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Assessment of genetically modified cotton COT102 for food and feed uses, import and processing under Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 (application EFSA-GMO-DE-2017-141)
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Risk assessment of grilled and barbecued food
Get PDFWhen grilling, more harmful substances can be formed than when frying in a pan. For most people, there is a low risk associated with eating grilled food. Grilling food at a high temperature and/or on a campfire, often, and eating a lot of it may damage one's health. Distance to the heat source, how early food is placed onto the grill, and the type of fuel used can affect the formation of harmful substances. It is known that heat treatment such as grilling and frying can give rise to unwanted toxic compounds in the food, so-called process-induced contaminants. Grilling is a common way of preparing food in Norway, and the grilling season has become longer. The food selection has become ever wider and sales of different types of grills are increasing. Many factors may thus have changed since VKM's previous assessment of health risks from the consumption of grilled food, which was published in 2007. To be able to give current and relevant advice to consumers and others who sell or offer grilled food, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority has asked VKM for updated knowledge about the formation of process-induced contaminants in different food products by different grilling methods, and an assessment of what risk this may pose. Main findings: Harmful substances can be formed at high cooking temperatures. When grilling, the temperature is higher and less controllable than when frying in a pan. There is good evidence that two groups of genotoxic and carcinogenic substances, heterocyclic amines (HAA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), are formed in higher concentrations in grilled food than in fried food. VKM has assessed PAH, for which there are good studies of occurrence in barbecued food. PAHs are formed when fat burns after dripping from the food onto the heat source. PAHs can also be released from coal, briquettes and wood. The smoke with PAH settles on the food. The occurrence of PAH in grilled food varies greatly and depends on how the food is grilled. The concentration of PAH is highest in very well-done meat with a high fat content, such as pork ribs and hamburgers. The highest concentration of PAH was found in sausage grilled on a campfire. This is caused by unburnt fat or soot/smoke from the fire that stick to the sausage. By avoiding fat dripping directly onto the heat source, preventing smoke from coming into contact with the food, and not overcooking the food, the amount of PAH in grilled food can be reduced. When using charcoal, the PAH emission is higher immediately after lighting, and the amount of PAH in the food can be reduced by waiting sufficiently long before start grilling. It is not the number of times you grill that is a critical factor, but how. A "worst-case" scenario shows that the annual consumption of more than 15-25 meals that have been grilled in a way that produces a high PAH incidence may provide too low margin of exposure* for the risk to be low. If, on the other hand, you prefer lean barbecue food that is not overcooked, then you can eat it more than 100 times a year according to our calculations and still have a high enough margin of exposure. * Margin of exposure is the ratio between the lowest dose (reference point) that causes increased cancer in experimental animals and the calculated intake. Exposure margin below 10,000 is considered a public health concern. Norsk: Ved grilling kan det dannes flere helseskadelige stoffer enn ved steking i panne. For de fleste er det lav risiko knyttet til å spise grillmat.Risk assessment of grilled and barbecued foodpublishedVersionacceptedVersio
Seasonal acoustic presence of marine mammals at the South Orkney Islands, Scotia Sea
Get PDFIncreased knowledge about marine mammal seasonal distribution and species assemblage from the South Orkney Islands waters is needed for the development of management regulations of the commercial fishery for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) in this region. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) data were collected during the autumn and winter seasons in two consecutive years (2016, 2017), which represented highly contrasting environmental conditions due to the 2016 El Niño event. We explored differences in seasonal patterns in marine mammal acoustic presence between the two years in context of environmental cues and climate variability. Acoustic signals from five baleen whale species, two pinniped species and odontocete species were detected and separated into guilds. Although species diversity remained stable over time, the ice-avoiding and ice-affiliated species dominated before and after the onset of winter, respectively, and thus demonstrating a shift in guild composition related to season. Herein, we provide novel information about local marine mammal species diversity, community structure and residency times in a krill hotspot. Our study also demonstrates the utility of PAM data and its usefulness in providing new insights into the marine mammal habitat use and responses to environmental conditions, which are essential knowledge for the future development of a sustainable fishery management in a changing ecosystem.publishedVersio
Sluttrapport for prosjekt: "Kartlegging og testing av metoder for å redusere interaksjoner mellom fiskeri og hval" - FHF 901681
Get PDFSpekkhoggere og knølhval i norske farvann følger den pelagiske fiskeflåten og beiter på fisken som blir samlet sammen av nøtene. Disse interaksjonene har ved flere anledninger ført til skade eller død av hval, og fangsttap og ødelagte redskap for fiskerne. Målsetningen i dette prosjektet var å kartlegge og teste utstyr og metoder som kan bidra til å redusere uønskede interaksjoner mellom spekkhoggere og knølhval og sildefiskeri langs og utenfor kysten av Norge. Basert på resultat fra litteraturstudien valgte vi å utvikle så kalte «Acoustic Startle Response» (ASR) skremmepulser tilpasset knølhval og spekkhoggere. Target-Specific Acoustic Startle Teknologien (TAST) som vi har brukt er utviklet ved Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU, University of St Andrews) i samarbeid med GenusWave Ltd. ASR er en skremsel-reaksjon som utløses gjennom en autonom refleks i hjernestammen. Metoden har tidligere vist lovende resultater også ved gjentatt eksponering mot sel og tannhval. Tilnærmingen bruker lavere og kortere støydoser enn de konvensjonelle akustiske alarmene og kan tilpasses til ulike arter. Vi har hatt fokus på at metodene som blir brukt ikke skal være skadelig for hørselen til hvalen, eller ha så sterk effekt at hvalen blir skremt bort fra viktige beiteområder. Vi har gjennomført kontrollerte forsøk der hval merket med dataloggere ble utsatt for ASR lydsignaler og hvalens reaksjoner til ulike lydsignaler ble målt. Dette var for å identifisere de mest effektive lydsignalene. Effekten av de utvalgte ASR lydsignalene ble også undersøkt under kommersielt sildefiske.Sluttrapport for prosjekt: "Kartlegging og testing av metoder for å redusere interaksjoner mellom fiskeri og hval" - FHF 901681publishedVersio
Effects of the Interaction between Dietary Vitamin D<inf>3</inf> and Vitamin K<inf>3</inf> on Growth, Skeletal Anomalies, and Expression of Bone and Calcium Metabolism-Related Genes in Juvenile Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata)
No full textThe interaction between vitamin D and vitamin K is crucial for regulating bone metabolism and maintaining calcium homeostasis across diverse animal species due to their complementary roles in calcium metabolism and bone health. However, research on this interaction of vitamin D and K in fish, particularly Mediterranean species like gilthead seabream, is limited or not studied. This study aimed to understand the effects of different dietary combinations of vitamin D3 and K3 on juvenile gilthead seabream. Accordingly, seabream juveniles were fed with varying combinations of vitamin D3/vitamin K3 (mg/kg diet) for 3 months: (0.07/0.01), (0.20/0.58), (0.19/1.65), (0.51/0.74), (0.56/1.00). At the end of the trial, survival, growth, body morphology, serum calcitriol, and vertebral mineral composition remained unaffected by varying vitamin levels, while gene expression patterns related to bone formation, resorption, and calcium regulation in various tissues were significantly influenced by both vitamins and their interaction. Gilthead seabream juveniles fed the 0.07/0.01 mg/kg diet upregulated calcium-regulating genes in the gills, indicating an effort to enhance calcium absorption to compensate for dietary deficiencies. Conversely, an increase in vitamin D3 and K3 up to 0.19 and 1.65 mg/kg, respectively, upregulated bone formation, bone remodeling, and calcium homeostasis-related gene expression in vertebra and other tissues. On the contrary, a dietary increase in these vitamins up to 0.56 mg/kg vitamin D3 and 1.00 mg/kg vitamin K3 downregulated calcium metabolism-related genes in tissues, suggesting an adverse interaction resulting from elevated levels of these vitamins in the diet. Hence, sustaining an equilibrium in the dietary intake of vitamin D3 and vitamin K3, in an appropriately combined form, may potentially induce interactions between the vitamins, contributing to favorable effects on bone development and calcium regulation in gilthead seabream juveniles.publishedVersio
Tigecycline-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains from sewage in Norway carry heavy-metal resistance genes encoding conjugative plasmids
Get PDFObjectives Tigecycline is a last-resort antibiotic used for treatment of infections with carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. The aim of the study was to understand the genetic mechanism of resistance and the genetic context of resistance genes in two tigecycline-resistant K. pneumoniae strains isolated from sewage in Bergen, Norway. Methods Complete genome sequencing of the two strains was accomplished using a combination of short-read Illumina MiSeq-based and long-read Oxford Nanopore MinION-based sequencing. Conjugation experiments were performed using filter mating and a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged Escherichia coli strain. Results The complete genome sequences of strain K6-320.1 and strain K7-325 were assembled into two contigs for each strain, one contig representing the complete circular chromosomes of 5 223 440 bp (K6-320.1) and 5 263 092 bp (K7-325), respectively, and the other representing plasmids with sizes of 276 509 bp (pK6-320.1) and 246 731 bp (pK7-325). Strain K6-320.1 belonged to sequence type (ST)869, whereas strain K7-325 belonged to the pathogenic ST307. Both plasmids belonged to the IncFIB(K)/IncFII(K) group and carried several antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), including tet(A) and blaCTX-M. Both plasmids (pK6-320.1 and pK7-325) were transferred to a GFP-tagged E. coli strain, leading to the acquisition of resistance against multiple classes of antibiotics. Several heavy-metal resistance genes (HMRGs) encoding resistance against silver (sil), copper (pco), and arsenic (ars) were also present on both plasmids. Conclusions Our study demonstrates the presence of multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae strains carrying conjugative plasmids encoding both ARGs and HMRGs that have potential for persistence in the environment and human microbiota.publishedVersio
Taxonomic surrogacy in monitoring of tropical polychaete communities along the West African continental margin
Get PDFEfficacy tests of surrogacy measures are a very important element of marine benthic monitoring studies that may be used not only in pollution assessment and protection management but also in conservation planning. This approach is very important in the Large Marine Ecosystems that are influenced by numerous environmental factors and threatened by human activities associated with oil excavation and other types of industry. Here we analysed polychaete communities in the Gulf of Guinea (a poorly studied but highly important centre of marine biodiversity in the tropical East Atlantic) at species, genus and family levels. We demonstrated good efficacy of surrogates (genus- and family-level data) in the assessment of richness, diversity and evenness (Shannon, Simpson, Margalef, Pielou indices) along a 25–1000 m depth gradient. The lowest usefulness of higher taxa surrogates was demonstrated in the analysis of faunistic similarity, such as clustering and Similarity Percentage (SIMPER), based on the Bray-Curtis formula. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) and generalised linear models (GLM) based on Poisson distribution were also used, and demonstrated that genus-level patterns were relatively similar to those at species level. We recorded a substantial loss of information at the family level (as expressed by the modification of eigenvalues and the statistical significance of the axes, as well as the number of most parsimonious models and the smaller weight of each model). Higher taxa analysis at both genus and family levels failed to identify pollution indicator taxa. Since practical aspects of surrogacy require fast identification of the material, family-level data are the most desirable surrogates. Nevertheless, our data demonstrated that, in the case of clustering and ordination based on large numbers of environmental variables, their usefulness is doubtful and they should be used cautiously in order to avoid reaching biased conclusions.publishedVersio
Beste praksis for føring og mellomlagring av levende flyndre
Get PDFImplementering av rødspette som ny art i fangstbasert akvakultur (FBA) kan være enkel, både med tanke på logistikk (kystnært fiske) og tilgang på lokaliteter for mellomlagring i merd. Men det er en del utfordringer som må løses. For å sikre god fiskevelferd og kvalitet, er det viktig å bruke skånsomme fangstredskaper. Under fiske til levendelagring bør det benyttes knuteløst lin i snurrevadsekken for å redusere skader på fisken. Kort tauetid og moderate fangstmengder gir bedre forhold for fisken. Ved levering av levende fisk skal både båt og mottaksanlegg være konstruert slik at fisken ikke utsettes for unødig belastning, slag, klem eller fall. Dette sikrer at fisken opprettholder god helse og kvalitet gjennom hele prosessen fra fangst til levering. Det anbefales at fisken holdes i vann under ombordtaking og sortering. Benytt gjerne vannfylt lerretsløft i snurrevadsekken og sorter fisken forsiktig på vannfylte sorteringsbord/renne. Kun uskadet fisk med god vitalitet skal transporteres levende til mellomlagring i merd. Under transport trenger flyndre tilstrekkelig bunnareal og mye oksygenrikt vann. Fisketettheten bør være lavere enn 250 kg/m² og oppholdstid i transporttankene under 2 dager. Det anbefales at mellomlagringstiden i merd er kortere enn 4 uker, og det skal benyttes trampolinebunn for å hindre store ansamlinger med flyndre i utposninger i bunnen. Sviktende bunn kan føre til unødvendig belastning på fisken, mangel på oksygen, økt skadepotensial og dødelighet. Flyndre beveger seg lite, men fisken kan få slitasjeskader på finner og hud under mellomlagring i merd. I tillegg kan små fangstskader utvikle seg til større sår under mellomlagring, spesielt øynene og hodet er utsatt, så regelmessig inspeksjon og røkting er nødvendig. Skadet fisk bør fjernes raskt. En hevbar trampolinebunn kan forenkle røktingen og redusere stress. Ved slakting bør flyndre behandles så skånsomt som mulig, men bedøving er utfordrende på grunn av formen på fisken, så bedøving/avlivningsmetoder tilpasset flatfisk bør utvikles for å bedre ivareta dyrevelferden under slakting.Beste praksis for føring og mellomlagring av levende flyndrepublishedVersio
HI kvoteråd 2025 Breiflabb nord for 62N
Get PDFBasert på MSY tilnærming anbefales det å holde fangst i 2025 på inntil 2 406 tonn.HI kvoteråd 2025 Breiflabb nord for 62NpublishedVersio
Size-fractioned zooplankton biomass in the Barents Sea: macroecological patterns across biogeography, climate, and varying ecosystem state (1989-2020)
Get PDFThe zooplankton community in the Barents Sea was monitored during autumn cruises from 1989-2020, with biomass determined as the depth-integrated dry weight (g m-2) of 3 size fractions (>2 mm, 1-2 mm, <1 mm). A large data set of 4543 sampling stations encompassing a subdivision of the Barents Sea was spatially averaged into 15 polygons based on topography. The resulting data set is used to describe relationships between the biomass of size fractions as expressions of the size structure of the zooplankton communities. Each of the 3 size fractions was positively related to the total zooplankton biomass (sum of fractions). The medium size fraction, which contained on average 48% of the total biomass, showed a strong linear correlation with total biomass (R2 ≈ 0.8). The medium fraction contained the older copepodite stages of Calanus species (C. finmarchicus and C. glacialis), which are dominant species interpreted to drive the overall changes in zooplankton biomass. The biomass of the small size fraction decreased with decreasing total biomass, but less so than the medium fraction. Thus, the small/medium biomass ratio increased as the total biomass decreased. This trend was most pronounced for shallow and central polygons, which coincide with the core feeding area of the large Barents Sea stock of capelin Mallotus villosus. The change in the small/medium biomass ratio is interpreted to reflect a shift from Calanus to smaller zooplankton in response to predation by capelin and other planktivorous predators, and possibly also by warming due to climate change.publishedVersio