Animal production has moved quite rapidly to a consolidated structure of fewer, larger farms, ranches, and animal feeding units in both developed and developing countries. Driven by economies of scale arising from steady advances in technology, the trend shows no sign of slowing. This new structural concept and features increased concentration of large-scale livestock and specialty crop product...

important role in developing new treatments for fungal diseases such as athlete’s foot. “Fungi have a different mechanism from that of animals to produce lysine,” the reporter explained, “so if a drug can be developed that can disable the gene, it should be possible to treat people for fungal diseases without affecting their ability to make lysine”. The writer was presumably unaware that lysine...

Background Low-moisture foods, such as nuts, generally have been considered low risk for foodborne illness because they are consumed in a dry state. In low-moisture foods the water activity (available moisture) is too low to support microbial growth. For example, the water activity in tree nuts is generally less than 0.7. This may lead to the common misconception that low levels of pathogenic b...

We analyze the effect of Wal-Mart’s entry into the grocery market using a unique store-level price panel data set. We use OLS and two IV specifications to estimate the effect of Wal-Mart’s entry on competitors’ prices of 24 grocery items across several categories. Wal-Mart’s price advantage over competitors for these products averages approximately 10%. On average, competitors’ response to entr...

polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), whereas 135 congeners belong to the group of polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF). Figure 1 shows general structures of PCCD and PCDF. Dioxins are widespread contaminants with no specific usage and they are not produced. They mostly appear as unwanted byproducts of different industrial processes, combustion in waste incineration, and in the production o...

In the wider debate on urban resilience and metabolism, food-related aspects have gained increasing importance. At the same time, urban agro-food systems in city regions are facing major challenges with regard to often limited domestic supplies, resource-intensive producer–consumer relationships, and the competition for low-price products via global food chains. In this sense, novel methods for...

As one of the most successful fast food chain in the world, throughout the development of McDonald’s, we could easily identify many successful business strategy implementations. In this paper, I will discuss some critical business strategies, which linked to the company’s structure and external environment. This paper is organized as follows: In the first section, I will give brief introduction...

The economic and social impact of food allergy affects many sectors of society.There are associated costs to individuals,their carers and their households,potentially over a lifetime. In the health sector resourses are required for diagnosis,support and education.The entire food chain is affected through extra costs,food regulations and moral obligations.Also the employment sector is affected i...

Traceability is a modern concept that allows following a product’s route from raw materials to the selling stage, taking into consideration its complete flow by means of identifying and tracking procedures and documents. Recently, food traceability has gained significant importance as it allows efficient identification, correction or removal of risk factors throughout the food chain in order to...