12. Hostile microbiology

Abstract

Foodborne illnesses significantly affect the public health systems of countries around the world, both through the negative impact on people’s health and the large economic burden on their healthcare systems. Foodborne illnesses are caused by pathogenic microorganisms or, in short, pathogens. Pathogens differ in their characteristics, incubation periods, symptoms, and complications. They also differ in the ways they cause an illness (infection or intoxication), the numbers or amounts that need to be ingested to cause an illness (infection or toxic dose), and their preferential conditions for growth. Microbiological spoilage is the occurrence of deterioration of the quality of food through the action of microorganisms. Contemporary issues in food microbiology include emerging pathogens, non-culturable viable state and stress response, food adulteration, alternative food proteins trends, biofilms, antibiotic resistance and – in response – predictive microbiology. Pathogens are detected using microbiological testing methods based on the specific characteristics of the pathogen, while spoilage is indirectly assessed through the total viable counts of the food. Control measures are implemented on a government, business, and consumer level to prevent or inactivate pathogens and spoilage microorganisms in food. Food businesses prevent the emergence and growth of pathogens using chemical, physical, and biological interventions. In understanding the growth and inactivation kinetics of pathogens, process parameters can be set for many essential steps in the food industry. The prevention of spoilage relies on the process of food preservation that includes physical, chemical and biological interventions. While traditional methods are still being used extensively in microbiological testing, whole genome sequencing finds more extensive application in food microbiology, particularly in source attribution of outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. Finally, rapid tests and metabolomics are other important developments in the area of microbiological testing.