Consumption of Raw Flour in the United States: Results from the 2019 U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety and Nutrition Survey.

ABSTRACT: Several outbreaks of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infections in the past decade have been linked to flour and flour-associated products and have raised concerns that the consumption of raw flour represents a public health risk as a vehicle for foodborne pathogens. The extent to which consumers know and understand that they should not consume raw flour is unclear. In fall 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration collected data on perceptions regarding uncooked flour and on self-reported consumption behaviors via the Food Safety and Nutrition Survey, a national probability survey of U.S. adults (≥18 years of age). Cross-tabulations and regressions were used to analyze the data (n = 2,171). Thirty-five percent of consumers reported having tasted or eaten something with uncooked flour in it in the previous 12 months. Responses differed significantly by sex, race, education, and age. On average, respondents indicated that uncooked flour is not likely to contain germs that can make people sick, with significant differences noted by demographic categories. Respondents rated raw homemade cookie dough as moderately likely to have germs that can make people sick, with significant demographic differences. These findings indicate that U.S. consumers are largely unaware that raw flour is risky to consume, and many people are consuming products that contain raw flour.

Eucaryote/procaryote ratio as an indicator of stability for closed ecological systems.

The eukaryote/prokaryote ratio permits immediate and direct estimation of ecological stability in closed microbial ecosystems as well as in natural systems. Previous research demonstrated partial pressure of oxygen can be used as a long term indicator of stability (Kearns and Folsome , 1981). The eukaryote/prokaryote ratio correlates with oxygen measurements and is another useful determinant in the studies of closed ecological systems. In the future this ratio may find widespread application since it is based on reliable internal properties of the system.

Carbon recycling in materially closed ecological life support systems.

Materially closed microbial ecosystems represent model life support systems for the future human habitation of space. These ecosystems when subjected to a constant energy flux seem to be reliable and self-sufficient systems for recycling of biologically produced carbon compounds.

Competition and efficiency in closed freshwater algal systems: tests of ecosystem design principles.

Seven species of freshwater algae were grown in defined media in monoalgal and mixed cultures, to test whether species interactions and community efficiency were predictable on the basis of ecological theory. Results supported the prediction of competitive interactions, although no differences were detectable in the strength of competition in two and three species mixed cultures, nor was the severity of competitive effects predictable on the basis of relatedness at the level of phyla. On a community level, cultures with two and three species fixed a greater proportion of available carbon than cultures with only one species, implying a more efficient overall use of available resources. Implications for the design of artificial closed ecosystems are discussed.

The effects of variable biome distribution on global climate.

In projecting climatic adjustments to anthropogenically elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide, most global climate models fix biome distribution to current geographic conditions. Previous biome maps either remain unchanging or shift without taking into account climatic feedbacks such as radiation and temperature. We develop a model that examines the albedo-related effects of biome distribution on global temperature. The model was tested on historical biome changes since 1860 and the results fit both the observed temperature trend and order of magnitude change. The model is then used to generate an optimized future biome distribution that minimizes projected greenhouse effects on global temperature. Because of the complexity of this combinatorial search, an artificial intelligence method, the genetic algorithm, was employed. The method is to adjust biome areas subject to a constant global temperature and total surface area constraint. For regulating global temperature, oceans are found to dominate continental biomes. Algal beds are significant radiative levers as are other carbon intensive biomes including estuaries and tropical deciduous forests. To hold global temperature constant over the next 70 years this simulation requires that deserts decrease and forested areas increase. The effect of biome change on global temperature is revealed as a significant forecasting factor.

Evaluation of the Biolog automated microbial identification system.

Biolog's identification system was used to identify 39 American Type Culture Collection reference taxa and 45 gram-negative isolates from water samples. Of the reference strains, 98% were identified to genus level and 76% to species level within 4 to 24 h. Identification of some authentic strains of Enterobacter, Klebsiella, and Serratia was unreliable. A total of 93% of the water isolates were identified.