Journal of Food Quality and Hazards Control

1

Authors: M. Kumar , S.S Athari *

Allergic asthma as a heterogeneous disease, is a main global problem in health. Newly, 300 million people worldwide have asthma. In recent years, asthma has become an increasingly prevalent disease worldwide, especially for children. Allergic asthma is characterized by symptoms of wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, airway inflammation. Asthma has a strong genetic background but exposing to allergens and other nonspecific environmental factors could activate this susceptibility. The involved allergen specific immune response induces T helper 2 lymphocytes that active eosinophils, mast cells, basophils, airway epithelial cells, and immunoglobulin-secreting B cells that lead to allergic and inflammation responses (Bel, 2013; Corren et al., 2011). Today, several drugs have been developed to control asthma. Traditional medicines, especially herbal ones have been used to control and manage it for a long time. Recently, tends to traditional medicine has been increased due to their low side effects and cost (Athari, 2013; Bel, 2013). According to the unofficial reports, in some countries such as Iran, local people believe that eating hedgehog meat can completely cure asthma sufferers. Eating hedgehog's meat is not only ineffective but it can be harmful in some cases of severe asthma since hedgehog proteins can cause allergic reactions in atopic patients and exacerbate asthma attacks. It could be kind of food allergies that lead to asthma. The infections and parasites of the animal meat can also be risk factors for it. On the other hand, there is no scientific evidence to prove that eating hedgehog's meat is useful for the treatment of asthma, so far. To date, no cure for asthma has been identified, rather only controlling drugs and techniques have been proposed. The slaughter of the animals due to something that does not benefit in terms of work, in ethical and moral glance, is inhuman. It will damage wildlife and the environment. Therefore, this is a dangerous approach in public health and a serious threat to health that is important warning for consumers and health care providers till by informing these people do this to avoid.

2

Authors: K.W. Witwer *

In a recent editorial article published by Salehi (2014) in Journal of Food Quality and Hazards Control (1: 93), the author cited two studies of plant microRNAs (miRNAs) as supporting "adverse health consequences" of genetically modified foods (Zhang et al., 2012a; Zhang et al., 2012b). The first of these studies reported that a conserved, ubiqui-tous, and high-abundance plant microRNA could regulate expression of the mammalian gene LDLRAP1 (Zhang et al., 2012a). On the other hand, analysis of public RNA expres-sion datasets (Zhang et al., 2012b) found little evidence for uptake of plant dietary miRNAs, or “xenomiRs” (Witwer, 2012) by ingesting animals. Strikingly, and of some poten-tial concern, it was suggested that the foods examined in these two studies (plants without specific modifications) are safe, while a food category not examined in the studies (ge-netically modified plants) represents a health risk. It might be useful to examine the two cited studies more closely, as well as to consider the more recent literature on the topic of xenomiRs. The first issue to resolve is that Zhang et al. (2012b) have not claimed that "double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) generat-ed in genetically modified plants...can create biosafety risks" indicated by mentioned article. Instead, they reported that MIR168a, a ubiquitous and abundant mature endogenous plant miRNA (not dsRNA), can affect the expression of a mammalian gene in the liver (Zhang et al., 2012b). This result was questioned in light of new evidence from a sub-sequent study (Dickinson et al., 2013) that included im-portant additional experimental controls. Had the initial finding been validated, it would still have had no specific relevance to genetically modified food as opposed to plants in general. If adverse consequences could be inferred from the original study, the logical conclusion would be "to avoid the hazards of..." eating any and all plants, not just genet-ically modified foods. Genetic modification, in this scenario, would have provided useful tools to reduce the expression of the putatively harmful MIR168a and thus allow safer con-sumption of plant material. The point is moot, however, since no xenomiR-based harm has been established for mod-ified or unmodified plants. Secondly, a subsequent independent publication (Zhang et al., 2012b) did not state that dietary xenomiRs "enter the serum and plasma of humans and animals." Quite the oppo-site: examining around 80 public datasets, the authors found that meager, highly variable evidence of xenomiR detection was most consistent with contamination rather than actual uptake. Sources of environmental plant RNA abound, espe-cially in labs that study plant sequences. Contamination is easily detected with sensitive high-throughput techniques (Tosar et al., 2014) and gives a possible explanation for previous, apparently positive results. The history of safe plant consumption demonstrates that hypothetical xenomiR-based regulatory mechanisms are not a health risk. Indeed, essential human genes contain many binding sites for plant RNA products, without evidence of adverse consequences (Jensen et al., 2013). Since interac-tions of these genes with foreign xenomiRs or other RNA interference effectors would have resulted in negative selec-tion, we must assume that the interactions do not occur. One reason why xenomiRs do not affect genes in the ingesting animal—and contrary to the statement that "food-derived small RNAs and dsRNAs can enter the circulation"—is that they are not normally present in circulation and cannot reach copy numbers in mammalian cells that would be consistent with regulatory influence. An increasing number of investi-gators have found no significant uptake of plant xenomiRs into mammalian blood (Baier et al., 2014; Dickinson et al., 2013; Snow et al., 2013; Witwer et al., 2013), even when the most abundant miRNAs in the food sources are examined. None has reported uptake of dsRNA. The many barriers to uptake and function of dietary RNA have been reviewed elsewhere (Petrick et al., 2013; Witwer and Hirschi, 2014). Considering the mounting evidence against uptake and func-tion of even high-abundance, ubiquitous plant xenomiRs, there is currently no scientific reason to discourage ingestion of genetically modified plants on the basis of small RNA considerations.

5

Authors: M. Moradi, A. Hassani, A. Ehsani, M. Hashemi *, M. Raeisi , S.S. Naghibi

Background: In current study, chemical composition and antibacterial activity of leaves and flowers essential oils of Origanum vulgare ssp. gracile against four food-borne pathogens including Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella thyphimurium and Staphylococcus aureus were examined. Methods: The different organs (leaves and flowers) of O. vulgare ssp. gracile were harvested at flowering stage from wild grown plants in Kurdistan province, Iran. Phytochemical properties of the essential oils were identified by GC and GC/MS analysis. Also, antibacterial effects of O. vulgare ssp. gracile against each bacterial strain were detected by calculating the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration using micro-dilution method. Data was analyzed by chi square and fisher exact tests using SPSS 16.0. Results: Main components of leaf and flower oils were carvacrol (46.5% and 60.6%), γ-terpinene (13.91% and 16.64%) and ρ-cymene (13.54% and 7.21%). E. coli and S. aureus had similar sensitivity to essential oils, but S. typhimurium showed more sensitivity. Output of composition analysis showed that the O. vulgare ssp. gracile flowers essential oil has more effect than those from leaves. Conclusion: This work showed substantial inhibitory effect of O. vulgare ssp. gracile essential oils on food-borne pathogens. The efficiency of O. vulgare ssp. gracile flowers oils in reduction of the bacterial activity was higher than the leaves essential oils. According to the results of this research, this essential oil can be utilized as a natural preservative in food products.

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Authors: B. Hajimohammadi, G. Eslami, A. Zohourtabar, A. Dehghani, A. Oryan, H. Pourmirzaei Tafti , F. Radouani

Background: Sarcocystosis is one of the most widespread parasitic diseases in cattle caused by three main species of Sarcocystis genus. The major aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. in meat produced in Yazd, central Iran with special reference to species identification, using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Methods: During March 2012 to May 2013, samples were randomly collected from esophagus, heart, diaphragm, intercostal muscle and tongue of 120 slaughtered cattle at Yazd, central Iran. After DNA extraction, PCR-RFLP was used for detection and identification of Sarcocystis spp. The statistical analysis was performed by Chi-Square test, using SPSS software (v. 16.0). Results: The molecular analysis showed that Sarcocystis spp. was found in 112 of 120 (93.3%) slaughtered cattle. The prevalence of S. cruzi, S. hirsuta and S. hominis were 90%, 38.3% and 57.5% respectively. Among the 112 infected cattle, single and multiple (infected by more than one species) infection were seen in 45 and 67 cattle, respectively. No significant association was detected between sex, age, sample type and the prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. (p>0.05). Conclusion: Considering its public health importance, high prevalence of S. hominis should be highlighted in this region. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to be conducted in Iran. More detailed studies are needed to describe the distribution pattern and species identification of Sarcocycstis spp. in other regions of Iran.

1

Authors: R. Salehi

MicroRNAs are small endogenous noncoding RNAs ap-proximately 19-22 nucleotides in length that have been conserved among a vast array of species. They mediate posttranscriptional regulation of protein-coding genes by binding to the 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR) and some-times to the 5′UTR or coding regions of target mRNAs. Their mode of action involve either by transcript degrada-tion or translation inhibition depending on a complete or partial match between the microRNA’s seed, a short seg-ment of few critical nucleotides which is directing specific microRNA-mRNA binding, and its target site. Deregula-tion of microRNA expression has been implicated in many diseases including multifactorial complex one like cancers, neuro-degeneration and cardiovascular diseases. The find-ings indicate that exosomal secretory microRNAs, as a silence master of gene expression can make multi transla-tion inhibitory leading to the creation of specific biological events (Carroll et al., 2013). Since their discovery, microRNAs have become the fo-cus of research and have been identified as key regulators of cellular physiological process and different biological functions such as differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis of cells, hormone secretion, etc. Recently, it has been reported that exogenous plant mi-croRNAs appear to enter the serum and plasma of humans and animals (Zhang et al., 2012). It has been also revealed that food-derived exogenous plant microRNAs can pass through the mouse gastrointestinal track and enter the cir-culation and various organs especially the liver where it cross-kingdomly regulates mouse genes and affecting physiological condition. It was recently claimed that small double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) generated in Genetically Modified (GM) plants as the result of using gene silencing techniques can create bio-safety risks (Zhang et al., 2011). In conclusion, there is convincing evidence that microRNAs act as a post-transcriptional master regulator of gene expression in mammals. On the other hand, there is evidence that food-derived small RNAs and dsRNAs can enter to the circula-tion and this class of freely circulating RNAs contributes quite efficiently to the gene regulation of different host organs. GM foods are a source of small RNAs which differ from those of their unmodified counterparts. So, there is a fairly reasonable prediction of the higher risk of gene de-regulation as a consequence of consuming GM foods. Of course, more experimental data are needed to confirm this hypothesis but based on the emerging scientific reports; it is advisable to avoid the hazards of GM food

4

Authors: M. Khodadadi1, R. Khosravi1, A. Allahresani2, Y. Khaksar3, L. Rafati4, B. Barikbin1

Background: Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is a toxic and carcinogenic mycotoxin which after pres-ence in milk and dairy products such as cheese and butter could make them as contaminated food. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the concentration of AFM1 in pasteur-ized and traditional cheese marketed in Southern Khorasan, from December 2011 to January 2012. Methods: A total of 102 cheese samples (including 43 non-pasteurized traditional and 59 pasteurized cheese) were analyzed for detection of AFM1. The samples were collected ran-domly from three major cities of Southern Khorasan province, Iran. A rapid and sensitive indirect competitive Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) method using mono-clonal antibody was used to measure AFM1 concentration in the samples. Results: According to the results of this study, AFM1 was detected in 14 (32.55%) tradition-al and 21 (35.59%) pasteurized cheese samples. In total, 25.42% of pasteurized and 27.90% of traditional cheese samples were contaminated at above level of the Iranian standard limits (50 ng/kg). Conclusion: Considering high contamination level of both pasteurized and traditional cheese products in Southern Khorasan, it is recommended to establish continuous monitor-ing program of AFM1 by food safety agencies in order to control the incidence of mycotoxin contamination

4

Authors: M. Ahmadi1*, V. Razavilar2, A.A. Motallebi2, R. Esmailzadeh Kenari3, A.A. Khanipour4

Background: Antioxidant activities of plant extracts are being studied to increase the shelf life of fish products. Some plants such as Urtica dioica L. (nettle) can be a good source of antioxidants. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of hydroalcoholic and water extracts of nettle leaf on the chemical properties of superchilled minced meat of the common kilka fish (Clupeonella cultriventris caspia). Methods: One hundred g of minced meat of kilka was mixed with 200 and 400 ppm of both hydroalcoholic and water extracts of nettle separately, and stored at -2 °C. The Total Vola-tile Basic Nitrogen (TVB-N) and Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) of the samples were analyzed at days 0, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28. The statistical analysis was carried out using Duncan’s multiple range tests in MStat-C software. Results: Both hydroalcoholic and water extracts of nettle extended the shelf life of minced kilka from 2 days to 8 days. However, no relation (p>0.05) was observed between chemical values and kind of extracts. Also, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) between two concentration levels of extracts and chemical values. Conclusion: Treatment levels of nettle extracts could effectively delay chemical deteriora-tion, and extend the shelf life of minced kilka during storage. A combination of superchilling temperature (-2 °C) and treatment of minced kilka with 200 and 400 ppm of hydroalcoholic and water extracts of nettle can extend the shelf life to 28 days. Based on the results of this study, it is proposed that these plant extracts can be used as safe preservatives for minced fish

5

Authors: N. Mollakhalili Meybodi1, M.A. Mohammadifar2*, A.R. Naseri2

Beverage emulsions are systems that are composed of two liquids including oil and water which are prepared by homogenizing oil phase in an acidic aqueous phase. They must be stable in both concentrated and diluted form for a period of 6-12 months upon standing at room temperature. Two immiscible phases contained systems are thermodynamically unsta-ble. In other words, they are vulnerable to break down over time by different process such as flocculation, coalescence, gravitational separation, phase inversion and ostwald ripening. The rate of destabilization depends on physicochemical properties of two phases, interfacial layer characteristic and the components present in both continuous and dispersed phase. However, beverage emulsions are thermodynamically unstable; it is possible to make it ki-netically stable using an appropriate emulsifier with respect to emulsion properties, change the dispersed phase characteristic in a way that retards its upward movement. In this article, the most common factors affected on beverage oil-in-water emulsion stability are reviewed. We will also introduce some solutions to improve beverage emulsion stability

1

Authors: Dr. Ewen Todd

Elsevier has a long history of producing encyclopedias in different aspects of science and medicine, but this four-volume work is the first of its kind in the field of food safety. Such an encyclopedia is meant to cover many related topics within this field, but each cannot be totally comprehensive. I believe the editors, the expert editorial advisory board, and the publisher have got it right when they created this encyclopedia. The fact that it takes four volumes means that the field of food safety is vast and it required many experts from around the world to put together this work. With 280 chapters, the encyclopedia provides the latest scientific information as concise overviews on a broad range of topics, such as: history and basic sciences that support food safety; prevalence, surveillance, and investigation of food borne diseases in six world regions; microbiological and chemical food borne agents; risk analysis; 16 types of traditional and newer food technologies; and food safety management systems to control potential hazards in different commodities by industry and government. Where there is overlap between food safety and other disciples, there is some coverage of those aspects such as nutrition, food science and the environment. The publisher indicates that this encyclopedia should interest a wide range of professionals in industry, government and academia. I believe this is valid. Although the whole encyclopedia is relatively expensive for individuals at over $1000, various chapters can be purchased separately. For instance, for those with a particular concern for possible pathogens or other hazards in one food commodity, they can check the comprehensive index which chapters would be the most useful to them. Most potential purchasers will opt for the electronic-line version. Libraries may obtain the whole set for their readers. As the oversight for the prevention and control of food borne diseases is expanded, especially in international trade, this encyclopedia will become invaluable to quickly explore specific topics and then follow up on the further reading list at the end of each chapter to obtain more information. In the microbiological area, there are over 33 bacterial, 27 parasitic, 10 viral agents and prions covered. There are chapters on natural toxicants (11), environmental contaminants including toxic metals (9), contaminants associated with processing (13), food additives (7), pesticides (7), and veterinary drug residues (7). There are also chapters on nutritional hazards and allergies. There are 30 chapters on the safety of foods and beverages which include discussions on organic food, kosher and halal requirements, and deliberate food adulteration. There are 20 chapters on public health measures of prevention and control, and another 23 chapters on food safety assurance systems for industry. The last section describes institutions involved in food safety, primarily at the international level, such as World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Interestingly, the International Commission for the Microbiological Specification of Foods (ICMSF) does not have a specific chapter but some of its members have contributed to various chapters throughout the encyclopedia. In summary, some of the chapter topics can be accessed in other text books or on-line sources, but there is nothing like this encyclopedia for its comprehensiveness in combining as many food safety related topics as possible less than one source. Some examples of the more unusual chapter topics are: History of food borne disease the Renaissance and Enlightenment; Food safety training and health education; Cost of food borne diseases; Food borne disease in travelers; Toxigenic corynebacteria; African Swine Fever Virus; Biogenic amines; Phthalates; Ectoparasiticides; Food-related choking; Nanotechnology and food safety; Safety of food in vending machines; Safety of Korean fermented foods; Risk governance; Management of biofilm risk; Food safety and ethics; and Global Harmonization Initiative. If you want to expand your knowledge over the whole field of food safety you can look no further than dipping into this encyclopedia.

4

Authors: M. Amin Zare1, S.M. Razavi Rohani1, M. Raeisi2*, SH. Javadi Hosseini3, M. Hashemi4

Background: Food borne pathogens are of the main concerns of food producers and con-sumers and Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus create a lot of problems worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate antibacterial effects of monolaurin, sorbic acid and po-tassium sorbate on S. aureus and E. coli at different pH values and NaCl concentrations. Methods: Micro-well dilution assay was used to determine antimicrobial potency of monolaurin, sorbic acid and potassium sorbate. First, stock solutions of each antimicrobial compounds were prepared and then two-fold dilution method was used to obtain final con-centrations of tested antimicrobials. A 96 well microplate was inoculated with different con-centrations of antimicrobials and bacterial inoculums (final inoculums was approximately 5×105 CFU/ml). After incubation, growth of E. coli and S. aureus were evaluated. Statistical analysis was made by the analysis of variance using SPSS software, version 16.0. Results: The MICs of monolaurin, sorbic acid and potassium sorbate were respectively >4000, >5000, >10000 μg/ml for E. coli, and 128, 1250 and 2500 μg/ml for S. aureus. The results showed that all of these compounds had considerable effect on S. aureus while E. coli was less sensitive. It should be noted that, monolaurin had strong antimicrobial effect on E. coli when used in combination with ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, monolaurin and sorbates can be used ef-fectively as food preservative and growth inhibitor of these food borne pathogens. Using NaCl and/or lower pH values may fortify their bacteriostatic effects.

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Authors: A. Golshan Tafti1*, S.H. Peighambardoust2, M.A. Hejazi3, M.H. Moosavy4

Background: Lactic acid bacteria play a key role in sourdough fermentation. Lactobacilli are the most important group of lactic acid bacteria in sourdough. Therefore, the main objec-tive of this study was to identify Lactobacillus strains in Iranian traditional wheat sour-doughs as a basis for further studies on the technological applications in the production of typical breads. Methods: Fourteen traditional sourdough samples were collected from the Southern regions in East-Azarbaijan province of Iran. In all sourdough samples, pH and Total Titratable Acid-ity (TTA) values were determined, and then isolation and identification of Lactobacillus iso-lates were carried out. Results: Most sourdough samples had the pH value of 3.64 to 3.90 and the TTA varied from 16.8 to 19.2 ml of 0.1 N NaOH/10 g sourdough. Isolates were divided into two main groups (group A and group B) using phenotypic characteristics, group B subdivided into eight groups. Overall, 38% of the isolates, which clustered together in group A, were closely re-lated to Lactobacillus paralimentarius, while 27% and 20% of the isolates were closely re-lated to Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus curvatus, respectively. A few isolates were also identified as Lactobacillus agilis and Lactobacillus hilgardii. Conclusion: Lactobacillus paralimentarius, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus curvatus, and the rare presence of Lactobacillus agilis and Lactobacillus hilgardii were identified in Iranian traditional sourdough. These lactobacilli may have potential to be used as starter cultures in the manufacture of sourdough breads with perfect and good quality

6

Authors: N. Mollakhalili Meybodi1, M.A. Mohammadifar2*

Background: Emulsions are thermodynamically unstable systems that can be kinetically stable by adding substances known as emulsifiers and/or thickening agents. By respect to the functional properties of gum tragacanth (GT), and its breakage probability during irradiation treatment, the major aim of this study was to investigate the stability of oil in water emulsion in the presence of different doses irradiated GT by respect to its viscosity and viscoelastic properties at constant temperature. Methods: The effect of irradiation treatment was studied on the rheological properties of 10% w/w oil in water emulsions systems containing 0.5% w/w GT that is irradiated at doses of 0, 3, 5 and 10 kGy that are called NIGT, GT 3, GT 5, GT 5 and GT 10, respectively. In order to monitor the effect of irradiation treatment on rheological properties, rheometer has been used. All treatments were performed three times and the data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Values were considered to be significantly different if p<0.05. Results: Irradiation treatment affects on rheological properties of GT containing oil in water emulsion both in steady state and oscillatory one. Increasing the irradiation dose up to 10 kGy decreases the consistency index from 1.88 to 0.076 and increases the flow behavior in-dex from 0.42 to 0.764. Irradiation treatment also makes the systems behaves more sol like. It should be noted that these differents are dose dependant. Conclusion: Rheological properties of irradiated GT containing emulsion are dose depend-ant. These changes may be due to the gums structural rearrangement due to irradiation. It is necessary to apply appropriate dose by considering its desirable function.

1

Authors: Ahmed M. Alzohairy, PhD

I would like to draw your attention to “Marrara syndrome”, a food borne parasitic infection induced by Lingutula serrata. As we know, the name of Marrara syndrome is originated from Marrara, a popular meal in Sudan prepared form raw liver and lung of sheep or goat. High infection rate of L. serrata in human population of some areas of Sudan is attributed to the consumption of this meal. According to the current scientific database, L. serrata is more prevalent in some African and Asian countries such as Sudan, Lebanon and Iran compared with the other areas of the world. Moreover, consumption of raw or undercooked edible offal is a common habit in some parts of these regions. So, populations of these countries are at relatively high risk of infection. Molecular techniques are the best ways to study this issue. Since molecular epidemiology of L. serrata is still unknown, the reasons for such high prevalence in domestic animals and consequent food of animal origin are not clear yet. On the other hand, it is not still known if the isolated nymphs pertaining to edible offal of different hosts are exactly the same or not. So, it seems that the first step to achieve more scientific information about this question is to study more about molecular epidemiology of the nymphs isolated from edible liver or lung of animals. Therefore, since the L. serrata is a problematic hazard in some African and Asian countries, native researchers should study more about molecular analysis of this food borne parasite.

3

Authors: G. Eslami (PhD) 1, A. Zohourtabar 2* (MSc), S.R. Mehrizi 3 (DVM)

Introduction: The main agents of sarcocystosis in cattle as an intermediate host include S. cruzi, S. hominis and S. hirsuta. A sensitive and specific tool such as molecular-based techniques would be necessary to identify the species. Case report: After collection of beef sample from Yazd slaughterhouse, DNA extraction was done with salting out method. The 18SrRNA gene as a specific target gene was used for molecular detection of Sarcocystis spp, then Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphysm (RFLP) analysis identified the speciesusing Rsa and Bfa. Results showed that our designed molecular method could identify S. hirsuta in beef sample. Conclusion: Based on our knowledge, this study indicates the first report of molecular identification of S. hirsuta in Iran.

4

Authors: I. Salehi 1 (PhD), M. Ghiasi 2 (MSc), A. Rahmani 3 (PhD), M. Nouri Sepehr 4 (PhD), M. Kiamanesh 5 (BSc),

Introduction: The increasing of population and limited drinking water resources has enhanced the necessity of using bottled water. Many people are now using bottled water because they believe it is a healthful alternative beverage to soft drinks or other bottled beverages. Therefore, the bottled water industry has grown immensely during the past decades. This descriptive cross-sectional study has investigated the quality of bottled water in market and factories of Hamadan province, Iran. Materials and methods: In total, 33 bottled water samples produced in the Hamadan province of Iran, were randomly collected in 2012. The evaluated parameters were nitrate, nitrite, turbidity, Na+, K+, pH, total coliforms and fecal coliforms. The data were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: All the samples meet standard regulations of national standards of Iran and the WHO guidelines. None of the samples, had coliforms or fecal coliforms. The mean values of nitrate, nitrite, turbidity, Na+, K+ and pH parameters were 8.34 mg/l, 0.024 mg/l, 0.38 NTU, 9.36 mg/l, 0.36 mg/l and 8.34, respectively. Conclusion: We found that all measured parameters of bottled water in Hamadan province were within acceptable rang of the national and international standards, and consuming this kind of drinking water would not present any risk to the consumers' health.

6

Authors: B. Hajimohammadi 1 (PhD), A. Dehghani 2 (PhD), M. Moghadam Ahmadi 1 (MSc), G. Eslami 3* (PhD),

Introduction: Hamburger is a popular type of fast foods consumed all over the world. Sarcocystis spp. is a zoonotic parasitic pathogen which endangers safety of meat and meat products. The present study describes the prevalence rate of Sarcocystis spp. in hamburgers in Yazd, Iran using PCR-RFLP. Materials and methods: Raw hamburger samples (100 traditional and 90 industrial) from central region of Iran, Yazd were randomly selected. The genomic DNA was extracted using salting out method. Detection and identification of Sarcocystis isolates was performed using PCR-RFLP. Results: The results showed that 77.9% of all tested hamburger samples were infected with Sarcocystis spp. The infection rate in the traditional hamburger (87%) was significantly (p<0.05) higher than the industrial ones (67.8%). The rate of S. cruzi, S. hirsuta and S. hominis in the traditional hamburger samples, was 39%, 61% and 54% respectively; while the rate of S. cruzi, S. hirsuta and S. hominis in the industrial hamburgers was 67.8%, 58.9% and 57.8%. S. cruzi, respectively. The rate was significantly (p<0.05) higher in industrial hamburgers than in the traditional ones. No statistical association was found between percentage of meat content and the rate of contamination in the industrial hamburger (p>0.05). Conclusion: Having zoonotic significance, considerable infestation rate of S. hominis seems to be high in hamburgers of this region of Iran. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first of its own kind carried out in hamburger samples in Iran.