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Globally, consumer’s inclination towards functional foods had noticed due to their greater health consciousness coupled with enhanced health-care cost. The fact that probiotics could promote a healthier gut microbiome led projection of probiotic foods as functional foods and had emerged as an important dietary strategy for improved human health. It had established that ice cream was a better carrier for probiotics than fermented milked due to greater stability of probiotics in ice cream matrix. Global demand for ice cream boomed and probiotic ice cream could have been one of the most demanded functional foods. The purpose of this paper was to review the technological aspects and factors affecting probiotic viability and to standardize methodology to produce functional probiotic ice cream.

Attempt was made to search the literature (review and researched papers) to identify diverse factors affecting the probiotic viability and major technological challenge faced during formulation of probiotic ice cream. Keywords used for data searched included dairy-based functional foods, ice cream variants, probiotic ice cream, factors affecting probiotic viability and health benefits of probiotic ice cream.

Retention of probiotic viability at a level of >10⁶ cfu/ml is a prerequisite for functional probiotic ice creams. Functional probiotic ice cream could have been produced with the modification of basic mix and modulating technological parameters during processing and freezing. Functionality can be further enhanced with the inclusion of certain nutraceutical components such as prebiotics, antioxidant, phenolic compounds and dietary fibres. Based upon reviewed literature, suggested method for the manufacture of functional probiotic ice cream involved freezing of a probiotic ice cream mix obtained by blending 10% probiotic fermented milk with 90% non-fermented plain ice cream mix for higher probiotic viability. Probiotic ice cream with functional features, comparable with traditional ice cream in terms of technological and sensory properties could be produced and can crop up as a novel functional food.

Probiotic ice cream with functional features may attract food manufacturers to cater health-conscious consumers.

With the current wave of modernization in the dairy industry, the global dairy market has seen significant shifts. Making the most of inventory planning, machine learning (ML) maximizes the movement of commodities from one site to another. By facilitating waste reduction and quality improvement across numerous components, it reduces operational expenses. The focus of this study was to analyze existing dairy supply chain (DSC) optimization strategies and to look for ways in which DSC could be further improved. This study tends to enhance the operational excellence and continuous improvements of optimization strategies for DSC management

Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) standards for systematic reviews are served as inspiration for the study's methodology. The accepted protocol for reporting evidence in systematic reviews and meta-analyses is PRISMA. Health sciences associations and publications support the standards. For this study, the authors relied on descriptive statistics.

As a result of this modernization initiative, dairy sector has been able to boost operational efficiency by using cutting-edge optimization strategies. Historically, DSC researchers have relied on mathematical modeling tools, but recently authors have started using artificial intelligence (AI) and ML-based approaches. While mathematical modeling-based methods are still most often used, AI/ML-based methods are quickly becoming the preferred method. During the transit phase, cloud computing, shared databases and software actually transmit data to distributors, logistics companies and retailers. The company has developed comprehensive deployment, distribution and storage space selection methods as well as a supply chain road map.

Many sorts of environmental degradation, including large emissions of greenhouse gases that fuel climate change, are caused by the dairy industry. The industry not only harms the environment, but it also causes a great deal of animal suffering. Smaller farms struggle to make milk at the low prices that large farms, which are frequently supported by subsidies and other financial incentives, set.

This paper addresses a need in the dairy business by giving a primer on optimization methods and outlining how farmers and distributors may increase the efficiency of dairy processing facilities. The majority of the studies just briefly mentioned supply chain optimization.

This paper aims to outline the role that serendipity can play in providing a complementary and previously unrepresented vector in deliberate and emergent strategies within organizations.

The paper is conceptual in nature and draws upon the serendipity pattern in sociological theory and serendipitous relations in developmental sciences to provide a framework for executives to consider when examining the process of strategy formation. Two case vignettes are used to illustrate the difference between luck and serendipity and the paper also traces key micro foundations of serendipity by returning to the original serendipity fable and a famed science experiment producing “floppy-eared” rabbits.

The notion of chance favoring the “prepared firm” is espoused where the prepared organizational mind is positioned as an antecedent of serendipitous strategy formation. This is based on Louis Pasteur’s famous aphorism, “chance favors the prepared mind.” Components of the prepared firm include deep domain knowledge, anticipatory mindset, noticing, abductive reasoning, elaboration and relations development.

The paper is a conceptual articulation of a novel concept that now requires deeper empirical case development and ultimately statistical validation. The paper suggests linkages between serendipity and theories of absorptive capacity and the attention-based view of the firm.

Several mindsets, capabilities and relations for architecting organizational serendipity are suggested for executives using a stylized framework.

From a strategy process perspective, the Mintzberg and Waters seminal article “Of strategies deliberate and emergent” is complemented by considering “floppy-eared” strategy characterized by unexpected, anomalous and strategic datum.

The rising number of food recalls has raised concerns about complexity, globalization and weak governance in the food supply chain. This paper aims to investigate the recall of plant-based products with data from the US Food and Drug Administration.

Introducing the structural topic modeling method allowed us to test theories on recall in the context of sustainable food consumption, enhancing the understanding of food recall processes. This approach helps identify latent topics of product recalls and their interwoven relationships with various stakeholders.

The results answer a standing research call for empirical investigation in a nascent food industry to identify stakeholders’ engagements for food safety crisis management for corporate social responsibility practices. This finding provides novel insights on managing threats to food safety at an industry level to extend existing antecedents and consequences of product recall at a micro level.

For practitioners, this empirical finding may provide insights into stakeholder management and develop evidence-based strategies to prevent threats to food safety. For public policymakers, this analysis may help identify patterns of recalls and assist guidelines and alarm systems (e.g. EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) on threats in the food supply chain.

Two detected clusters, such as opportunisms of market actors in the plant-based food system and food culture, from the analysis help understand corporate social responsibility and food safety in the plant-based food industry.

This study examined the effects of adopting dairy feed technology bundles on the milk production of smallholder dairy farmers.

The study was based on Multinomial Endogenous Switching Regression (MESR) to estimate the effects of the adoption of three feed technology bundles on milk production using data collected from 518 dairy farm households in West Java, Indonesia.

The findings indicated that adopting technology bundles had positive and robust effects on milk production, with gradual positive effects between non-adoption and the adoption of different bundles of technologies.

This study focused on the association between the adoption of feed technology bundles and milk production. However, further analysis of the causal links between the adoption of feed technologies and milk production as well as the inclusion of other outcomes in the analysis, such as production costs and risk mitigation, are required.

Most of the literature on agricultural technology adoption focuses on the adoption of individual technologies, crop farming and conservation practices. Therefore, this study examined the effects of the adoption of dairy feed technology bundles.

This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on low-carbon consumption of dairy products through informational interventions. The empirical findings seek to enlighten developing countries' efforts in coping with climate change and potential dietary transitions.

A randomized controlled trial was designed to examine the effects of purpose-differentiated information interventions on individual dairy consumption. The experiment recruited and randomly assigned 1,002 college students into four groups to receive (or not) environmental or/and health information interventions.

The empirical analysis finds that health and combined information interventions have a positive impact on dairy consumption, while environmental information interventions' effect on dairy consumption is insignificant. In the context of the pandemic, health information interventions positively affected participants' perceptions and preferences for dairy products by delivering knowledge about their role in boosting immunity. However, environmental information interventions failed to do the same things as their insignificant effects on both perception and preference.

Macro-external shocks, such as public health events, may offset the impact of universal information interventions promoting pro-environmental behaviors. For a smooth dietary transition to achieve long-term environmental sustainability, diverse stakeholders must be included in more individualized interventions to guide daily consumption, especially in developing countries with large populations.

The objective of this study was to delineate and compare enteral nutrition (EN) practices among neonatal units across the Arabian Gulf countries.

A cross-sectional study was conducted by recruiting 255 clinicians working in neonatal units in the Arabian Gulf countries.

Out of 255 invited clinicians, 73 (29%) participated in the survey. Neonatal units used varied EN strategies, where feeding practices exhibited variability. The majority (74%) of units had a local standard feeding protocol, while 18% followed international protocols, and 8% did not adhere to a specific protocol. When maternal milk was not used, the main alternatives were preterm formula (67%) and predigested formula (14%). The age at which the first EN was commenced and the reported advancement rate showed significant variations among different units (p < 0.001). The initiation of fortification was primarily driven by reaching a specific enteral volume (commonly reported as 100 mL/kg/day) and addressing poor postnatal growth. Fortification practices did not differ significantly among professions, except for the initial fortification strength, where none of the dietitians and only 8.3% of neonatologists preferred full strength, compared to 28.6% and 21.4% of medical residents and nurses, respectively (p = 0.033).

This study marks the first exploration of EN practices in neonatal units, examining their local and cross-country variations. It provides valuable insights to guide local trials and foster global collaboration among neonatal units to establish a unified knowledge base, standardized practices and promote research and innovation, ultimately contributing to optimal feeding practices for very preterm infants.

The presence of heavy metals in milk causes many acute and chronic physiological dysfunctions in human organs. The present study aims to investigate the heavy metals in cow's and buffalo's milk of two major cities, Karachi and Gujranwala, Pakistan to estimate metal intake by humans from this source.

In total, 48 milk samples from 2 cities were drawn from animals' udder to avoid contamination. Each sample was digested with nitric acid at 105 ^oC (degree Celsius) on a pre-heated electric hot plate to investigate the metals by atomic absorption spectroscopy (flame type). Air-acetylene technique analyzed chromium, cadmium and lead, and the hydride method analyzed arsenic in the milk samples.

The results revealed the highest mean lead concentration (19.65 ± 43.86 ppb) in the milk samples, followed by chromium (2.10 ± 2.33 ppb) and arsenic (0.48 ± 0.73 ppb). Cadmium was not detected in any sample, assuming cadmium's occurrence was below the detection level. The concentrations of all the metals in the samples of the two cities do not differ statistically. Lead concentrations in the buffalo's milk were higher than in cow's milk (p < 0.05). However, the concentrations of arsenic and chromium between buffalo's and cow's milk do not differ statistically. The present study reveals a lower level of metals in the milk than those conducted elsewhere. The mean concentrations of all the metals met the World Health Organization's (WHO) safety guidelines (1993).

Although cadmium causes toxicity in the human body, cadmium could not be measured because cadmium's concentration was below the detection level, which is 1 ppb.

This study will help reduce the toxic metals in our environment, and the sources of heavy metals, particularly from the industrial sector could be identified. The feed and water consumed by the milking animals could be carefully used for feeding them.

This study will help reduce the diseases and malfunction of human organs and organ systems since these heavy metals cause toxicity and carcinogenicity in humans. Arsenic and chromium cause cancer while lead causes encephalopathy (a brain disease).

The study reports heavy metal concentrations in the two attributes of four independent variables of raw milk samples that were scarcely reported from Pakistan.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 and its subsequent varied impacts on different economic activities necessitate to examine its disruptions and impacts on livestock sector in India due to its recently surging potential as an unrivaled alternative to boost farmer’s income.

The studies for review were identified through search in different databases using relevant keywords. Only full text papers written in English language were reviewed. The review was organized and streamlined using Covidence software.

Analysis of the literature reveals adverse effects of COVID-19 on functioning of input and output stages of livestock supply chains. This has resulted in upstream and downstream economic losses that affect livelihoods of the producers.

Scale of unprecedented crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic requires creative policy decisions to make livestock production systems robust, resilient and sustainable. Organized production systems are required to integrate with livestock-tech startups to modernize their supply chains, whereas local supply chains are required to reorient with government’s intervention in terms of developing on-farm production and postproduction processing facilities.

Although there exist some evidence on COVID-19-related impacts on livestock sector of India, but an integrated review of evidence on COVID-19 related disruptions at all the stages (from input supply to marketing) of livestock supply chains was missing.

Blood lipid and lipoprotein abnormalities are common among patients with diabetes. The study aimed to assess dietary fat intake and its association with blood lipids among patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) considering sex differences.

A cross-sectional observational study was conducted with patients (207 males and 197 females) with T2DM. The daily food intake and its contents of fat and fat types were assessed through face-to-face interview. Anthropometric measurements, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), triglyceride, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were initially recorded.

The results revealed that TC, LDL and HDL cholesterol levels were significantly higher in females than in males. However, the TC: HDL ratio was significantly higher in males than in females. The results also showed that the daily intake of saturated fatty acid (SFA) slightly exceeded the daily recommended allowance. However, the monounsaturated fatty acid + polyunsaturated fatty acid/SFA (MUFA + PUFA/SFA) ratio was within the recommended ratio. In addition, this study found that the main sources of SFA and cholesterol intake were milk and milk products. A significant association between high fat intake and HbA1c levels was observed (r = 0.234, p < 0.001).

As it is a cross-sectional observational study, this study has the natural limitation where it can only demonstrate an association.

The types of dietary fat intake may contribute to blood lipid abnormalities and differences effects may exist among male and female. Studies on the effect of daily fat intake and its types on blood lipids in patients with diabetes, in particular Saudi patients with diabetes are limited. This study focused on the amount and type of the consumed fat among male and female Saudi patients with T2DM and studied the relationship between the type of consumed fat and blood lipid profiles.