Mycotoxins are toxic substances that can infect many foods with carcinogenic, genotoxic, teratogenic, nephrotoxic, and hepatotoxic effects. Mycotoxin contamination of foodstuffs causes diseases worldwide. The major classes of mycotoxins that are of the greatest agroeconomic importance are aflatoxins, ochratoxins, fumonisins, trichothecenes, emerging Fusarium mycotoxins, enniatins, ergot alkaloids, Alternaria toxins, and patulin. Thus, in order to mitigate mycotoxin contamination of foods, many control approaches are used. Prevention, detoxification, and decontamination of mycotoxins can contribute in this purpose in the pre-harvest and post-harvest stages. Therefore, the purpose of the review is to elaborate on the recent advances regarding the occurrence of main mycotoxins in many types of important agricultural products, as well as the methods of inactivation and detoxification of foods from mycotoxins in order to reduce or fully eliminate them.

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Advances in Occurrence, Importance, and Mycotoxin Control Strategies: Prevention and Detoxification in Foods.

Depression is one of the most common comorbidities of many chronic medical diseases including cancer and cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory and neurological disorders. Indeed, the prevalence of depression in these patient groups is often substantially higher than in the general population, and depression accounts for a substantial part of the psychosocial burden of these disorders. Many factors can contribute to the occurrence of comorbid depression, such as shared genetic factors, converging biological pathways, social factors, health behaviours and psychological factors. Diagnosis of depression in patients with a medical disorder can be particularly challenging owing to symptomatic overlap. Although pharmacological and psychological treatments can be effective, adjustments may need to be made for patients with a comorbid medical disorder. In addition, symptoms or treatments of medical disorders may interfere with the treatment of depression. Conversely, symptoms of depression may decrease adherence to treatment of both disorders. Thus, comprehensive treatment plans are necessary to optimize care.

Comorbid depression in medical diseases.

Preventing food from fungal infestation has become a cause of great concern as food safety is of particular importance to public health globally. Recently International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in its 2016 press release has urged to take action against widespread mycotoxin contamination in developing countries. Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a group B trichothecene mycotoxin, produced by common field pathogens such as Fusarium graminearum and Fusarium culmorum, and reported to be the predominant contaminant of food commodities. At present, no detailed/systematic review regarding the global occurrence of DON in various food and grain samples is available in the literature. Considering DON's cosmopolitan behavior and toxicological manifestations, the present review summarizes the region-wise reports and surveys conducted across the globe during the last decade, on the occurrence of DON in the food commodities intended for human consumption. Studies conducted on DON metabolites either in food, urine or blood samples from humans have also been reviewed. The present review indicates that the current exposure levels of DON might pose a health risk for the consumers, especially in growing children, necessitating to take vigilant steps to guarantee food safety.

Global occurrence of deoxynivalenol in food commodities and exposure risk assessment in humans in the last decade: a survey.

Background Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widely found in nature and accumulated, enriched, or produced in food through multiple paths, posing a great risk to human health. With more and more studies established on PAHs, it is essential to sort out the publications, analyze hotspots and indicate emerging trends as well. Scope and approach We investigated 1110 studies originating from the Web of Science Core Collection in the field of “Food Science Technology” from the year 1997–2017. These studies were analyzed using HistCite and CiteSpace. This review included the trends and comparisons of literature outputs, "star" papers and hotspots, describing the emerging trend of research on PAHs in food. Key findings and conclusions The results indicated that the number of studies on PAHs in foods has been growing at an average annual rate of 13% from the initial 11 articles to 127 articles. The high yield of PAH-related research in Europe may be attributed to concerns related to olive oil and smoked meats. Besides, hotspots also included the formation of PAHs in food processing, the concentration of PAHs in edible oils and smoked products, and the GC-MS method for detecting PAHs. Based on articles we have analyzed, it is worth mentioning that determination of PAHs and derivatives still needs improvement. Moreover, with collective efforts from all researchers, we hope that more progress will be made in the limit standards and toxicological evaluation for PAH derivatives, as well as methods for the green removal of PAHs in food.

Trends of research on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in food: A 20-year perspective from 1997 to 2017

Brazil is one of the world's largest food producers. Adulteration of foods is often reported and represent an important potential threat to food safety. Because of this, reduction of the vulnerability of foods to adulteration is of high priority to Brazil. This study analyzes economically motivated food fraud and adulterations in Brazil between 2007 and 2017, based on academic journal reports. In addition, alternatives are proposed to minimize these incidents through good practices, traceability systems and the development of methods to detect food fraud and adulteration. Complex supply chains for foods of animal origin, such as milk and dairy products, were the main targets of food fraud and adulterations. Other products prone to fraudulent activities were vegetable oils, especially olive oil, which are high value products. Meat and fish, as well as their respective by‐products, were also involved in some food fraud and adulteration, especially substitution. Cases of extraneous ingredient addition were also reported in the coffee and tea sectors. Comprehensive food fraud and adulteration prevention requires the enforcement of regulatory systems, increased sampling and monitoring, training of food producers and handlers, and development of precise, rapid, and cost‐effective methods of fraud detection. The availability of robust methods to identify the chemical constituents of foods could be a decisive step, both to detect and prevent fraud in producer countries and to open up new markets to these products. The results of this study can be used to analyze food safety risks and prioritize target areas for food research and policy‐making in order to enforce food safety regulations in Brazil. A food fraud and adulteration review was conducted based on scientific literature in Brazil. Milk and its products were the main targets of food fraud and adulterations. Food fraud and adulteration causes and suggestions for good practice are presented. The results can be used to analyze food safety and protect consumer rights.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1750-3841.14279

Economically Motivated Food Fraud and Adulteration in Brazil: Incidents and Alternatives to Minimize Occurrence

Encapsulated specialty oils commercialized in Sao Paulo state, Brazil, were evaluated for their identity (fatty acids profile) and compliance with nutrition labeling (fatty acids and Vitamin E (alpha tocopherol) contents). Twenty one samples [flaxseed oil (6), evening primrose (5), safflower (8), borage (1), and black currant (1)] purchased from local markets or collected by the health surveillance agency were analyzed. The fatty acids and vitamin E contents were analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector and liquid chromatography with UV detector, respectively. Nine samples were adulterated (5 samples of safflower oil, 3 of flaxseed oil, and one of evening primrose). Among them, 3 flaxseed and 2 safflower oil samples were probably adulterated by the addition of soybean oil. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was found in two safflower oils samples although the sale of oils with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is not permitted by the National Health Surveillance Agency in Brazil (ANVISA). Only two samples presented all values in compliance with nutrition labeling (one safflower oil sample and one borage oil sample). The results show that a continuous monitoring of encapsulated specialty oils commercialized in Brazil is

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Encapsulated specialty oils commercialized in São Paulo state, Brazil: evaluation of identity (fatty acid profile) and compliance of fatty acids and Vitamin E contents with nutrition labeling Óleos especiais encapsulados comercializados no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil: avaliação da identidade (perfil de ácidos graxos) e da adequação do conteúdo de ácidos graxos e vitamina E da informação nutricional

O crescente mercado dos produtos naturais, fomentado pelo interesse dos consumidores por alimentos que auxiliem a promocao da saude, tem pressionado a industria alimenticia na oferta por novos alimentos. Dentre estes alimentos, encontram-se os oleos vegetais extraidos a frio, reconhecidos por preservarem compostos bioativos caracteristicos e, alguns deles, serem fontes de acidos graxos (AG) essenciais. A categoria dos oleos e gorduras apresenta, dentre outros alimentos, uma importante fonte de exposicao aos hidrocarbonetos policiclicos aromaticos (HPAs), um grupo de contaminantes quimicos orgânicos, alguns com acao carcinogenica. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar os oleos vegetais extraidos a frio quanto aos parâmetros de identidade, de qualidade e a ocorrencia de HPAs. Foram avaliadas 40 amostras, dez de cada tipo (coco, cartamo, primula e linhaca), de diferentes marcas, adquiridas no comercio da cidade de Sao Paulo. Foram realizados os ensaios de perfil de AG, indice de acidez, indice de peroxido, p-anisidina, valor total de oxidacao (totox) e HPAs [benzo(a)antraceno, criseno, benzo(b)fluoranteno e benzo(a)pireno]. Quanto aos AG, catorze oleos (35,0 %) nao apresentaram perfis de acidos graxos caracteristicos que os declarados em seus rotulos, incluindo um de coco, quatro de cartamo e nove de primula. Os valores para acidez estavam inadequados em relacao a legislacao para tres oleos de linhaca (7,5 %). Para o peroxido, quatro oleos (10,0 %) estavam acima do limite da legislacao, sendo dois de linhaca e dois de primula. Os valores de p-anisidina variaram de <LQ a 12,98,  sendo o menor valor encontrado nas amostras de coco e o maior em uma de primula, que apresentava um odor alterado. No ensaio de totox, 37,5 % das amostras apresentaram valores acima da recomendacao da literatura, especialmente os oleos de cartamo e primula. Ja para os HPAs, pelo menos um dos hidrocarbonetos analisados foi detectado em 97,5 % das amostras avaliadas; tres amostras de primula (7,5 %) apresentaram niveis acima do permitido pela Comunidade Europeia para BaP e, para a soma dos 4 HPAs, oito oleos (20,0 %) estavam em desacordo: dois de cartamo, quatro de primula e dois de linhaca. Este trabalho expoe os problemas relacionados aos parâmetros de identidade, qualidade e contaminacao dos oleos vegetais comercializados como extraidos a frio e reforcam a importância de um continuo monitoramento destes produtos.

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Óleos vegetais extraídos a frio comercializados na cidade de São Paulo: avaliação das características de identidade e qualidade e da ocorrência de hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos

Simone Alves da Silva

Papers

Óleos vegetais extraídos a frio comercializados na cidade de São Paulo: avaliação das características de identidade e qualidade e da ocorrência de hidrocarbonetos policíclicos aromáticos

Quantification of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Commonly Consumed Salami in Brazil