The usage of antibiotics has been, and remains, a topic of utmost importance; on the one hand, for animal breeders, and on the other hand, for food safety. Although many countries have established strict rules for using antibiotics in animal husbandry for the food industry, their misuse and irregularities in compliance with withdrawal periods are still identified. In addition to animal-origin foods that may cause antibiotic residue problems, more and more non-animal-origin foods with this type of non-compliance are identified. In this context, we aim to summarize the available information regarding the presence of antibiotic residues in food products, obtained in various parts of the world, as well as the impact of consumption of food with antibiotic residues on consumer health. We also aim to present the methods of analysis that are currently used to determine antibiotic residues in food, as well as methods that are characterized by the speed of obtaining results or by the possibility of identifying very small amounts of residues.

The perceived level of risk associated with a food product can influence purchase and consumption decisions. Thus, current trends in food safety address an issue of general interest—the identification of healthy and economical alternatives to synthetic antioxidants that may have harmful effects on human health. Still, the processors’ target is to increase the shelf life of food products using preserving substances. Natural antioxidants can be extracted and used in the food industry from different plants, such as blueberry, broccoli, chokeberry, cinnamon, ginger, olives, oregano, etc. The identification of the main natural antioxidant types that have been used in the food industry is very important in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the researched topic. In this regard, the aim of this paper was to illustrate the positive aspects of using natural antioxidants with preservative roles in meat products, while, at the same time, highlighting the potential risks induced by these compounds. All of those aspects are correlated with the impact of sensorial attributes and the improvement of the nutritional value of meat products.

The subject of the consumption of insects such as the house cricket (Acheta domesticus) and mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor) is an increasingly debated topic in the media considering the changes in food traditions influenced by inter-ethnic cultural exchanges as well as of the need to identify new nutritional sources with increased energy intake also related to legislative developments. The practical activity of the study was carried out in an authorized veterinary sanitary and food safety laboratory and aimed to study the transfer rate of lead from experimentally contaminated feed with this element at the value of 0.15 mg/kg in edible insects fed for 14 days with this feed. Quantitative determinations of lead in insects were made at the initial moment, later at 7 days and 14 days intervals, on 6 analytical lots for each type of insects. The method of lead determination was graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Analytical results demonstrated that the studied insects responded relatively uniformly to the degree of lead absorption during the first 7 days, namely an increase in lead levels of 41.2% in house crickets versus 40.25% in mealworm larvae.