Food poisoning is a serious threat to public health. During the past decades, society has undergone significant lifestyle changes, including the use of new methods for processing and preparing foods. Surveillance of food poisoning has been emphasized because of the centralization of food production and increased international trade and tourism. The responsibility for food safety has moved from individuals to industries and governments, and these changes have created the potential for outbreaks of food poisoning. In this paper, I provide an overview of the current trends in food poisoning in Japan from 2006 to 2015, focusing on prevalence and mortality with respect to food preparation facilities, causative agents and the food sources involved. This review is based on food poisoning statistics collected in Japan, published by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan. An English version of all figures and tables in this paper is presented in the Appendix.

We investigated the effects of autumn treatment with a mixture of gibberellin and prohydrojasmon (GP; 3.3:25ppm) spray and postharvest blue light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation on storage diseases and chilling injury in satsuma mandarin fruits. Trees were treated with GP three months before harvest. Harvested fruits were irradiated with blue LEDs at a maximum emission wavelength of 465nm and photon flux of 10μmol·m^-2·s^-1 for 92 days at 8°C. The blue LED irradiation during storage significantly reduced storage diseases (blue mold, green mold, stem end rot, and black rot), chilling injury, and total decay rate from 63 until 92 days of storage. GP treatment alone did not inhibit the total fruit decay rate. Fruits treated with GP and postharvest blue LED irradiation had a higher titratable acid content than that in non-treated fruits after storage. In contrast, these treatments did not affect the sugar content of fruit. These results indicate that blue LED irradiation in actual storage environments was able to reduce the decay of mandarin fruit, with or without GP treatment.

The development of food that prevents metabolic syndrome (MetS) by decreasing abdominal visceral fat (AVF) is highly anticipated, and testing of the efficacy of such foods in combination with other agricultural products is necessary. We investigated the lowering effects of functional boxed lunches on AVF. We performed a randomized placebo-controlled trial for healthy adults with BMI between 25 and 30, and with over 100cm² AVF area (AVFA). Test foods were ‘side dishes’ prepared using functional agricultural products, namely ‘Benifuuki’ green tea, and ‘50% barley rice’ or ‘brown rice’. Placebo controls were foods that did not contain functional agricultural products. Test groups were three groups consuming only one test food each, and one group consuming all 3 test foods. Intake period was twelve weeks, with test foods consumed at lunchtime on weekdays. Primary endpoint was AVFA, and secondary endpoints were HbA1c and 1,5-anhydroglucitol(AG). A total of 159 participants were enrolled and there were no dropouts. Of these, 137 analysis subjects (PPS) consumed more than 80% of boxed lunches. The impact of this intervention yielded clinically and statistically significant reductions. In subgroup analysis of AVFA, among subjects in whom median of baseline AVFA was less than 127cm², the ‘rice’ group showed a change of -7.9cm². Among women, the AVFA of the ‘rice’ group decreased significantly by 14.9cm² (p=0.012). The ‘Benifuuki’ tea showed significantly lower serum levels of 1,5-AG. No noteworthy side effects were noted. These results suggest that changes in eating habits and consecutive intake of functional boxed lunches have the potential to reduce AVF.

We have estimated that ethyl esters, such as ethyl 2-methylbutanoate, ethyl hexanoate, and ethyl tiglate, contribute to the high preference for watercored apples among Japanese consumers. In order to validate this, we performed a simple application test of reconstituted ethyl esters found in watercored apples to the juice and puree of non-watercored apples or apple-flavored beverages and candy. It was found that ethyl ester flavor enhanced the perception of watercore-like flavor and increased preference for the apple products. In conclusion, it was indicated that ethyl esters synthesized in watercored apples produce an aroma that is key to the perception of and preference for watercored apple.

A hot water extract was prepared from the edible cyanobacterium Nostochopsis sp., and was chemically and biologically characterized. The hot water extract mainly contained carbohydrate (approximately 52.3g/100g dry weight), most of which was derived from soluble dietary fiber consisting of neutral (mainly glucose, fucose, and mannose) and acid sugars. The hot water extract showed a high viscosity (1.90mPa·s) at 0.1% (w/v) concentration. Blood glucose levels of 0.5% (w/v) hot water extract-treated rats decreased significantly at 30 min after administration of maltose solution relative to controls. These results suggest that Nostochopsis sp. hot water extract is able to delay the increase in postprandial blood glucose levels.

Nasunin was recovered from spent eggplant pre-pickling solution with 96% purity by gel-filtration on an LH-20 column and subsequent preparative HPLC. The purified nasunin preparation was analyzed by LC-MS/MS and found to contain a mixture of cis- and trans-isomers of nasunin. The purified nasunin preparation was then examined for antioxidant activity by measuring the H-ORAC value. Hyaluronidase inhibitory activity of the purified nasunin preparation was also determined. H-ORAC value of the purified nasunin preparation was estimated to be 13250μmol Trolox equivalent/g, corresponding to 1.45 times higher than that of the delphinidin standard. However, the contribution of nasunin to the Trolox equivalent/g of the nasunin-containing powder was estimated to be approximately 26%, which suggests that constituents other than nasunin, such as chlorogenic acid, play a significant role in the antioxidative activity of the nasunin-containing powder. The purified nasunin preparation showed no inhibitory activity of hyaluronidase, but chlorogenic acid, another component of the nasunin-containing powder, had a strong inhibitory activity. Therefore, the inhibitory activity previously observed with a cyclodextrin-inclusion powder of the nasunin-containing powder from spent eggplant pre-pickling solution appears to be attributable to the activity of the chlorogenic acid-containing constituents other than nasunin therein.