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The purpose of this paper is to determine the food safety knowledge and practices of the Iranian consumers and also its association with socio-demographic characteristics.

In the present cross-sectional and population-based study, the validated food safety questionnaires applied to 1,500 participants who were selected through multistage stratified cluster sampling from the capital city and regional area of East-Azerbaijan – Iran. The Student t-test and analysis of variance and linear regression were used for statistical analysis.

Although the overall percentages of mean score for knowledge (77.66 percent) and self-reported practice (70.77 percent) were good, there was a low level of awareness and self-reported practice in some subsections such as optimal heating/cooling temperature, proper thawing techniques and eating raw egg. Female and married respondents had significantly higher mean knowledge score than males (p<0.001) and singles (p=0.04). Residents of regional areas acted more safely than capital city residents (p=0.01).

Despite the good knowledge of some respondents regarding food safety, their food safety practices were poor. It can thus be suggested that the future studies have better focus on investigating the perceived barriers of consumers about food safety practices.

Although the mean knowledge and practice regarding food safety of Iranian consumers was good, yet there is the lack of knowledge and practice on some important factors related to food poisonings such as eating raw or lightly cooked egg or improper heating/thawing practices. So, it is important to develop proper food safety education programs emphasizing on these issues. According to lower food safety knowledge and practice of low-educated, single and male respondents, the educational programs should mainly focus on these groups.

For the development of effective food safety education programs in Iran, learning about the basic knowledge and practice of consumers is essential; however, there is limited data that directly tackles this issue in Iran.

This paper aims to study the importance of polyphenols in human health and, based on recommendations on the replacement of carbonated drinks with nutritious beverages, like fruit juices, seeks to compare the polyphenol contents of natural and commercial juices.

The total polypheol content of 39 fresh and 159 commercial (100 percent and less than 50 percent) fruit juices was analyzed by the terbium sensitized fluorescence method. The ANOVA with Tukey post hoc test, and also an independent t‐test, were used for statistical analyses.

The mean polyphenol contents of fresh juices were significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of 100 percent commercials (5.34±2.7 vs 3.28±0.86 mg/l). In fresh juices the concentration ranged from 1.06±0.08 (pineapple) to 10.14±0.07 (sour cherry) mg QE/100 ml, while in 100 percent commercial juices the range was from 2.37±0.05 (orange) to 5.34±0.4 (pomegranate) mg QE/100 ml, and in <50 percent commercial juices they ranged from 1.04±0.7 (red grape) to 2.21±0.07 (white grape) mg QE/100 ml. The polyphenol contents of dark juices, in both fresh and commercial products, were significantly higher than others (p<0.001) and most fresh fruit juices possessed higher amounts of polyphenol than commercial ones. Although various juices differed in the quantity of total polyphenol, they can be considered as a good source of functional beverage.

This paper provides information about the polyphenol content of fresh and commercial (100 percent and <50 percent) fruit juices. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there have been no articles which aim to compare the polyphenol content of Iranian fresh and commercial fruit juices. For analysing the polyphenol contents, the newly developed terbium sensitized fluorescence method was used, and also the applicability of this new method was compared with the commonly used Folin‐Ciocalteau method.

Although black tea is commonly consumed in Iran, within the last years the popularity of green tea, especially green tea bags, has dramatically increased due to all scientific papers reporting that green tea has benefit impacts on human health. Considering the postulated role of increased dietary oxalate intake on calcium oxalate stone formation, this paper aimed to study the oxalate content of most popular green and black tea bags consumed in Iran.

Five green tea samples and ten black tea samples were purchased from various markets in Tabriz, Iran. The oxalate content of each sample after infusion for five minutes was measured in triplicate using an enzymatic assay. Statistical analysis used: the ANOVA with Tukey's post‐hoc test, and also an independent t‐test were used for statistical analysis.

The oxalate concentration in different brands of green tea bags ranged from 0.73 to 1.75 and from 3.69 to 6.31 mg/240 ml for black tea bags. There were significant differences in oxalate content of different brands, both in green and black tea bags (P<0.001). The mean oxalate content of green and black tea samples also differed significantly from each other (P<0.001).

From the oxalate point of view, consumption of green and black tea bags infusions several times per day may not pose significant health risks in kidney stone patients and susceptible individuals.

The antioxidant characteristics of fruits can be attributed to their contents of polyphenols and vitamins. Because of the interest in the role of antioxidants in human health, the purpose of this paper is to examine the major compounds associated with antioxidant activity, namely total phenolic and vitamin C contents, of some regularly cultivated and consumed fruits in Iran.

In total, 66 fruits from 22 families were chosen for this study. Terbium sensitized fluorescence assay and spectrophotometric method were used to determine total polyphenol and vitamin C contents respectively. The ANOVA with Tukey post‐hoc test was used for statistical analyses.

The total mean polyphenol content of fruits was 4.93 ± 2.86 mg QE/100 g that were ranging from 0.8 ± 0.05 to 11.94 ± 0.02 mg QE/100 g with the lowest amount obtained for pear and the highest amount detected in black grape. The polyphenol contents of black grape, sourcherry and pomegranate were significantly higher than those of other fruits (p < 0.001). The total mean vitamin C content of fresh fruits was 18.34 ± 9.77 mg/100 g that were ranging from 57.38 ± 0.02 (strawberry) to 11.44 ± 0.02 (melon) mg/100 g. The vitamin C contents of strawberry was significantly higher than all other fruits (p < 0.001). Despite the differences in the polyphenol and vitamin C contents of various fruits, as a good source of nutritious compounds and functional foods, they can be effective in enhancing health status.

This paper is believed to be the only one which provides information about the polyphenol and vitamin C contents of Iranian fruits. Also, the polyphenol content was measured by using a newly‐developed method.