Search Results (100)

Background/Objectives: Childhood obesity is prevalent in the United States, and although food environments (FEs) may be related to child weight, findings remain inconsistent. This study evaluated neighborhood and home FEs’ associations with children’s weight and explored interactive effects of the neighborhood and home FEs on child weight. We hypothesized that children exposed to less healthy neighborhood and home FEs would have higher weight. Methods: This secondary analysis leveraged baseline data from caregiver–child dyads (n = 115) enrolled in an obesity intervention trial (HABITS). The Modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI) was calculated as the proportion of healthy versus unhealthy food vendors within a 4-mile buffer of participants’ homes using food retailer data from business directories and geographic information systems software. Caregivers reported fruit, vegetable, and sugary beverage availability at home. Child weight was measured and used to determine weight-for-age z-scores (WAZs). Linear regression models were used to examine neighborhood FE, home FE, and their interactions as predictors of child WAZs. Results: Participants were majority non-Hispanic Black (77%) with household incomes of <$30,000/year (73%). Children were 3.0 ± 1.0 years old. Child WAZs were negatively associated with home fruit availability (β = −0.07, 95% CI: −0.14 to −0.01, p = 0.02), with no associations observed for the neighborhood FE or other home FE factors and no interaction between neighborhood and home FEs on weight. Conclusions: There were no significant associations between neighborhood FEs and weight among young children, while within the home FE, only the availability of fruit was associated with child weight. Full article

Communities under prolonged disruptions operate as interconnected socio-technical systems in which the effectiveness of any response depends not only on local conditions but also on the structural relationships that link communities to one another. This study introduces an agent-based response framework for evaluating policy-driven intervention strategies across such systems. Each community is described by its population, economic conditions, and access to critical services, and is linked to other communities through a social connectivity network that defines the pathways for population movement and channels the spread of disruption stress between regions. The agent-based model then tracks how vulnerable each community is by combining its local conditions with the conditions of the communities it is most connected to, and it measures the toll of any disruption through a single social cost metric that weighs lost access to healthcare, retail, and food services. The framework is instantiated using county-level COVID-19 data for Illinois, treated as an exogenous hazard input, and evaluated through Monte Carlo simulation across risk-averse, risk-neutral, risk-seeking, adaptive, and no-aid policy regimes. Compared with the no-aid baseline, the highest-intensity (risk-averse) regime produced the lowest social cost and the highest level of assistance, while all intervention regimes resulted in lower migration. Adaptive managerial decision-making was shown to offer no consistent advantage over simple proactive rules, suggesting that consistency and speed of allocation, rather than sophistication, drive system-wide outcomes. Full article

This study examines the retail food environment surrounding public schools in Michigan using a multiscale, multidimensional framework. A cross-sectional spatial analysis integrates relative healthfulness (modified Retail Food Environment Index, mRFEI), availability (outlet counts), and accessibility (network-based walking time) across school districts, census tracts, block groups, and school-centered buffers. The analysis includes 3530 public schools, 7680 fast food restaurants, and 2065 convenience stores. Results show pronounced spatial heterogeneity and clustering of unhealthful outlets (Nearest Neighbor Index = 0.284, p < 0.001), with many located near schools. Approximately 34% of schools are within a 10 min walk of a fast food restaurant, increasing to 65% within a 20 min walk. Urban schools face significantly greater exposure—2.27–2.80 times more fast food outlets and shorter walking times than rural schools (p ≤ 0.002)—with consistent gradients across city, suburban, town, and rural contexts. Overall, school neighborhood food environments are highly structured, obesogenic, and inequitable. By integrating multiple spatial scales and complementary measures of food environments, this study advances food environment research and provides policy-relevant evidence for targeted, place-based interventions to improve access to healthier food around schools. Full article

Salmonella remains one of the most critical zoonotic pathogens in the poultry sector, linked to animal disease, foodborne illness, and the global crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Poultry acts as a major reservoir, enabling Salmonella transmission from hatchery to retail products through horizontal, vertical, and environmental routes. Despite the use of biosecurity, vaccination, antibiotics, and chemical decontamination, effective and sustainable control across the poultry value chain remains difficult, particularly in the face of rising multidrug-resistant strains and growing consumer concerns over chemical residues. Bacteriophages (phages), viruses that selectively infect and lyse bacteria, have emerged as a promising biological alternative for Salmonella control. Although many studies have reported the effectiveness of phages against bacterial species, including Salmonella, in the poultry industry, reports on their full potential to combat antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella across the entire poultry value chain remain limited. Therefore, this review synthesizes current evidence on the application of phages throughout the poultry value chain, including on-farm interventions, processing plant decontamination, and food packaging and storage. Findings from the reviewed articles indicate over a 90% reduction in Salmonella spp. in poultry farms and post-harvest meat, along with lower mortality in phage-treated groups compared to untreated groups; however, these outcomes depend on several factors (e.g., phage strains, concentrations, application methods, and environmental conditions). Laboratory, pilot, and field studies consistently demonstrate that phage preparations, especially when formulated as cocktails or combined with complementary interventions, can achieve substantial reductions in Salmonella, including antibiotic-resistant serovars, in live birds, eggs, poultry environments, and meat products. Unlike antibiotics and chemical sanitizers, phages act with high specificity, preserving beneficial microbiota and maintaining the sensory and nutritional quality of poultry products. Their safety has been supported by toxicological and genomic assessments, and several phage-based products have obtained regulatory approval, including Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status for food applications in the United States. By integrating efficacy, safety, regulatory, and practical deployment data, this review highlights bacteriophages as a scientifically validated and One Health–aligned tool capable of reducing Salmonella transmission from farm to fork across the poultry value chain, thereby laying the foundation for their future adoption in the poultry industry. Phage-based interventions offer a sustainable pathway to enhance food safety, limit antimicrobial resistance (AMR) dissemination, and strengthen consumer confidence in poultry products. However, the major limitation is the emergence of phage-resistant bacterial strains, as well as the potential involvement of some phages in the transfer of resistance and virulence genes, which could raise public concern. Nevertheless, the use of phage cocktails and whole-genome sequencing, involving tools such as ResFinder and virulence finder, can facilitate the selection of safe phages for application. Full article

The increasing consumption of fresh organic produce has given rise to concerns regarding the microbiological safety of minimally processed foods. Organic cultivation may be associated with increased exposure to environmental microorganisms due to soil-based inputs and reduced chemical interventions, including both beneficial taxa and potential foodborne pathogens. Fresh produce is known to harbour complex microbial ecosystems, which are shaped by farming practices, plant physiology, handling, packaging and storage, particularly in raw-consumed products such as leafy greens and strawberries. In this study, bacterial (16S rRNA) and eukaryotic (18S rRNA) communities were characterized by amplicon sequencing. In parallel, an amoeba-associated bacterial microbiome was analyzed and DVC-FISH was used to assess the viability and metabolic activity of pathogenic bacteria internalized within free-living amoebae (FLA). No significant differences in alpha or beta diversity were observed between organic and conventional products, suggesting microbiome convergence at the retail stage driven by post-harvest handling and processing. Potentially pathogenic genera, including Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, and Acinetobacter (bacterial), as well as Tilletiopsis, Candida, and Naegleria (eukaryotic), were identified in both organic and non-organic microbiomes. The viability of FLA-internalized Pseudomonas spp. was confirmed by DVC-FISH, demonstrating that FLA act as reservoirs, enhancing pathogen persistence in fresh produce. This integrated assessment of organic and conventional fruits and vegetables at the retail stage highlights the importance of post-harvest handling and retail conditions in shaping microbiological safety. The integration of microbiome profiling with targeted viability analyses demonstrates that downstream stages are critical control points for food safety and consumer exposure, beyond the influence of the production system alone. Full article

This study examines how entrepreneurial ecosystem constraints shape MSME resilience in the Jakarta–Bogor–Depok Indonesia corridor using a qualitative multiple-case design. Drawing on 20 MSME case reports across food and beverage, retail, services, and small-scale manufacturing, the study addresses two questions: (1) which ecosystem domains are the most binding constraints, and (2) how MSMEs convert ecosystem resources into resilience outcomes. The analysis shows that market pressure is the most universal constraint (20/20 cases), followed by digital-managerial support infrastructure gaps (18/20), supply chain volatility (13/20), and finance, human capital, and institutional constraints (each 12/20 cases). Cross-case evidence identifies four recurrent mechanisms: market pressure is managed through digital channel orchestration and customer engagement; capital constraints are managed through internal cash discipline and partnership-based financing; input volatility is managed through supplier diversification, local sourcing, and inventory control; and skill gaps are managed through internal training and process standardization. Building on these mechanisms, the study develops a threefold resilience typology: Adaptive Leaders, Operational Survivors, and Vulnerable Traditionalists. The main theoretical contribution is to show that MSME resilience is configurational and depends on inter-domain alignment rather than on isolated ecosystem components or entrepreneur-level grit alone. The practical contribution is a typology-based policy logic that prioritizes integrated intervention bundles, which are finance, digital capability, operations, supply chain, and managerial upgrading, over fragmented support programs. Full article

Reducing food waste and promoting green consumption have emerged as critical priorities in the transition toward a more sustainable food system. Purchasing near-expired food (NEF) offers a pathway to address both issues simultaneously, yet the mechanisms underlying consumers’ intentions toward such products remain underexplored. This research investigates these mechanisms through two complementary studies conducted in China, focusing on near-expired bread as a representative product category. Study 1 (N = 1154) draws on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework to examine how key factors shape consumers’ purchase intentions toward near-expired bread. The results show that price discounts and longer remaining shelf life increase purchase intentions by enhancing perceived value and reducing perceived risk. Moreover, consumers’ normative beliefs with regard to food waste avoidance positively predict purchase intentions through heightened moral satisfaction. Study 2 (N = 746) employs a 2 × 3 between-subjects factorial experiment to test two types of retail interventions for near-expired bread: discount messages (50% vs. 10% off) and information framing (gain-framed vs. loss-framed). Extending Study 1, this experiment introduces two additional dependent variables—product attitudes and perceived environmental external benefits—to capture a broader range of consumer responses. ANCOVA results reveal that consumers with higher environmental concern exhibit stronger purchase intentions, more favorable product attitudes, and greater perceived environmental external benefits. Price discount messages significantly influence purchase intentions and product attitudes, whereas information framing affects purchase intentions and environmental external benefits. Notably, the two interventions interact to shape consumers’ perceptions of environmental external benefits. Together, these studies advance a comprehensive understanding of near-expired bread purchases and offer empirical guidance for designing effective retail communication strategies to promote green consumption and reduce food waste. Full article

A biofilm is a complex microbial community that protects bacterial cells from various stressors, including harsh environmental conditions, antimicrobial treatments, and host immune responses. This protective capability enhances Campylobacter survival during food processing and storage and facilitates transmission to humans. Despite their importance, the molecular mechanisms underlying Campylobacter biofilm formation and its impact on pathogen persistence remain poorly understood. In this study, we characterized the biofilm-forming ability of 18 C. jejuni and C. coli strains isolated from retail meat and performed whole-genome sequencing and comparative genomic analysis to identify strain-specific genes contributing to biofilm formation and maintenance. Phenotypic analysis revealed that C. jejuni strains YH001 and YH027 exhibited the strongest biofilm-forming capacity, producing the highest biomass among all isolates. Phylogenetic analysis indicated a close genetic relationship between these two strains, while pangenome analysis identified 19 unique genes/proteins specific to these strains. Functional annotation indicated their critical roles in adhesion, extracellular matrix production, and stress response. These findings demonstrate strain-specific biofilm formation in Campylobacter and highlight genetic determinants that may serve as targets for novel therapeutic approaches and intervention strategies to disrupt biofilms, improve food safety, and reduce persistent infections. Full article

Food waste remains a critical sustainability challenge for the European Union (EU), with significant negative impacts on environmental resources, economic efficiency, and social equity. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of food waste across EU member states during the 2020–2023 period, examining waste generation across five key sectors: households, food service (restaurants and catering), retail, food manufacturing, and primary agriculture. The study uses Eurostat statistical data, standardising measurements to kilograms per capita and absolute tonnage to enable cross-country comparisons. Particular attention is devoted to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately affected the service and retail sectors. Beyond descriptive analysis, the research investigates potential relationships between major economic indicators (Gross Domestic Product [GDP], median income, and material deprivation) and food waste rates, employing Kruskal–Wallis statistical tests to examine sectoral and cross-national patterns. Contrary to conventional assumptions, analyses reveal no statistically significant direct correlation between economic prosperity and waste generation, suggesting that institutional design, infrastructure availability, consumer awareness, and education exert greater determinative influence than aggregate wealth. Results demonstrate that households are the largest source of food waste across the EU, accounting for approximately 50% of food waste. At the same time, sectoral variations reflect country-specific structural and regulatory factors rather than levels of economic development. The research concludes with actionable policy recommendations targeting three intervention levels: individual behaviour change (consumer education, digital tools, and purchase planning), community infrastructure (food redistribution networks and collective composting), and institutional reform (regulatory harmonisation, circular economy incentives, and extended producer responsibility). These recommendations align with EU strategic priorities, including the European Green Deal, Farm to Fork Strategy, and 2030 Circular Economy Action Plan, with the specific objective of halving food waste by 2030 to enhance both environmental sustainability and food security. Full article

Background/Objectives: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Chile are profoundly shaped by place-based determinants of diet. This study examines the association between food deserts—areas with structurally limited access to nutritious, affordable food—and population-level cardiovascular risk across Chile’s three largest metropolitan areas (Santiago, Valparaíso, Concepción). Methods: We constructed a geospatial food desert index combining OpenStreetMap-derived retail accessibility with census information, and linked it to georeferenced cardiovascular health records. To overcome the limitations of global models that assume spatial stationarity, we applied Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) to allow coefficients to vary across space and to recover variable-specific process scales. Results: The MGWR results indicate pronounced spatial non-stationarity in the food desert–CVD association. The relationship is predominantly positive across Gran Valparaíso, predominantly negative in Gran Concepción, and highly mixed within Gran Santiago, evidencing divergent local mechanisms rather than a single national pattern. Conclusions: The observed heterogeneity undermines “one-size-fits-all” national interventions and supports place-sensitive, equity-oriented strategies. Policy implications include territorially tailored food-retail regulation and primary-care outreach, co-designed with local actors, with MGWR providing a critical analytic basis for actionable, context-specific public health planning. Full article

Fresh agricultural products are highly perishable, and inadequate preservation leads to food loss and supply chain inefficiency, undermining sustainability. This study develops a continuous-time differential game model to analyze dynamic pricing and cold-chain investment decisions in a two-echelon fresh agricultural produce supply chain under government intervention. Two subsidy regimes are examined: one targeting suppliers’ cold-chain investments and another supporting the retailer based on sales volume. By explicitly modeling the dynamic evolution of product freshness, we analyze how subsidy intensity and allocation influence firms’ strategies, market outcomes, and social welfare over time. The results show that when initial freshness is low, firms consistently adopt a penetration pricing strategy and increase cold-chain investment irrespective of subsidy intensity. In contrast, when initial freshness is high, a critical subsidy threshold emerges: Below this threshold, firms employ skimming pricing and reduce investment, whereas above it, they switch to penetration pricing and raise investment. Under equal government expenditure, supplier subsidies achieve higher product freshness but raise retail prices, while retailer subsidies lower prices and stimulate demand, albeit with more modest freshness improvements. Welfare effects are non-linear: supplier subsidies are more effective at low intensities, whereas retailer subsidies become superior beyond a specific threshold. These findings provide actionable insights for designing sustainable, targeted subsidy policies in fresh agricultural supply chains. Full article

Food systems are major drivers of global environmental change, accounting for about one-third of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contributing to land degradation, freshwater depletion, and biodiversity loss. Within this system, post-retail activities generate an estimated 18–20% of total food-related GHG emissions. In Europe, food service is responsible for roughly 12% of total food waste, making collective catering a strategic sector for sustainability interventions. Objective: Through menu design and composition, collective catering services can influence the environmental performance of thousands of meals served daily. This study introduces a novel meal-level scoring system—the App for the Environmental Impact Assessment of Dishes in Collective Catering (EcoRistApp, ERA)—designed to assess and communicate the environmental performance of institutional canteen dishes. Methods: EcoRistApp was developed and applied to a representative selection of first courses, second courses, and side dishes. Environmental impacts were quantified using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with SimaPro 9.5.5 software and the ReCiPe Midpoint (H) method. Normalized and weighted impact results were aggregated into a composite Environmental Impact Index (EII), which was then translated into a five-color interpretative scale to enhance usability and comprehension. Results: The analysis highlighted marked differences in environmental performance among dishes, largely driven by ingredient type and origin. Plant-based meals, such as lentil soup, consistently achieved lower impact scores, while dishes containing animal-derived ingredients, particularly beef and fish, showed higher impacts across multiple categories. Recipes combining high- and low-impact ingredients demonstrated potential for reducing overall environmental burdens. Conclusions: By converting complex LCA outcomes into an intuitive scoring system, EcoRistApp supports informed decision-making by catering operators and consumers, encourages plant-forward menu strategies, and contributes to the environmental transition of food service systems. Full article

Background/Objectives: Legumes, a significant source of plant-based protein, play a crucial role in diets across Portugal and Spain, contributing to both human and animal nutrition. As plant-based diets gain traction, various legumes like chickpeas, lentils, and beans have risen in popularity. However, fava beans remain underutilized compared to these varieties. This study explores stakeholder perspectives on the factors influencing the lower consumption rates of fava beans in the Iberian Peninsula, despite their nutritional and environmental benefits. Methods: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with diverse stakeholders, including nutritionists, retailers, farmers, catering professionals, and both vegetarian and non-vegetarian consumers in Portugal and Spain. Results: Our findings highlight a perceived lack of visibility of fava beans in supermarkets and on influential social media platforms, which often shape consumer preferences. Seasonal availability further contributes to the limited consumption, as people tend to purchase fava beans only when they are more prominent in markets. Addressing local challenges to legume production and consumption can pave the way for effective interventions to increase the intake of these sustainable foods. This study suggests promoting fava beans as a locally cultivable option, which could reduce reliance on imports and enhance regional agricultural output. Interviewees suggested using targeted promotional tactics, such as short videos, cooking demonstrations, and influencer marketing on social media, as effective means to boost fava bean consumption. Conclusions: These exploratory findings indicate that such strategies may foster a more positive perception and integrate fava beans into everyday diets in the region. Full article

Food insecurity is not merely an outcome of individual deprivation but a place-based expression of how urban food systems operate within unequal socio-spatial contexts. Using the Drivers–Pressures–State–Impacts–Responses (DPSIR) framework as a policy-relevant analytical lens, this study examines the Metropolitan Region of Rome to show how structural inequalities and uneven food infrastructures shape exposure to food-related risks. The results show that vulnerability is amplified by food price inflation, the rising cost of a healthy diet, and spatial gaps in retail provision—captured through the combined presence of food deserts and food blackouts—disproportionately affecting peripheral municipalities. State indicators, including the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), the Food Affordability Index (FAI), and the spatial distribution of FEAD beneficiaries, reveal a markedly uneven geography of food poverty, mirroring a higher prevalence of overweight, obesity, and diabetes. These spatial configurations point to obesogenic environments in which constrained affordability and limited accessibility restrict the capacity to maintain healthy diets, generating hidden social and health costs that disproportionately burden peripheral areas. Overall, food insecurity in Rome follows a pronounced centre–periphery gradient rooted in structural and institutional arrangements rather than incidental variation. Addressing this condition requires place-based, justice-oriented interventions that strengthen food infrastructures, improve coordination across governance scales, and place food security at the core of an integrated metropolitan Food Policy. Full article

Background/Objectives: Ash made from juniper trees and added to cornmeal-based dishes may have provided calcium (Ca) to traditional Indigenous diets. Few studies have quantified the mineral content of juniper ash, including its Ca content. The objective of this study was to determine whether juniper ash could serve as a safe source of non-dairy Ca in an intervention study. Methods: Branches from two varieties of Juniper (Rocky Mountain Juniper, or Juniperus scopulorum and Eastern Red Cedar, or Juniperus virginiana) were harvested and burned to ash in a laboratory setting. Juniper ash from the southwestern U.S. available for retail purchase was used for comparison. All samples were tested for content of 10 nutritive elements (Ca, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc) and 20 potentially toxic elements (silver, aluminum, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, mercury, lithium, molybdenum, nickel, lead, antimony, tin, strontium, thallium, uranium, and vanadium) as well as n = 576 pesticide residues. Results: All samples contained both nutritive and potentially toxic elements. Each teaspoon of ash contained an average of 445 ± 141 mg Ca. However, the samples also contained lead in amounts ranging from 1.09 ppm to 15 ppm. Conclusions: Information on the nutritive and potentially toxic elemental content of juniper ash and how it may interact within a food matrix is insufficient to determine its safety as a Ca source. Further investigation is needed on the bioavailability of calcium oxide and its interaction with other dietary components to clarify the potential role of juniper ash in contemporary food patterns. Full article