Feature Channels: Food and Water Safety

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Newswise: Local manure regulations can help reduce water pollution from dairy farms
Released: 21-Mar-2023 2:50 PM EDT
Local manure regulations can help reduce water pollution from dairy farms
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Animal agriculture is a major source of water pollution in the United States, as manure runoff carries excess nutrients into rivers and lakes. Because of their non-point source nature, most farms are not regulated under the federal Clean Water Act. This leaves pollution control up to the states, resulting in a patchwork of different approaches that are difficult to evaluate.

Newswise: A Recipe for 3D-Printing Food
16-Mar-2023 12:05 PM EDT
A Recipe for 3D-Printing Food
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Additive manufacturing of food involves designing, pre-processing, manufacturing, and post-processing, and each step is an opportunity to create innovative foods. In Physics of Fluids, researchers identify factors that affect the print quality and shape complexity of the food created. For example, changing the printing patterns and ingredients of the initial mix or paste can affect the food’s matrix and microstructures and therefore its texture. Accounting for these features can increase food quality, improve control, and speed up printing.

Not for public release

This news release is embargoed until 20-Mar-2023 12:00 PM EDT Released to reporters: 17-Mar-2023 4:20 PM EDT

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Released: 20-Mar-2023 9:00 AM EDT
Antibiotic resistance is an increasing problem. Learn all about it in the Drug Resistance channel.
Newswise

Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridioides difficile, Candida auris, Drug-resistant Shigella. These bacteria not only have difficult names to pronounce, but they are also difficult to fight off. These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent global public health threat.

     
Released: 16-Mar-2023 2:25 PM EDT
Common meat-free proteins may trigger soybean and peanut allergies in some people
Frontiers

Many people keen to reduce their meat consumption are turning to substitutes made of legumes packed with protein, vitamins, and fiber. But allergies to legumes like soy or peanuts are both common and dangerous.

Newswise: Skeptical about the “use by” date on your groceries?
Released: 16-Mar-2023 9:55 AM EDT
Skeptical about the “use by” date on your groceries?
Southern Methodist University

Forget that expiration date on your salmon or yogurt. A graduate student at SMU (Southern Methodist University) has developed a miniature pH sensor that can tell when food has spoiled in real time.

Released: 14-Mar-2023 7:20 PM EDT
Can food banks better promote nutrition and health?
University of California, Davis

An estimated 53 million people in the U.S. turned to food banks and community programs for help putting food on the table in 2021. In recent decades, food banks have adopted policies and practices to make sure people not only have access to food but also healthy and nutritious food.

Newswise: High winds can worsen pathogen spread at outdoor chicken farms
Released: 14-Mar-2023 6:35 PM EDT
High winds can worsen pathogen spread at outdoor chicken farms
Washington State University

A study of chicken farms in the West found that high winds increased the prevalence of Campylobacter in outdoor flocks, a bacterial pathogen in poultry that is the largest single cause of foodborne illness in the U.S.

Released: 14-Mar-2023 4:55 PM EDT
Endocrine Society supports EPA rule regulating “forever chemicals” in drinking water
Endocrine Society

The Endocrine Society supports a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule which includes provisions to regulate several per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—including PFOA and PFOS—found in our drinking water.

Newswise: FAU Harbor Branch Receives $2.8 Million Gift to Create a Queen Conch Farm in Grand Bahama
Released: 14-Mar-2023 3:50 PM EDT
FAU Harbor Branch Receives $2.8 Million Gift to Create a Queen Conch Farm in Grand Bahama
Florida Atlantic University

This support expands FAU Harbor Branch’s extensive aquaculture and food security program focused on replenishing queen conch populations throughout the Caribbean. It also enables development of a conceptual master plan for a 25-acre innovation hub on Grand Bahama for researchers working to solve issues of island sustainability.

Released: 14-Mar-2023 10:00 AM EDT
The ‘Rapunzel’ virus: an evolutionary oddity
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB)

A recent study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry has revealed the secret behind an evolutionary marvel: a bacteriophage with an extremely long tail. This extraordinary tail is part of a bacteriophage that lives in inhospitable hot springs and preys on some of the toughest bacteria on the planet.

   
Newswise: Mass media campaigns can be effective in promoting safer crop pest and disease control, new study reveals
Released: 13-Mar-2023 2:50 PM EDT
Mass media campaigns can be effective in promoting safer crop pest and disease control, new study reveals
CABI Publishing

A new CABI-led study has found that mass media campaigns aimed at changing pesticide use to fight crop pests and diseases are more effective when farmers are exposed to multiple forms of communication.

Newswise: Microbes can create a more peaceful world: Scientists call to action
Released: 10-Mar-2023 6:15 PM EST
Microbes can create a more peaceful world: Scientists call to action
Applied Microbiology International

The paper ‘Weaponising microbes for peace’ by Anand et al, outlines the ways in which microbes and microbial technologies can be used to tackle global and local challenges that could otherwise lead to conflict, but warns that these resources have been severely underexploited to date.

   
Released: 9-Mar-2023 11:30 AM EST
MSU research reveals how climate change threatens Asia’s water tower
Michigan State University

Tibet is known as the “Water Tower of Asia,” providing water to about 2 billion people and supporting critical ecosystems in High Mountain Asia and the Tibetan Plateau, where many of the largest Asian river systems originate. This region is also one of the areas most vulnerable to the compounding effects of climate change and human activities. Michigan State University researchers are identifying policy changes that need to happen now to prepare for the future impacts projected by climate models.

Released: 8-Mar-2023 5:20 PM EST
Long-term exposure to nitrate in drinking water may be a risk factor for prostate cancer
Barcelona Institute for Global Health, ISGlobal

The nitrate ingested over the course of a person’s adult lifetime through the consumption of tap water and bottled water could be a risk factor for prostate cancer, particularly in the case of aggressive tumours and in younger men.

Released: 7-Mar-2023 3:00 AM EST
COVID expansion of SNAP benefits expires, hunger and food insecurity likely to rise, says family nutrition expert
Virginia Tech

SNAP serves as the nation’s and the state’s largest line of defense against hunger and food insecurity. SNAP, formerly called food stamps, provides cash benefits to purchase food to eligible individuals with low incomes. Elena Serrano, director of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Family Nutrition Program, says, “Ending the enhanced benefits will affect households who have the most to lose, those households that qualified for maximum benefits, who will lose an added $95 per month in benefits. On average SNAP participants will lose $82 per month.”

Not for public release

This news release is embargoed until 6-Mar-2023 5:00 PM EST Released to reporters: 28-Feb-2023 2:00 PM EST

A reporter's PressPass is required to access this story until the embargo expires on 6-Mar-2023 5:00 PM EST The Newswise PressPass gives verified journalists access to embargoed stories. Please log in to complete a presspass application. If you have not yet registered, please Register. When you fill out the registration form, please identify yourself as a reporter in order to advance to the presspass application form.

Newswise: Eradicating Polio Will Require Changing the Current Public Health Strategy
6-Mar-2023 10:00 AM EST
Eradicating Polio Will Require Changing the Current Public Health Strategy
Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine

The recent public health emergency declarations in New York and London due to polio infections and detection of the virus in these cities’ wastewater strongly indicate that polio is no longer close to being eradicated. Now, four members of the Global Virus Network (GVN) proposed changes in global polio eradication strategy to get the world back on track to one day eliminating polio’s threat.

Newswise: Capturing Nanoplastics in Tap Water with Light
Released: 2-Mar-2023 8:15 PM EST
Capturing Nanoplastics in Tap Water with Light
National Research Council of Science and Technology

The research team of Dr. Yong-sang Ryu at the Brain Research Institute of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) used an electro-photonic tweezer along with metal nanoparticles to concentrate ultrafine nanoplastics within a short period, and they reported the development of a real-time detection system using light.

Newswise: Simultaneous electricity generation and filteration of wastewater
Released: 2-Mar-2023 8:10 PM EST
Simultaneous electricity generation and filteration of wastewater
National Research Council of Science and Technology

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Seok Jin Yoon) has announced that Dr. Ji-Soo Jang's team from the Electronic Materials Research Center and Prof. Tae-Gwang Yoon's team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Myongji University (President Byeong-Jin Yoo) have jointly developed an advanced membrane that can simultaneously provide drinking water and generate continuous electricity from various water resources, such as sewage/wastewater, seawater, and groundwater.

Released: 1-Mar-2023 6:20 PM EST
Wastewater study monitors Houston schools for viral threats
Rice University

Schools are among the most notable settings people associate with picking up viral infections such as the common cold, various types of the flu or other respiratory viruses.

Newswise: Study forecasts tile drainage and crop rotation changes for nitrogen loss
Released: 1-Mar-2023 12:30 PM EST
Study forecasts tile drainage and crop rotation changes for nitrogen loss
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Midwestern agriculture contributes the vast majority of nitrogen in the Gulf of Mexico, causing an oxygen-starved hypoxic zone and challenging coastal economies. State and federal policies have tried for decades to provide solutions and incentives, but the hypoxic zone keeps coming back.

Released: 28-Feb-2023 6:50 PM EST
Novel method of analyzing microplastic particle pollution can facilitate environmental impact assessment
Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

In the last decade, growing numbers of researchers have studied plastic pollution, one of the world’s most pressing environmental hazards. They have made progress but still face challenges, such as the comparability of results, especially with regard to microplastic particles.

   
Newswise: SoilTech industry-university center to develop technology to measure, track soil health
Released: 28-Feb-2023 4:25 PM EST
SoilTech industry-university center to develop technology to measure, track soil health
Iowa State University

The research groups led by Iowa State's Carmen Gomes and Jonathan Claussen will be part of a new coast-to-coast, industry-university research hub called the Center for Soil Technologies, or SoilTech. Researchers from four universities just launched the center with a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Released: 27-Feb-2023 9:00 AM EST
Do These 5 Things to Protect Your Kids From Ingesting Marijuana Edibles
Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Cannabis poisoning is soaring among small children as parents inadvertently leave edibles within their kids’ reach. Our expert explains how to childproof your pot. As marijuana has become legal in more states across the U.S., a recent analysis has found that the drug is accidentally ending up in the hands—and mouths—of children.

Released: 23-Feb-2023 12:35 PM EST
UC Irvine researchers create E. coli-based water monitoring technology
University of California, Irvine

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 23, 2023 – People often associate Escherichia coli with contaminated food, but E. coli has long been a workhorse in biotechnology. Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have demonstrated that the bacterium has further value as part of a system to detect heavy metal contamination in water. E.

   
Newswise: Enhanced Arsenic Detection in Water, Food, Soil
15-Feb-2023 2:50 PM EST
Enhanced Arsenic Detection in Water, Food, Soil
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

In Journal of Applied Physics, a team of scientists fabricate sensitive nanostructured silver surfaces to detect arsenic, even at very low concentrations. The sensors make use of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: As a molecule containing arsenic adheres to the surface, it's hit with a laser and the arsenic compound scatters the laser light, creating an identifiable signature. The technique is a departure from existing methods, which are time-consuming, expensive, and not ideally suited to on-site field assays.

Released: 20-Feb-2023 3:20 PM EST
Lesson from Flint: Social networks must be engaged in disaster recovery
Cornell University

The size, strength and makeup of people’s social networks are key indicators of how they will respond to the health consequences of an environmental disaster, according to a new Cornell University study that focused on the Flint, Michigan water crisis.

Released: 16-Feb-2023 4:05 PM EST
IAFNS Looks Ahead at 2nd Anniversary with Focus on Food, Nutrition, Transparency
Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences

Advancing food science for public health benefit through transparency and collaboration.

Newswise: New Ultrafast Water Disinfection Method Is More Environmentally Friendly
Released: 16-Feb-2023 10:05 AM EST
New Ultrafast Water Disinfection Method Is More Environmentally Friendly
Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have found a way to use small shocks of electricity to disinfect water, reducing energy consumption, cost, and environmental impact. The technology could be integrated into the electric grid or even powered by batteries.

   
Released: 9-Feb-2023 10:05 AM EST
UNH Research Finds Well Water Risks More Detectable During Warmer Weather
University of New Hampshire

Over 44 million people in the United States depend on private drinking water wells that are not federally regulated. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire and collaborating institutions found that current monitoring practices do not accurately reflect groundwater pollution risks because spikes in harmful bacteria, like those from animal and human waste, vary depending on the season—with highest levels observed from testing conducted in summer months when temperatures are over 90°F.

Released: 8-Feb-2023 1:35 PM EST
The environmental benefits of a food-sharing economy are highly dependent on how the money saved is then used
Tel Aviv University

Does the digital sharing economy really reduce harm to the environment? The researchers found that food sharing has significant environmental advantages, but that a substantial part of the benefits of online sharing platforms are offset due to the use of the saved money for purposes that are not necessarily green.

Released: 8-Feb-2023 8:05 AM EST
Artificial sweetener as wastewater tracer
University of Vienna

Acesulfame is a sweetener in sugar-free drinks and foods. As it cannot be metabolised in the human body, the sweetener ends up in wastewater after consumption and remains largely intact even in sewage treatment plants. A new study by the University of Vienna shows that the persistence of the sweetener varies with temperature as the concentration of the sweetener in wastewater varies with the seasons.

Newswise: This loofah-inspired, sun-driven gel could purify all the water you’ll need in a day
3-Feb-2023 8:00 AM EST
This loofah-inspired, sun-driven gel could purify all the water you’ll need in a day
American Chemical Society (ACS)

Devices currently in development that clean up dirty water using sunlight can only produce a few gallons of water each day. But now, researchers in ACS Central Science report how a sunlight-powered porous hydrogel could potentially purify enough water to meet daily needs — even when it’s cloudy.

Released: 2-Feb-2023 3:05 PM EST
Toxic metals in baby food: Researchers find ‘concerning’ gaps in U.S. regulations
University at Buffalo

U.S. is lacking in the strict regulations for commercially produced baby foods that parents might expect, according to research team that outlined risk prevention strategies for parents and health care professionals.

Released: 2-Feb-2023 10:45 AM EST
Join in Building the Evidence to Support Consuming Beneficial Live Microbes in Yogurts and Other Foods
Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences

Food manufacturers can now enter data on the safe, live microbes in their products into a global database to support a recommended amount for the diet.

   
Released: 1-Feb-2023 2:35 PM EST
New Tool Available to Ensure Consumer Acceptance of Fiber Enriched Foods
Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences

Two new publications make it easier to formulate fiber-added foods with acceptable consumer tolerance.

   
Newswise: High-Protein, Gluten-Free Pasta: Chula’s Research to Ensure the Good Health of Gluten-Intolerant People
Released: 27-Jan-2023 8:55 AM EST
High-Protein, Gluten-Free Pasta: Chula’s Research to Ensure the Good Health of Gluten-Intolerant People
Chulalongkorn University

A faculty member of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Science has researched and developed high-protein, gluten-free pasta noodles for gluten-intolerant health-lovers.

   
Newswise: Mount Sinai Researchers Awarded $12 Million NIH Grant to Create a Center to Unravel Novel Causes of Food Allergy and Atopic Dermatitis
Released: 25-Jan-2023 4:10 PM EST
Mount Sinai Researchers Awarded $12 Million NIH Grant to Create a Center to Unravel Novel Causes of Food Allergy and Atopic Dermatitis
Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai researchers have been awarded $12 million over five years by the National Institutes of Health to create a center to elucidate novel causes of, and contributing factors to, food allergies and atopic dermatitis. The Systems Biology of Early Atopy (SunBEAm) Analysis and Bioinformatics Center intends to develop a better understanding of allergy development. The center will apply systems biology to identify early-life markers of risk for food allergies and atopic dermatitis (also known as eczema), as well as biological pathways underlying these common conditions, through the profiling and analysis of longitudinal multi-omics data from a multi-center pre-birth cohort of 2,500 children.

13-Jan-2023 4:20 PM EST
Dollar Stores Are Growing as Food Retailers in the U.S.
Tufts University

Tufts University researchers have found that dollar stores are now the fastest-growing food retailers in the contiguous United States—and have doubled their share in rural areas. Households with more purchases at dollar stores also tend to be lower-income and headed by people of color.

   


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