Current Trends in Meat Microbiology and Hygiene

Dear Colleagues,

Meat and meat products are significant sources of foodborne infections involving various pathogens such as Salmonella spp., Campylobacter jejuni/coli, Yersinia enterocolitica, Verotoxigenic E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes. All of these can reside in the gastrointestinal tract of food-producing animals. The most common chain of events leading to meat-borne illnesses involves animals intended for food production, which act as healthy carriers of the pathogens subsequently transferred to humans through the production, handling and consumption of meat and meat products. Furthermore, the microbiological quality of meat directly affects its shelf life and acceptance. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the meat industry has experienced an increased business volume, making the maintenance of quality and safety essential. Additionally, meat industries have had to adapt to new consumer trends, where individuals seek healthy and safe foods originating from sustainable animal production, with respect for animal welfare and free from antibiotics and/or other chemical residues.

This Special Issue aims to highlight new trends in meat food safety, including the application of techniques such as high hydrostatic pressure, pulsed electric fields, essential oils or active packagings among others in both traditional meats (chicken, beef, or pork) and other meats with increasing consumption, such as horse meat, rabbit, game meats and aged meats. Furthermore, aspects such as hygiene and food safety aspects in the automation of the processes in cutting/deboning rooms, the advantages and disadvantages of visual-only inspection or implementation of hazards analysis and risk-based preventive controls in slaughterhouses and cutting rooms will also be discussed.

This Special Issue seeks manuscript submissions discussing the aforementioned techniques and technologies that enhance our understanding of novel trends and developments to improve meat hygiene and safety, contributing to the advancement of global food safety.

Dr. Juan García-Díez
Dr. Cristina Maria Teixeira Saraiva
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• foodborne pathogens
• spoilage bacteria
• zoonotic agents
• essential oils
• high hydrostatic pressure
• pulsed electric fields
• HACCP
• HARPC
• meat inspection
• only-visual inspection