Journal of Food Quality and Hazards Control

2

Authors: G. Eslami*, B. Hajimohammadi, H. Zandi

The first Iranian national conference of "Role of Genetically Modified Foods in Supplying Safe Food and Sustainable Development" was held in Yazd, central Iran at 17 February 2016. This event was the first of its own kind in this country organized and financially supported by Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, Biosafety Society of Iran, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences (Faculty of Health), and Committee for Genetically Modified Food Safety. The conference, with the novel theme ‘‘Genetically Modified Foods and Iranian Food Security”, attracted a great number of participators from over the country not only from universities, faculties, research centers and governments, but also from several Iranian food indus-tries. Some official delegates from various organizations attended in the conference, such as Ministry of Health, Cure and Medical Education, Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, Management and Planning Organization of Iran, Agricultural Biotechnology Institute of Iran, Genetic Society of Iran, National Nutrition and Food Technology Institute, Food and Drug Administration, Iranian Society of Food Hygiene and Safety, Iran Biotechnology Information Center, Pasteur Institute, Biotechnology Society of Iran, and Farmer's House Organization, etc. Also, seven professional reporters affiliated to the national radio, TV or newspapers participated for media coverage of all the news and events in the conference. The major topics of the conference included 1) relation between food security and sustainable development 2) environmental benefits of genetically modified foods 3) the last situation of genetically modified foods in Iran and the world 4) genetic engineering and development of transgenic products 5) safety of genetically modified food 6) biosafety and its national and international laws 7) standards of genetically modified foods 8) economical aspects of genetically modified foods 9) evaluation of some recent stated concerns about genetically modified food. The conference was begun with welcome speaking by Dr. Mohammad Reza Mirjalili (chairman of the confer-ence), Prof. Behzad Ghareyazie (scientific secretary of the conference) and also Dr. Mohammad Mirmohammadi (governor of Yazd province), who spoke about the major topics and aims of the conference. Then, some special invited lecturer presented orally their scientific opinions and shared their individual experiences in pervious researches, named Dr. Isa Kalantari, Prof. Mansour Omidi, Prof. Mahmoud Tavallayi, Dr. Mottahareh Mohsen Pour, Dr. Eskandar Omidinia, Prof. Masoud Tohidfar, Dr. Seyyed Elyas Mortazavi, Prof. Mohammad Shahedi, Dr. Abdolhossein Kazemi, and Dr. Fahim Dokht Mokhtari. Out of several papers which had been submitted previously to the conference office, 10 of them having high quality were chosen by scientific committee members as elite papers and were published in special issue. Expert panel was held and headed by Prof. Behzad Ghareyazie, along with seven academic members of scientific committee. It was a fully dynamic conference because of several attractive debates with numerous questions and exchange opinions. At the end of the conference, a few young students who had great executive or/and scientific collaborations in the conference were awarded, sponsored by Biosafety Society of Iran. An important and ultimate section in this conference was related to designing and presenting of “Resolution Agreement” that was finally signed by the academic participants. Some major topics of the resolution were as follow:  Considering ever increasing need for adequate food, more attempts are necessary to produce genetically modified foods for achieve food security in Iran.  Financial and executive supports of governmental organizations especially Ministry of Health, Cure and Medical Education and Ministry of Agricul-ture Jihad are needed to facilitate assessment and production of genetically modified foods.  Researchers, academicians and also PhD students should be encouraged to design more detailed researches in field of genetically modified foods.  When a new genetically modified food is produced, safety assessment analyses are inevita-ble and should be considered.  There is an instant and critical need for exactly examination and continuous monitoring of organic foods for aflatoxin residue and also fraudulent labeling. We would like to appreciate all the participators, members of scientific committee, lecturers, reviewers, students and sponsors who attended in the conference. Also, we acknowledge Prof. Amir Houshang Mehrparvar (Deputy of Researches and Technology, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran) for his kindly executive efforts and providing financial supports. Especial thanks are given to Prof. Mohammad Hassan Ehrampoush (Head of Faculty of Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran) and Prof. Behzad Ghareyazie (Head of Biosafety Society of Iran) which without their sincerely management and leadership, the conference would never have been so attractive and unique.

5

Authors: S. Mason1, S. Arjmandtalab2, B. Hajimohammadi3,4, M.H. Ehrampoush4,5, A. Khosravi Arsanjani3*,G.H. Jahed Khaniki6, A. Rahimzade4, M. Raeisi7

Background: Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is a toxic compound that could be found in milk and dairy products. AFM1 is the principle hydroxylated derivative of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), formed in liver and excreted into the milk in the mammary glands of both human and lactating animals that have been fed with AFB1 contaminated diet. To the best of our knowledge, there is no report on stability of AFM1 during production of Iranian traditional kashk (ITK). This study designed to assess the effect of ITK processing on AFM1 content of cow’s milk artificially contaminated with AFM1. Methods: ITK making consisted of production of yogurt and strained yogurt, boiling the strained yogurt to make a curd and drying the resultant curd, according to common native procedure in Iran. AFM1 content of initial yogurt, strained yogurt and dried kashk was determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Statistical analyses were performed by Student’s t-test and ANOVA using the SPSS 16.0 software package program. Results: The mean concentration of AFM1 in final ITK was determined as 0.118 μg/kg which was significantly (p<0.05) lower than that of initial milk, yogurt and strained yogurt samples. Also, AFM1 content of yogurt, strained yogurt and final ITK product was 46.12%, 6.94% and 48.24%, respectively lower than that of initial milk (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that ITK processing can effectively degrade AFM1 presented in initial raw milk and could be useful for minimizing AFM1 content of highly contaminated raw milk in dairy industries.

5

Authors: E. Sadeghi1, A. Mohammadi2, M. Jamilpanah3, M. Bashiri4*, S. Bohlouli5

Background: Listeria monocytogenes is an important Gram-positive disease-causing bacterium existing in milk and dairy products. Inhibitory effects of the Mentha pulegium essential oil at concentrations of 0.03, 0.015, and 0.0075% on growth of L. monocytogenes were studied in Iranian white cheese during 60 days of storage. Methods: Essential oil of M. pulegium plant, collected from north of Iran, was extracted by Clevenger apparatus and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antibacterial effects of the oil were evaluated by growth of the microorganism in control and treatment cheese samples. Also, sensory properties of the cheese samples containing different concentration of M. pulegium were determined. Statistical analyses were performed by ANOVA and Fisher’s Least Significant Difference (LSD) procedure using SPSS 16.0 software. Results: GC-MS analysis showed that the major compounds of M. pulegium essential oil were pulegone (36.68%), piperitenone (16.88%) and 1,8 cineole (14.58%). In control group, L. monocytogenes grew in 7 days and then their growth decreased gradually during 60 days. But, in all treated samples there is a log reduction in bacterium count while the maximum growth lasted for 14 days with a significant difference (p<0.05) compared with control samples. Although 0.03% concentration of mentha oil had the most strong antibacterial effects, but samples with 0.015% essential oil had significantly higher organoleptic properties score comparing the other samples (p<0.05). Conclusion: M. pulegium essential oil not only can improve organoleptic properties of cheese but also can reduce and postpone the growth of L. monocytogenes in this product.

7

Authors: B. Yavari1, S. Sarami2, S. Shahgaldi2, S.S. Athari2*, A. Sharma3

In recent decades, biotechnologists have striven to improve the quantity and quality of food supply. Producing genetically modified (GM) foods is one of the main goals and many countries all over the world have approved the distribution and consumption of the labeled GM foods in their own regions. However, there are still few groups having concerns about allergenicity of GM foods. This review highlights the pathways to ensure food safety of GM foods from view point of absence of allergens and also describes the risk assessment procedures, including bioinformatics assays, biochemical procedures, immunological assessments and animal models. According to present published data-base, there are few studies demonstrated that GM foods have some slight allergic effects. In this regard, the authors concluded that, at the present, producing GM foods in response to the enormous need of the universal population could be a good solution; yet assessing the allergenicity of these foods is an approach to ensure the highest safety of GM foods. On the other hand, considering important role of GM foods in decreasing hunger and achieving food security in the world, possible allergenicity of GM foods is preventable by strict regulation and extensive laboratory testing before distribution in local and global markets. Finally, according to literature review, it seems probably that there is no serious risk about allergenicity of GM foods produced and consumed until now in the world.