Research and development on microorganisms in food has evolved from a luxury to a necessity for companies competing in the global marketplace. Whether research is conducted internally or externally through contract laboratories and universities, microbial research in foods is crucial to the safety and integrity of our food supply. Microbiological R

Research and development on microorganisms in food has evolved from a luxury to a necessity for companies competing in the global marketplace. Whether research is conducted internally or externally through contract laboratories and universities, microbial research in foods is crucial to the safety and integrity of our food supply. Microbiological Research and Development for the Food Industry covers the technical and practical insights needed for developing and utilizing various capabilities to advance food microbiology research. Providing examples of how research data can be applied to consumer and brand protection efforts, this book: Describes the purposes and processes for conducting microbiological research and development for companies and organizations involved in food, beverage, and ingredient production and distribution Covers a broad range of topics of importance to food microbiologists in allied food industries and organizations, government, and academia Includes examples of successful research methods for food microbiology laboratories Written to walk the reader through the process of investigating microorganisms in food systems for consumer and brand protection, Microbiological Research and Development for the Food Industry provides practical understanding of the necessary mechanisms and research approaches used in the field. It fuses the business and scientific aspects of microbiological research to underscore the return on investment for beverage and food ingredient producers. This text goes beyond routine presence/absence testing of pathogens and spoilage microorganisms in foods. It describes ways data can be collected to answer more complex questions and provides examples of how such data can be applied to consumer and brand protection efforts.

Microbiological Food Hygiene is a book about our clean and healthy nutrition from the sources of raw food materials into our homes. It associates nutrition to the functions of our alimentary tract and its microflora. They ultimately digest the food for nutrient uptake, as well as meet the challenges from the outside microbes. Both industrial food manufacturing and traditional means for hunting, fishing and gathering as well as the agriculture and animal husbandry are included from the hygienic point of view. Food hygienic quality during its production and preparation, distribution and catering are also focused on, as well as strategies for its maintenance. Besides our bodily source of energy and anabolism, food is a substrate for micro-organisms, both on its own and in our alimentary tract. Sometimes, the microbes cause spoilage, food-poisoning or diseases via food. Microbiological Food Hygiene introduces the common bacterial, viral, fungal or toxin agents of food-poisonings. In this book, the history of method development in food microbiology is surveyed, as well as the detection of food contaminants. Also, the follow-up of the effects of salmonellae, campylobacteria, Bacillus sp., staphylococcal, clostridial or other toxins, various food-poisoning zoonoses, dairy contamination, fish microbes, and several other forms of food contamination are included. Microbes can also be used for processing food for better diet and preservation, its improved constitution, and for adding taste or nutritional values into it. This book introduces also some more exotic cases of traditional foods and their contamination problems and preservation means, from the arctic areas to the tropics. They could serve as examples for modern homes and restaurants or large industrial kitchens. The positive contribution of microbial strains in binding valuable trace elements, such as selenium and other minerals is presented, as well as the probiotic activities of several microbes and their roles in maintaining the BIB (Bacteriological Intestinal Balance). Results on health promoting flavonoid substances and neonatal milk formulas are introduced. Methods for microbiological food diagnostics and quality monitoring are widely included, also with some actual problems as the spread of antibiotic resistant strains and some other emerging threats. These hazards are partially due to population expansion and global trade and travelling. Also, the industrial food manufacturing accelerates the buildup of some of the problems. Experts in microbiology as well as those working with food production and distribution in our societies need to keep up with the pace of various methods of development, such as novel genetic techniques or immunoassays, enhanced enrichment, volatile sensing, molecular diagnostics and many others. The influence of various microbes in foods and thereof is related to their metabolic capabilities, surface structures and the antigenic properties, biofilm formation, intestinal interactions, etc. These phenomena are profoundly discussed in the Microbiological Food Hygiene. Food sterilisation, hygienisation and preservation techniques, large kitchens and catering services, and other practical issues are also introduced. The importance of theoretic background is to be estimated on the basis of everyday activities in the versatile and fascinating field of food production and hygiene.

Food Microbiology and Biotechnology: Safe and Sustainable Food Production explores the most important advances in food microbiology and biotechnology, with special emphasis on the challenges that the industry faces in the era of sustainable development and food security problems. Chapters cover broad research areas that offer original and novel highlights in microbiology and biotechnology and other related sciences. The authors discuss food bioprocesses, fermentation, food microbiology, functional foods, nutraceuticals, extraction of natural products, nano- and micro-technology, innovative processes/bioprocesses for utilization of by-products, alternative processes requiring less energy or water, among other topics. The volume relates some of the current developments in food microbiology that address the relationship between the production, processing, service and consumption of foods and beverages with the bacteriology, mycology, virology, parasitology, and immunology. Demonstrating the potential and actual developments across the innovative advances in food microbiology and biotechnology, this volume will be of great interest to students, teachers, and researchers in the areas of biotechnology and food microbiology.

This book covers application of food microbiology principles into food preservation and processing. Main aspects of the food preservation techniques, alternative food preservation techniques, role of microorganisms in food processing and their positive and negative features are covered. Features subjects on mechanism of antimicrobial action of heat, thermal process, mechanisms for microbial control by low temperature, mechanism of food preservation, control of microorganisms and mycotoxin formation by reducing water activity, food preservation by additives and biocontrol, food preservation by modified atmosphere, alternative food processing techniques, and traditional fermented products processing. The book is designed for students in food engineering, health science, food science, agricultural engineering, food technology, nutrition and dietetic, biological sciences and biotechnology fields. It will also be valuable to researchers, teachers and practising food microbiologists as well as anyone interested in different branches of food.

Low water activity (aw) and dried foods such as dried dairy and meat products, grain-based and dried ready-to-eat cereal products, powdered infant formula, peanut and nut pastes, as well as flours and meals have increasingly been associated with product recalls and foodborne outbreaks due to contamination by pathogens such as Salmonella spp. and enterohemorrhagic E. coli. In particular, recent foodborne outbreaks and product recalls related to Salmonella-contaminated spices have raised the level of public health concern for spices as agents of foodborne illnesses. Presently, most spices are grown outside the U.S., mainly in 8 countries: India, Indonesia, China, Brazil, Peru, Madagascar, Mexico and Vietnam. Many of these countries are under-developed and spices are harvested and stored with little heed to sanitation. The FDA has regulatory oversight of spices in the United States; however, the agency’s control is largely limited to enforcing regulatory compliance through sampling and testing only after imported foodstuffs have crossed the U.S. border. Unfortunately, statistical sampling plans are inefficient tools for ensuring total food safety. As a result, the development and use of decontamination treatments is key. This book provides an understanding of the microbial challenges to the safety of low aw foods, and a historic backdrop to the paradigm shift now highlighting low aw foods as vehicles for foodborne pathogens. Up-to-date facts and figures of foodborne illness outbreaks and product recalls are included. Special attention is given to the uncanny ability of Salmonella to persist under dry conditions in food processing plants and foods. A section is dedicated specifically to processing plant investigations, providing practical approaches to determining sources of persistent bacterial strains in the industrial food processing environment. Readers are guided through dry cleaning, wet cleaning and alternatives to processing plant hygiene and sanitation. Separate chapters are devoted to low aw food commodities of interest including spices, dried dairy-based products, low aw meat products, dried ready-to-eat cereal products, powdered infant formula, nuts and nut pastes, flours and meals, chocolate and confectionary, dried teas and herbs, and pet foods. The book provides regulatory testing guidelines and recommendations as well as guidance through methodological and sampling challenges to testing spices and low aw foods for the presence of foodborne pathogens. Chapters also address decontamination processes for low aw foods, including heat, steam, irradiation, microwave, and alternative energy-based treatments.