Hong Kong’s wet markets play a crucial role in the country’s supply of safe, fresh meat to satisfy the dietary needs of its population. Whilst food safety regulations have been introduced over the past few years to maintain the microbial safety of foods sold from these wet markets, it remains unclear whether the hygiene maintenance that is performed on the wooden cutting boards used for meat-processing is effective. In fact, hygiene maintenance may often be overlooked, and hygiene standards may be insufficient. If so, this may lead to the spread of harmful pathogens through cross-contamination, thereby causing severe risks to public health. The aim of this study was to determine the level of microbial transfer between wooden cutting boards and swine meat of various qualities, using 16S metagenomic sequencing, strain identification and biofilm screening of isolated strains. The results established that: (a) the traditional hygiene practices used for cleaning wooden cutting boards in Hong Kong’s wet markets expose the surfaces to potentially harmful microorganisms; (b) the processing of microbially contaminated meat on cutting boards cleaned using traditional practices leads to cross-contamination; and (c) several potentially pathogenic microorganisms found on the cutting boards have good biofilm-forming abilities. These results reinforce the need to review the traditional methods used to clean wooden cutting boards after the processing of raw meat in Hong Kong’ wet markets so as to prevent cross-contamination events. The establishment of proper hygiene protocols may reduce the spread of disease-causing microorganisms (including antibiotic-resistant microorganisms) in food-processing environments.

Millions every day purchase their raw meat in wet markets around the globe, especially in Hong Kong city, where modern and a traditional way of living is made possible. While food hygiene standards in Hong Kong have more recently focused on the safety of meat sold in these wet markets, the hygienic surface level of wooden cutting boards used for processing meats is seldom observed. This original study performed microbial community profiling, as well as isolating and identifying various strains multiple wooden cutting boards from nine wet markets located on Hong Kong Island. Our study also investigated the efficiency of scraping the surface of cutting boards as a traditional cleaning technique in Hong Kong. Results indicate that these hygienic practices are inefficient for guarantying proper surface hygiene as some most tested cutting boards were found to harbor microbial species typically associated with hospital nosocomial infections, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae. Further analysis also led to discovering the presence of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) among isolated strains. Our results showcase the significance and effects of cross-contamination in Hong Kong wet markets, especially with regards to the potential spreading of clinically-relevant strains and ARGs on food processing surfaces. This study should, therefore, serve as a basis to review current hygienic practices in Hong Kong’s wet market on a larger scale, thereby improving food safety and ultimately, public health.

Accessing food through wet markets is a common global daily occurrence, where fresh meat can be purchased to support an urbanizing world population. Similar to the wet markets in many other metropolitan cities in Asia, Hong Kong wet markets vary and are characterized by differing hygiene routines and access to essential modern technologies. The lack of risk assessments of food contact surfaces in these markets has led to substantial gaps in food safety knowledge and information that could help improve and maintain public health. Microbial profiling analyses were conducted on cutting boards that had been used to process pork, poultry, and seafood at 11 different wet markets. The markets differed in hygiene protocols and access to modern facilities. Irrespective of whether wet markets have access of modern infrastructure, the hygiene practices were largely found to be inefficient based on the prevalence of bacterial species typically associated with foodborne pathogens such as Campylobacter fetus, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus; indicator organisms such as Escherichia coli; as well as nonfoodborne pathogenic bacterial species potentially associated with nosocomial infections, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae. Other Vibrio species, V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus, typically associated with contaminated raw or undercooked seafood with the potential to cause illness in humans, were also found on wooden cutting boards. This study indicated that the hygienic practices used in Hong Kong wet markets are not sufficient for preventing the establishment of spoilage or pathogenic organisms. This study serves as a basis to review current hygiene practices in wet markets and provides a framework to reassess existing safety protocols.

Phenolic compounds and total antioxidant activities were analysed in five green asparagus cultivars (Grande, Altas, UC800, UC301 and UC157). In addition, the colours as well as the lignin, amino acid, and microelement contents of the asparagus cultivars were assessed. Cultivar ‘Grande’ had the best greenness (a*=-12.47), the highest vitamin C (59.1 mg/kg) and microelement contents (282.3 mg/kg) and the lowest lignin content (0.92%). Cultivar ‘UC301’ had the highest amino acid content (3.95 g/kg), and cultivar ‘UC157’ had the highest total phenolic and total flavonoid contents. Correlations were determined to evaluate the relationship between phenolic compounds and total antioxidant activity. Phenolic compounds, particularly rutin, are major contributors to the antioxidant activity of green asparagus, with a correlation coefficient of r=0.977-0.982. A principal component analysis was then performed to investigate the interrelationships between the parameters and the investigated cultivars. The results show...

Coarse-grained soil (CGS), as a filler with the characteristics of high bearing capacity but difficult compaction for embankment construction, requires an appropriate thickness of a single compaction layer according to the influence depth of vertical dynamic stress. This paper used a numerical analysis using PFC2D following a scale model test with different particle gradations of compacted CGS fillers by adopting a modified PFWD. The results show that the influence depth is about 50 cm under the maximum impact stress of 0.066 MPa if defined the depth as the maximum stress attenuation to 20%. The compacted CGS filler with dense particle gradation and high strength has a rapid attenuation on vertical dynamic stress. Meanwhile, with the increase of stone content (P5, particle size ≥5 mm), the vertical dynamic stress of compacted CGS is attenuated exponentially. The maximum particle size also affects the attenuation of vertical dynamic stress, which needs further research. The findings support the development of non-destructive devices to inspect the compactness of subgrade construction rapidly.