitude greater than convective ones), which in turn depend on the heating transport phenomena. This variability can lead towards products that are diversified by properties that transform a weed into a valorized food source.

The Impact of a Food Recovery-Meal Delivery Program on Homebound Seniors' Food Security, Nutrition, and Well-Being.

Food insecurity is a growing problem among seniors. A novel program was established to help mitigate the problem of food insecurity among seniors who are homebound. Volunteers recover unused prepared food donated by area hospitals, repack it into healthy meals which are delivered to program participants. To evaluate the impact of our intervention, seniors' nutritional health and social well-being were measured at enrollment and after three to five months using the following: Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF), 24-hour recall, USDA 6-Item Food Security Survey, WHO-5 Well-Being Index, and the 3-Item Loneliness Scale. Statistical analysis indicated a significant improvement in nutritional health, well-being, and loneliness; participants also increased their consumption of protein and calories. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate the self-perceived impact of the program. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that meal recipients perceive that food recovery-meal delivery programs may improve their nutrition health, food security, and well-being.

Nonthermal food processing: A step towards a circular economy to meet the sustainable development goals.

A circular economy promotes a world-friendly style of economic development, and the main aim is a closed-loop cycle of "resource-production-consumption-regeneration" economic activities. A circular economy can assist in implementing sustainable development in the food industry. During conventional food processing, the thermal effects degrade the food residues and make their wastes. Nonthermal processing has emerged as a promising, safe, and effective technique for extracting bioactive compounds from food residues. Nonthermal processing help in implementing a circular economy and meeting the United Nations approved Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Collaboration between food producers and the food chain may make the food industry more circular. This article motivates adopting nonthermal technologies to conserve natural resources, food safety, and energy in different food processing phases to meet SDGs.

Using Qualitative Interviews to Better Understand Differences in How Local Health Departments Inspect School Share Tables.

ABSTRACT: Environmental and health advocates are increasingly promoting food donations to reduce landfilled food waste and feed hungry people. Share tables are locations where students can put unwanted school food or beverage items, allowing their uneaten food items to be "shared" with other students and providing food donation opportunities for the 4.9 billion lunches served annually in the U.S. National School Lunch Program. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify differences in health inspector interpretations of the Food Code as it relates to share table operations and risk mitigation techniques preferred by inspectors for preventing foodborne illness from recovered food. A snowball sampling technique was used to identify Illinois health inspectors (n = 13) engaged in share table inspections. Telephone interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were coded using a hybrid process of deductive and inductive content analysis. Participants considered contamination, rather than temperature abuse, to be the primary risk factor for foodborne illness. Those participants with permissive Food Code interpretations considered contamination risk in the context of the overall school environment. Participants had the lowest degree of consensus on whether to allow whole apple recovery via a share table. Participants also lacked consensus on reuse of unclaimed share table items in future meal programs (reservice). This lack of consensus indicates that further research is needed to develop data-driven strategies to assess and manage the microbial risks associated with share tables and ultimately to facilitate increased food recovery.

Characterizing and Assessing the Quality of State K-12 Share Table Policies as a Potential Mechanism to Reduce Food Waste and Promote Food Security.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence of state-level share table policies, assess the quality of available policies, and determine common policy characteristics. DESIGN: In this qualitative policy analysis, state-level share table policies and resources were collected from March to June, 2018 from the State Department of Education Child Nutrition Office Web sites and/or staff communication across 50 states and Washington, DC. VARIABLES MEASURED: Frequency of state-level policy documents assessed, as well as the allowable share table items, marketing and outreach guidance, and requirements for health code clearance, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, record keeping, redistribution plans, and allergy considerations. ANALYSIS: After a deductive analysis approach, each collected policy document was scored on 10 a priori components primarily derived from existing food safety policies. Descriptive statistics were used to present common policy characteristics. RESULTS: About half of the US (n = 27) had a state-level share table policy document. Most states with a policy document (81%; n = 22) allowed unused share table items to be redistributed through reservice, food donation, or use as a cooked ingredient in future meals. Few states provided adequate guidance on monitoring, corrective actions, record keeping, allergy considerations, and best practices for share table marketing and outreach. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The high prevalence of state share table guidance suggests that this is a common food recovery strategy. Yet, states differed in allowable share table items and on permitted future use of share table items.

Challenges and opportunities to increasing fruit and vegetable distribution through the US charitable feeding network: increasing food systems recovery of edible fresh produce to build healthy food access.

This qualitative study describes opportunities and challenges to produce recovery identified by food banking executive leadership across the US (n = 33). Identified challenges included regional variation in fresh produce availability, long transportation times, and lack of refrigerated storage. Opportunities included high client demand for fresh produce, internal benchmarks for fresh produce distribution, and organizational partnerships to create regional sourcing and distribution efficiencies. This research indicates the need for cross-sector collaboration and planning efforts across the agricultural, health, and charitable feeding sectors in order to best recover and redistribute fresh produce.

Characterization of industrial broccoli discards (Brassica oleracea var. italica) for their glucosinolate, polyphenol and flavonoid contents using UPLC MS/MS and spectrophotometric methods.

The agrifood industry produces tons of waste and substandard products that are discarded at great expense. Valorization of industrial residues curbs issues related to food security and environmental problems. Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) is associated with varied beneficial health effects, but its production yields greater than 25% rejects. We aimed to characterize and quantify industrial broccoli by-products for their glucosinolate and polyphenol contents as a first step towards industrial bio-refining. Broccoli segments and rejected lots of 10 seed cultivars were analyzed using UPLC MS/MS. Variability in the contents of bioactive molecules was observed within and between the cultivars. Broccoli by-products were rich in glucosinolates (0.2-2% dry weight sample), predominantly glucoraphanin (32-64% of the total glucosinolates), whereas the polyphenolic content was less than 0.02% dry weight sample. Valorization of industrial residues facilitates the production of high value functional food ingredients along with socio-economic sustainability.

Wasted Food, Wasted Nutrients: Nutrient Loss from Wasted Food in the United States and Comparison to Gaps in Dietary Intake.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has estimated that wasted food in the United States contains between 1,249 and 1,400 kcal per capita per day, but little is known about amounts of other nutrients embedded in the 31% to 40% of food that is wasted. OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to calculate the nutritional value of food wasted at the retail and consumer levels in the US food supply, and contextualize the amount of nutrient loss in terms of gaps between current and recommended intakes and estimated food recovery potential. DESIGN: Data from the National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference were used to calculate the nutritional value of retail- and consumer-level waste of 213 commodities in the US Department of Agriculture Loss-Adjusted Food Availability data series for 27 nutrients in 2012. RESULTS: Food wasted at the retail and consumer levels of the US food supply in 2012 contained 1,217 kcal, 33 g protein, 5.9 g dietary fiber, 1.7 µg vitamin D, 286 mg calcium, and 880 mg potassium per capita per day. Using dietary fiber as an example, 5.9 g dietary fiber is 23% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance for women. This is equivalent to the fiber Recommended Dietary Allowance for 74 million adult women. Adult women in 2012 underconsumed dietary fiber by 8.9 g/day, and the amount of wasted fiber is equivalent to this gap for 206.6 million adult women. CONCLUSIONS: This was the first study to document the loss of nutrients from wasted food in the US food supply, to our knowledge. Although only a portion of discarded food can realistically be made available for human consumption, efforts to redistribute surplus foods where appropriate and prevent food waste in the first place could increase the availability of nutrients for Americans, while saving money and natural resources.