Chapter 9 - Capacity Building: Building Analytical Capacity for Microbial Food Safety

Abstract

This chapter discusses capacity building for the analysis of microbial food safety. Food safety problems are closely associated with changes evolving in society, economy, life-style, and eating habits. This change in lifestyle has led to outside eating habits, giving unlimited opportunities for convenience and processed foods needing less time for food preparation. In the food safety scenario, the most important objective and function is microbial food safety. Foods are prone to microbial contaminants that are known for the undesirable changes they bring about in foods, causing either spoilage and/or health hazards. A more important aspect of microbial contamination is the possibility of serious health hazards due to the presence of potential food poisoning microorganisms and their toxic metabolites leading to food poisoning outbreaks. The recognized food-borne pathogens include multicellular animal parasites, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Deciding on capacity building programs requires knowledge of the major bacterial species that play a significant role in food safety.