Microbial Safety of Food and Food Products

Foods are the basic building blocks of living things, yet they may pose a threat and become harmful to human health in some situations. Many people throughout the world become ill because of the food they eat. These diseases associated with food consumption are referred to as foodborne diseases, and they may result from dangerous microorganisms. When certain disease-causing bacteria, viruses or parasite contaminate food, they can cause food-related diseases. Another word for such a bacterium, virus, or parasite is "pathogen". Since food-related diseases can be serious, or even fatal, it is important to know and practice safe food-handling behaviors to help reduce the risk of getting sick from contaminated food. The increasing incidence and severity of foodborne illnesses worldwide has increased public awareness of food safety and demand for safer food is growing as consumers now better understand the links between diet and health. The rapid movement of people across the world coupled with international circulation of food products as commodities have introduced new food safety risks. As human population continues to grow, there is an ever increasing need to develop and maintain food products of different kind which could further deepen the importance of food safety concerns. Food-borne diseases are a widespread and growing public health and economic problem. Recent modifications in food production and processing practices and ever-changing food habits of the consumer are important factors for the incidence of food-borne infections. Many recognized pathogens are of great concern today and new challenges have appeared in the recent years as the role of the interaction between pathogens during infection.

This book focuses on a wide variety of current topics on microbes that have both beneficial and deleterious effects on the safety and quality of foods, and are thus a concern of public health. The world's growing population and the consumers' desire to be provided with a wider range of foods have resulted in a longer and more complex food chain. Today, foods reach consumers after being collected from fields, farms and factories and then pass onto many countries, traveling distances of thousands of kilometers. With this global food distribution, an infection that occurs at any point within the food chain has the potential of affecting any given population in the world. It is therefore essential, given the number of interactions taking place between the actors involved in the food chain and the long distances between them, that multi-sectorial and international collaboration take place. As no country can provide food safety on its own, safety measures need to be enhanced in many countries. The increasing incidence and severity of food borne illnesses worldwide has increased public awareness of food safety and demand for safer food is growing as consumers now better understand the links between diet and health. The rapid movement of people across the world coupled with international circulation of food products as commodities have introduced new food safety risks. As human population continues to grow, there is an ever increasing need to develop and maintain food products of different kind which could further deepen the importance of food safety concerns. There is no foodborne illnesses free zone in the world. Therefore, proper understanding of foodborne pathogens and factors that impact their growth, survival and pathogenesis would equip us with tools to ensure global food safety.