Articles - Microbiology

The safety and regulatory procedures of plant-based meat alternatives have recently been questioned. Many food safety experts advise against regularly consuming plant-based meat due to the possible presence of allergens, anti-nutrients, and thermally generated carcinogens.    Consumer’s increased desire for meat substitutes may be t [...]

Organic food is promoted as “better” food. But what does “better” mean? And do industrialised processes mean organic production encounters the same pitfalls as conventional agriculture?     Introduction Consumer cotestncern over the quality and safety of conventional food is one of the drivers of the increasing dem [...]

The EU 2019 One Health Zoonoses report is a hefty document that summarizes relevant and (sometimes) comparable data on zoonoses and foodborne outbreaks. Here is the CliffsNotes version.     Introduction Infectious diseases originating from animal reservoirs (zoonoses) are a constant threat to public health, with effects on humans that can [...]

Overcoming the bottlenecks slowing rapid methods, looking beyond the speed of qPCR     Microbiological quality and safety of food, feed and water is a major global concern. Many people suffer from illnesses through consumption of food products contaminated by a variety of foodborne pathogens. In addition, food contamination by spoilage m [...]

With Campylobacter infections on the rise and treatment options disappearing because of growing antimicrobial resistance, how should the food industry respond?     Why Campylobacter?   Campylobacter is one of the major foodborne pathogens of concern. C. jejuni and C. coli are the major causative agents, with C. jejuni accounting for [...]

Laboratory managers can choose between plate-based reference methods or proprietary methods. Faster but often more expensive, how can we be sure proprietary methods meet or exceed reference method performance?IntroductionAnalytical methods and their performance parameters have been defined as one of the components of a microbiological criterion for [...]

Testing food manufacturing surfaces for SARS-CoV-2 has been widely promoted during the pandemic but is this approach effective for decreasing virus transmission of the virus?     Introduction COVID-19 is not considered a foodborne illness and surface contamination is not likely a significant source of contamination. Yet, food industry pla [...]

The European food production industry has been shaken over the past two years by multiple reports of foodborne outbreaks. Food safety authorities also report a trend in the growing number of outbreak-related recalls. Is something going wrong?     Introduction The summer of 2019 saw numerous foodborne outbreaks linked to Listeria and Salmo [...]