Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in food: which behaviour change strategies increase consumers' risk awareness and preventive food-handling behaviour?

Consumers' perspectives on antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance in food animals: a systematic review

Inappropriate antibiotic use in food animals is considered a significant contributor to increasing antibiotic resistance. Consumers can play a critical role in reducing it through purchasing choices, demand, and policy advocacy. This systematic review aimed to synthesize all published literature investigating consumers' perspectives (i.e., knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes) on antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance in food animals. We conducted a comprehensive literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar on November 14, 2022, and an updated search on April 30, 2024. We limited findings to original peer-reviewed journal articles published up to 2023 (inclusive), were written in English, and focused on knowledge/perceptions/attitudes of antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance in food animals. Of the 3815 articles identified, 39 were included. The findings suggested that consumers were concerned about antibiotic use in food animals, thus they were willing to pay more for food products with antibiotic-free or reduced-antibiotic use. However, consumers lacked deep understanding of antibiotic use practice and antibiotic stewardship in food animals as well as transmission risks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and livestock industries to implement policy and practice changes to ensure responsible antibiotic use in food animals.

The Characterization, Biological Activities, and Potential Applications of the Antimicrobial Peptides Derived from Bacillus spp.: A Comprehensive Review

This paper provides a comprehensive review of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) derived from Bacillus spp. The classification and structure of Bacillus-derived AMPs encompass a diverse range. There are 89 documented Bacillus-derived AMPs, which exhibit varied sources, amino acid sequences, and molecular structures. These AMPs can be categorized into classes I, Ia, IIa, IIb, IIc, and IId. The synthesis pathway of the AMPs primarily involves either ribosomally synthesized or non-ribosomally synthesized approaches. Additionally, the antimicrobial activity of these AMPs is versatile, targeting bacteria, fungi, and viruses, through disrupting intracellular DNA and the cell wall and membrane, as well as modulating immune responses. Moreover, the Bacillus-derived AMPs demonstrate promising application in the pharmaceutical industry, environmental protection, food preservation, and bio-control in agriculture. The commonly employed strategies for enhancing the production of Bacillus-derived AMPs involve optimizing cultivation conditions, implementing systems metabolic engineering, employing genome shuffling techniques, optimizing promoters, and improving expression host optimization. This review can provide a valuable reference for comprehending the current research status on advancements and sustainable production of Bacillus-derived AMPs.

The effect of information provision on consumers' risk perceptions of, support for a ban, and behavioral intention towards the preventive use of antibiotics in food animals

BACKGROUND

Antibiotics have been widely used in feed and drinking water for food animals to prevent them from getting sick. Such preventive use of antibiotics has become a contributor to increasing antibiotic resistance and thus poses threats to human health. However, consumers have little knowledge about this practice and the associated health risks of increasing transmission of antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistant bacteria. This study aimed to examine the effect of information provision on consumers' risk perceptions, support for a ban, and behavioral intention regarding the preventive use of antibiotics in food animals. Especially, the study sought to test two competing hypotheses which were informed by two theoretical perspectives of fear appeal theory - the linear model and the plateau effect model. The former suggested that providing information on the health risks of both antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistant bacteria would have a stronger effect compared to providing information on only one of them, while the latter posited that providing information on both risks might not have additional influence, as the effect of information on either risk could reach the plateau.

METHODS

An experimental study with four conditions was conducted where participants read different information on the health risks associated with the preventive use first and then answered questions regarding consumers' risk perceptions, support for a ban, and behavioral intention regarding the preventive use. Condition 1 was the control condition, where basic information about antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, and the preventive use was provided. Condition 2 and Condition 3 further added information on the health risk of antibiotic residues (Condition 2) and antibiotic resistant bacteria (Condition 3) due to the preventive use, respectively. Condition 4 provided all information contained in the first three conditions.

RESULTS

The results showed that compared to participants in the control condition, participants in Conditions 2-4 reported higher risk perceptions, stronger support for a ban on the preventive use, and a higher intention to buy meat produced without the preventive use of antibiotics. However, there were no significant differences in these factors between Conditions 2-4, indicating that providing information on the health risk of either antibiotic residues, or antibiotic resistant bacteria, or both, has similar effect on these variables. That is, the hypothesis based on the plateau effect model was supported.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggested that informing the public with the health risk of either antibiotic residues or antibiotic resistant bacteria associated with the preventive use is effective enough to reach plateau effect in increasing risk perceptions, support for a ban, and behavioral intention, which has important implications for policymakers and livestock industries to develop effective communication strategies to promote responsible antibiotic use in food animals.

Development of a novel hybrid antimicrobial peptide for enhancing antimicrobial spectrum and potency against food-borne pathogens

AIMS

To address the increasingly serious challenge of the transmission of foodbrone pathogens in the food chain.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In this study, we employed rational design strategies, including truncation, amino acid substitution, and heterozygosity, to generate seven engineered peptides with α-helical structure, cationic property, and amphipathic characteristics based on the original Abhisin template. Among them, as the hybird antimicrobial peptide (AMP), AM exhibits exceptional stability, minimal toxicity, as well as broad-spectrum and potent antimicrobial activity against foodborne pathogens. Besides, it was observed that the electrostatic incorporation demonstrates by AM results in its primary targeting and disruption of the cell wall and membrane of Escherichia coli O157: H7 (EHEC) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), resulting in membrane perforation and enhanced permeability. Additionally, AM effectively counteracts the deleterious effects of lipopolysaccharide, eradicating biofilms and ultimately inducing the demise of both food spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings highlight the significant potential of AM as a highly promising candidate for a novel food preservative and its great importance in the design and optimization of AMP-related agents.

Tailoring Can Improve Consumers’ Hygienic Food-Handling Behavior to Reduce the Transmission Risk of Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria through Food

Antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria spread via food to humans and can seriously impair infection treatment. Hygienic food handling is an effective measure to avoid the transmission of bacteria. Therefore, we tested three types of interventions (tailored, generic, and no intervention) for their effectiveness in improving consumers’ hygienic food handling against the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria through foods in a longitudinal randomized control trial. We based the determinants of hygienic food-handling behavior on the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA). The tailored intervention raised self-reported hygienic food handling, self-efficacy, and perceived likelihood of risk compared to no intervention. Moreover, interventions yielded different effects for participants with high vs. low intentions to improve their food-handling behavior. However, there were no differences between the tailored and generic interventions. More research is needed to find out whether including other behavior change techniques in the tailored intervention may increase the effect of tailoring.