Suchergebnisse

Losses take place along the entire food chain and they need to be analysed and monitored due to their impact on the development of the food sector. In addition to quantitative losses, irrational use of food contributes to the depletion of natural resources (e. g. water and energy) and poses a threat to the environment, constituting a barrier to sustainable development of the food sector. The aim of this study was to establish the causes and effects of food losses in food industry plants and to propose measures for their mitigation. The material for the study was data on losses gathered in six food industry plants located in Poland. The study was conducted on the basis of a survey. In the studied plants, 20 causes of losses were found. A fundamental role in food production is played by access to raw materials of appropriate quality. In any enterprise, the key factor responsible for the commission of errors is human. Food losses affect the food system and its balance in three dimensions: economic, social and environmental - due to the waste of resources used to produce food that is never eaten and due to greenhouse gas emissions. In summary, the risk of food losses must be prevented by eliminating any errors that may result in a product of inadequate quality characteristics.

Food waste and food loss covers the entire food chain, and its scale varies depending on the given part of the chain. The aim of this study was to identify causes of food waste in the catering sector. The research was carried out in catering establishments using a specially designed questionnaire. The study was conducted in Mazowieckie Voivodship (Poland) in 2019. Forty-two questionnaires were collected. The scoring of most questions was based on a 5-point scale (e.g. 1 – never to 5 – always). It was found that the most frequently wasted products in catering establishments were those with signs of deterioration or that were expired (29% and 26.3% of respondents respectively indicated that this type of product is discarded every day). Ready elements of dishes, e.g. cooked potatoes or boiled rice that have not been served to consumers are rarely reused in the catering sector. The most frequently given reason for throwing out food included preparing too many meals, purchases that were too large, and ill-considered purchases. The results of this study may play an important role in the prevention of food waste in catering establishments by indicating which areas of employee practices should be improved by educational activities.

The positive impact of probiotic strains on human health has become more evident than ever before. Often delivered through food, dietary products, supplements, and drugs, different legislations for safety and efficacy issues have been prepared. Furthermore, regulatory agencies have addressed various approaches toward these products, whether they authorize claims mentioning a disease's diagnosis, prevention, or treatment. Due to the diversity of bacteria and yeast strains, strict approaches have been designed to assess for side effects and post-market surveillance. One of the most essential delivery systems of probiotics is within food, due to the great beneficial health effects of this system compared to pharmaceutical products and also due to the increasing importance of food and nutrition. Modern lifestyle or various diseases lead to an imbalance of the intestinal flora. Nonetheless, as the amount of probiotic use needs accurate calculations, different factors should also be taken into consideration. One of the novelties of this review is the presentation of the beneficial effects of the administration of probiotics as a potential adjuvant therapy in COVID-19. Thus, this paper provides an integrative overview of different aspects of probiotics, from human health care applications to safety, quality, and control.