INTRODUCTION
Packaging of foods is one of the final steps in food processing before storage and consumption and thus is a critical step for incorporating antimicrobial mechanisms particularly to control the post-processing contamination. Antimicrobial packaging is a promising form of active packaging to improve safety and shelf-life of food products. It is a novel development system which incorporates antimicrobial agent into a polymer film to suppress the activities of targeted microorganisms that are contaminating foods [14]. The antimicrobial activity can be accomplished by adding antimicrobial agents in the packaging system to prevent the growth of microbes by extending the lag period and decreasing live counts of microorganisms by reducing
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Active packaging can be defined as a system that modifies the environment inside the food package thereby altering the state of the packaged food system and its headspace to enhance its quality by extending shelf-life, enhancing the sensory qualities, and maintaining the microbial safety [8, 16] Some of the active packaging systems include O2 or CO2 scavengers, ethylene and moisture absorption systems, CO2 or ethanol emitting systems, and antimicrobials antioxidants releasing or containing systems [9]. Materials like ascorbic acid, photo-sensitive dyes, iron powder, are packed to scavenge oxygen and thereby to prevent the growth of aerobic bacteria and moulds …show more content…
Controlled release application in case of bacteriocins offers a treatment strategy for resistant bacterial strain [3]. Research has elucidated that the instantaneous release of nisin can help inhibit microbial cell growth and consequently the survivors will undergo mutations developing resistance to nisin. Additionally merely releasing nisin from packaging without adding directly to the formulations was not capable of reducing microbial cell counts. A combination of these two resulted both in reduced cell counts as well as a lack of mutation however rather the cells regained their sensitivity to nisin following one transfer passage through nisin-free medium
The natural components of antibiotics have been used as local remedies long before humans understood the reasons why these sometimes-radical treatments worked. Penicillin became the first manufactured antibiotic after physician Alexander Fleming published articles regarding this bacteria-disabling mold in 1928. Come 1932, penicillin was commonly used to treat infected war injuries, saving the lives of unnumbered soldiers (Lewis). Since then, penicillin has b...
Stewart, Philip S, (2001) states that antibiotics are elements that are used to kill, or hinder the multiplication and growth of organisms. Especially, these antibiotics are meant to control fungi and bacteria. In this case, the antibiotics that are used in killing bacteria are referred to as bactericidal, and the ones that are used to prevent the multiplication process are bacteriostatic. The primary microbes for antibiotics are bacteria and fungi. These microorganisms are crucial to facilitate the secretion of substances that kill harmful bacteria which confer competition for the limited available nutrients (Southern, P. J., &Berg, 1981).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), describes antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria or other microbes to resist the effects of antibiotic treatment. () So instead of being destroyed by the medications, the bacteria survives and continues to reproduce, resultant in new communicable diseases that even more difficult to treat.
According to §2 para. 6 No. 2 of the German food law, cosmetic packaging materials are viewed as items for everyday and common use. The Regulation 1223/2009 provides assurance to consumers that the product they use is safe for application. The reference 1935/2004 was suggested to portray close formulation/packaging combinations that are already present in the market. Therefore, with this, food/packaging interaction may be contemplated. Since materials manufactured for the packaging of food products have already undergone several tests, suitable information regarding the stability of that material may already be accessible. Hence further experimental procedures may not be necessary. The 1935/2004 regulation is not normally used for cosmetic packaging. However, without the presence of any other established guidelines, this regulation is used to check the congruity of the packaging. For instance the packaging material of cosmetic products are compared with and judged against the packaging of food items. Verification in the shipping document is done by the food control agency or the supplier company to show that the packaging material
Throughout history disease has run rampant taking many lives with every passing day. Finding a cure or even just a tool in the battle has been the main focus of scientist throughout time. This focus is what brought us the discovery of antibiotics. Over the years antibiotics have been misused by patients, over prescribed by physicians and have led to resistant strains of bacteria.
Bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics is a major problem not only for the United States, but worldwide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012) the cause is related to “widespread overuse, as well as inappropriate use, of antibiotics that is fueling antibiotic resistance”. According to World Health Organization (2013) resistance is a global concern for several reasons; it impedes the control of infectious diseases, increases healthcare costs, and the death rate for patients with resistant bacterial infections is twice of those with non-resistant bacterial infections.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has presented many problems in our society, including an increased chance of fatality due to infections that could have otherwise been treated with success. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, but overexposure to these drugs give the bacteria more opportunities to mutate, forming resistant strains. Through natural selection, those few mutated bacteria are able to survive treatments of antibiotics and then pass on their genes to other bacterial cells through lateral gene transfer (Zhaxybayeva, 2011). Once resistance builds in one patient, it is possible for the strain to be transmitted to others through improper hygiene and failure to isolate patients in hospitals.
Many people die a year from infection. Infection is one of the leading causes of death. There are many different precautions to prevent infection that are well known. However, anyone is susceptible to infection, healthy or not. I am healthy person physically and mentally. However, a healthy person can still be susceptible to infection. I was infected by the bacteria Escherichia coli, more commonly known as E. coli. While infected by a pathogen my body went through all of the periods of illness because the bacteria had made it through four out of five components that made it lethal. It led to a major kidney infection.
Antibiotics have been vital tools in the fight against bacterial infections, however their effectiveness has waned in recent times due to the advent of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. According to a review by P, the uses of antibiotics, as well as influences from the environment have allowed such bacterial strains to respond to changes in their environment rapidly, and so develop resistance. This acquired ability can have serious and broad implications in the medical field, evident in a study by O into the resistance of intestinal Staphylococcus aureus.
The most effective way to combat pathogenic bacteria which invade the body is the use of antibiotics. Overexposure to antibiotics can easily lead to resistant strains of bacteria. Resistance is dangerous because bacteria can easily spread from person to person. Simple methods for preventing excessive bacterial spread are often overlooked. Not all preventative measures are even adequate. Doctors and patients often use antibiotics unnecessarily or incorrectly, leading to greater resistance. Antibiotics are used heavily in livestock and this excessive antibiotic use can create resistant bacteria and transfer them to humans. In order to reduce resistant bacteria,
Infection control, a term that describes procedures taken to reduce the spread of infection. The dental office is a place where many people are treated including patients with infectious disease such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and many other highly contagious diseases. It is imperative that in any dental office setting the prevention of the spreading microorganisms from patient to patient, patient to staff, or staff to patient is done in high precaution. Infection control has two main objectives; to protect the patients from harmful pathogens as well as dental team members. Infections can cause or add pain, deteriorate a persons health, and in worst cases even result in death. In order to understand the infection control in a dental facility, you must understand the standard precautions required by organizations that regulate or recommend infection control, the kinds of preventive measures taken, as well as when these measures should be taken.
When antibiotics first began to see widespread American usage in the 1940’s, they were heralded as a miracle drug, a description that was not far from the mark considering the great number of debilitating or fatal illnesses that they could rapidly cure. In a time where bacterial diseases that today carry few serious health risks in healthy adults—such as strep throat, ear infections, syphilis, and wound infections—often led to serious debilitation or death, the invention of antibiotics was among the greatest single improvements in public health ever made. And today, more than three quarters of a century after Alexander Fleming discovered the antimicrobial properties of penicillin, antibiotics are as important as ever in maintaining a healthy population, from their ability to treat common infections to the safeguards they provide patients undergoing surgeries and other infection-prone procedures that could otherwise be too risky to perform. However, today many doctors and researchers are beginning to fear that this golden era of antibiotics may be coming to an end due to the ever-increasing threat of antibiotic resistance. There are a number of practices that contribute to increased antibiotic resistance, including the unnecessary prescription, improper dosage, and incorrect usage of antibiotic drugs by humans. But one of the major potential causes of antibiotic resistance does not involve human patients at all. Rather, many believe that the excessive use of antibiotics in food animals is among the leading threats to the future of human ability to fight bacterial infections.
Antimicrobial Packaging: Edible films are produced which incorporate cinnamon, zinc, calcium, oregano oil or other materials that can kill bacteria.
[6] Newman, K. A. (2009) Packaging is critical to brand identity, Packaging. (pp. 30 – 34)
Canning is a simple method for capturing food’s delicious and wholesome qualities at natures very best and for preserving food for enjoyment at a later time. Nowadays people choose for can because it may saving the available food for later use. One of the most common methods for preserving foods today is to enclose them in a sterile container. Canning can be glass, plastic and metal can and the basic principle of canning is that a food is sterilized, usually by heating, and then placed within an air-tight container. In the absence of air, no new pathogens can gain access to the sterilized food. In most canning operations, the food to be packaged is first prepared in some way—cleaned, peeled, sliced, chopped, or treated in some other way—and then placed directly into the container. The container is then placed in hot water or some other environment where its temperature is raised above the boiling point of water for some period of time. This heating process achieves two goals at once. First, it kills the vast majority of pathogens that may be present in the container. Second, it forces out most of the air above the food in the container.