Emerging Issues and Approaches in Microbial Food Safety

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 10526

Special Issue Editors

Department of Applied Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Interests: Listeria monocytogenes; metagenomics; bioinformatics; food safety

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Guest Editor
Division of Food Safety, The Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Carlow, Ireland
Interests: standardized molecular methods; bacterial toxins; bacterial spores; dairy microbiology risk management
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Guest Editor
CSIRO Food and Nutrition, 671 Sneydes Road, Werribee, VIC 3030, Australia
Interests: dairy microbiology; food safety; challenge testing; enterococci

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microbial hazards represent one of the key challenges for food business operators in the production of safe foods. Many pathogenic microorganisms associated with foodborne disease occupy ecological niches within food-processing supply chains, and these may be readily transferred to the associated foods which are produced. These biological hazards may then cause sporadic outbreaks of disease, ranging from milder forms such as gastroenteritis to more severe systemic infections in those who consume contaminated food. To this end, control of these important hazards must take a holistic approach and be incorporated throughout the chain in order to mitigate or minimize contamination. Effective processing methods should also be utilized to inactivate these hazards in foods, as well as cleaning and sanitizing to remove environmental contamination where it occurs. This is underpinned by systems such as Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, along with other food safety management systems.

This Special Issue will explore current issues of importance to microbial food safety, examining emerging threats that challenge food safety and related public health as well as new approaches for processing and controlling microbiological food hazards. In particular, submissions are invited concerning emerging biological hazards, novel processing technologies and control strategies, and new insights into supply chain transmission. Current issues of significance, for example, antimicrobial resistance and dissemination via foods, and emerging atypical food–pathogen transmission routes, are also welcomed.

Dr. Edward Fox
Dr. Triona O'Brien
Dr. Catherine McAuley
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. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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.

Keywords

  • microbial food safety
  • emerging issues
  • new techniques
  • novel technologies

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 2942 KiB  
Article
Oleaginous Yeast Extracts and Their Possible Effects on Human Health
by Marie Vysoka, Martin Szotkowski, Eva Slaninova, Lucia Dzuricka, Paulina Strecanska, Jana Blazkova and Ivana Marova
Microorganisms 2023, 11(2), 492; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11020492 - 16 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1570
Abstract
Four non-conventional oleaginous and pigmented yeast strains of Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Cystofilobasidium infirmominiatum, Phaffia rhodozyma, and Rhodotorula kratochvilovae were used in this study. Complex yeast extracts were prepared and tested for biological activity, safety, and effect on human health. In this [...] Read more.
Four non-conventional oleaginous and pigmented yeast strains of Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Cystofilobasidium infirmominiatum, Phaffia rhodozyma, and Rhodotorula kratochvilovae were used in this study. Complex yeast extracts were prepared and tested for biological activity, safety, and effect on human health. In this paper, we measured the antioxidant activity and antimicrobial effect of yeast biomass as a whole and their extracts to compare the influence of carotenoids and other bioactive substances in the studied biomass. All yeast extracts exhibited a significant dose-dependent antimicrobial effect against both G+ and G- bacteria and had a strong antioxidant effect. No cytotoxicity in the mouse melanoma B16F1 cell line was found in concentrations up to 20% of rehydrated biomass in cell medium. All of the extracts were cytotoxic at a concentration of 5 mg of extract/g of dry biomass. All the pigmented yeast extracts showed some positive results for apoptosis of murine melanoma cell lines and are therefore strong candidates positively effect human health. Red yeast cell biomass is a prospective material with many attractive biological functions and can be used in the food industry, as a pharmaceutical material, or in the feed industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Issues and Approaches in Microbial Food Safety)
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15 pages, 1732 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Safety and Probiotic Potential of Enterococcus faecalis MG5206 and Enterococcus faecium MG5232 Isolated from Kimchi, a Korean Fermented Cabbage
by YongGyeong Kim, Soo-Im Choi, Yulah Jeong and Chang-Ho Kang
Microorganisms 2022, 10(10), 2070; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10102070 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4005
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the genotypic and phenotypic toxicity of Enterococcus faecalis MG5206 and Enterococcus faecium MG5232 isolated from kimchi (fermented vegetable cabbage). In this study, the genotypic toxicity of the strains MG5206 and MG5232 was identified through whole-genome [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the genotypic and phenotypic toxicity of Enterococcus faecalis MG5206 and Enterococcus faecium MG5232 isolated from kimchi (fermented vegetable cabbage). In this study, the genotypic toxicity of the strains MG5206 and MG5232 was identified through whole-genome sequencing analysis, and phenotypic virulence, such as susceptibility to antibiotics, hemolytic activity, and gelatinase and hyaluronidase activities, was also evaluated. In addition, the in vivo toxicity of both strains was evaluated using an acute oral administration test in Sprague–Dawley rats. In all the tests, both the strains were determined to be safety by confirming that they did not show antibiotic resistance or virulence factors. In addition, these strains exhibited a low level of autoaggregation ability (37.2–66.3%) and hydrophobicity, as well as a high survival rate in gastrointestinal condition in vitro. Therefore, the safety and high gastrointestinal viability of E. faecalis MG5206 and E. faecium MG5232 suggests that both the strains could be utilized in food as potential probiotics in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Issues and Approaches in Microbial Food Safety)
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Review

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13 pages, 650 KiB  
Review
Food Safety Issues Related to Eating In and Eating Out
by Adriana H. Gargiulo, Stephany G. Duarte, Gabriela Z. Campos, Mariza Landgraf, Bernadette D. G. M. Franco and Uelinton M. Pinto
Microorganisms 2022, 10(11), 2118; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10112118 - 26 Oct 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3974
Abstract
Because of growing urbanization and lack of time to prepare meals at home, eating out or getting food delivered have become common trends for many people. The consumption of food from unknown sources may impose an increased chance of contamination with microbiological hazards, [...] Read more.
Because of growing urbanization and lack of time to prepare meals at home, eating out or getting food delivered have become common trends for many people. The consumption of food from unknown sources may impose an increased chance of contamination with microbiological hazards, especially if sanitary conditions are not met. We evaluated data from health surveillance agencies and scientific articles on foodborne diseases (FBD) reported internationally according to the exposure sites. We observed that the data are influenced by cultural, political, and socioeconomic differences. For instance, in New Zealand, Australia, United States, Denmark and India, the occurrence of FBD outbreaks was greater from foods prepared in commercial establishments and street vendors than from households. Conversely, in China, countries of the European Union and Brazil, the results are the opposite. Additionally, the pandemic imposed new eating behavior patterns, increasing delivery services and foods prepared in so-called “Dark Kitchens”. The underreporting and heterogeneity of data among countries prevented a precise conclusion to the question of whether homemade foods are inherently safer than foods prepared out. Nevertheless, a lower level of development in a country influences its sanitation conditions, as well as the number of street food vendors, the search for cheaper foods, and insufficient knowledge of the population on good hygiene practices, which can all increase the chances of FBD cases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Issues and Approaches in Microbial Food Safety)
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