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Control and Intervention Strategies to Reduce Foodborne Microbial Pathogens in...
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Control and Intervention Strategies to Reduce Foodborne Microbial Pathogens in Food

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 2578

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Virgínia Farias Alves

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Goiânia 74605-170, GO, Brazil
Interests: food safety; microbial ecology in food systems; microbial ecology in stingless bees and their inputs; lactic acid bacteria; fructophilic lactic acid bacteria
Dr. Elaine C. P. De Martinis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Interests: food safety; microbial ecology in food systems; omic tools; lactic acid bacteria
Dr. Valéria Quintana Cavicchioli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Escola de Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), Goiânia 74690-900, GO, Brazil
Interests: food safety; food microbiology; dairy science and technology; biopreservation; lactic acid bacteria; antimicrobial compounds; bacteriocins

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The World Health Organization estimates that foodborne diseases affect approximately 600 million people worldwide each year, causing approximately 420,000 deaths. Many of these illnesses are caused by the ingestion of animal and plant-based foodstuffs contaminated with bacterial pathogens that threaten the safety of food systems, from farm to fork. At first, studies on food safety aimed to monitor and determine the prevalence of specific pathogens in certain foods. However, scientific and technological advances in the globalized world have enabled the development of robust tools to expand the scope of foodborne pathogen detection and tracking programs, fostering an enhanced understanding of microbial behavior, at the cellular and molecular levels, throughout the food production chain. Despite these efforts, the outbreak of foodborne disease continues to occur, and new and old pathogens continue to challenge food industries and public health agencies. Therefore, the development of new and modern strategies to mitigate foodborne diseases and enhance the quality and safety of food is crucial. This Special Issue aims to present innovative review articles, research papers, short communications and case studies that address the following topics: "Control and Intervention Strategies to Reduce Foodborne Microbial Pathogens".

Dr. Virgínia Farias Alves
Dr. Elaine C. P. De Martinis
Dr. Valéria Quintana Cavicchioli
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.

Keywords

  • foodborne pathogens
  • quality control
  • food hazards
  • food safety
  • antimicrobial technologies

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 1312 KiB  
Article
Citrobacter braakii Isolated from Salami and Soft Cheese: An Emerging Food Safety Hazard?
by Frédérique Pasquali, Cecilia Crippa, Alex Lucchi, Santolo Francati, Maria Luisa Dindo and Gerardo Manfreda
Foods 2025, 14(11), 1887; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14111887 - 26 May 2025
Viewed by 314
Abstract
Citrobacter braakii can colonize the intestinal tract of humans and animals and occasionally act as opportunistic pathogen. Although isolated from food and the environment, its potential as a foodborne pathogen remains uncertain. Twenty C. braakii isolates were previously collected from salami and soft [...] Read more.
Citrobacter braakii can colonize the intestinal tract of humans and animals and occasionally act as opportunistic pathogen. Although isolated from food and the environment, its potential as a foodborne pathogen remains uncertain. Twenty C. braakii isolates were previously collected from salami and soft cheese artisanal productions. In the present study, the potentialities of C. braakii as a food safety hazard were explored by a genomic comparison of C. braakii newly sequenced genomes with publicly available genomes, including those of clinical relevance, and a pathogenicity assessment in Galleria mellonella as an in vivo infection model. Phylogenomic reconstruction revealed that one salami clone and two C. braakii genomes of the soft cheese production were closely related (from 11 to 28 core SNP differences) to C. braakii publicly available clinical genomes. All genomes carried the chromosomally located blaCMY and/or qnrB genes and were resistant to cephalosporins and/or had reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. G. mellonella larvae showed 90% mortality after challenge with C. braakii strains carrying the vex and tvi operons coding for the capsular polysaccharide (Vi antigen), in comparison to 40% of strains lacking these two operons. The high mortality rate of vex- and tvi-positive C. braakii isolated from food processing plants suggests C. braakii to be a possible foodborne hazard. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control and Intervention Strategies to Reduce Foodborne Microbial Pathogens in Food)
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16 pages, 5826 KiB  
Article
Anti-Vibrio parahaemolyticus Mechanism of Hexanal and Its Inhibitory Effect on Biofilm Formation
by Qiuxia Fan, Mengge Ning, Xuejun Zeng, Xiangxiang He, Zhouya Bai, Shaobin Gu, Yahong Yuan and Tianli Yue
Foods 2025, 14(4), 703; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14040703 - 19 Feb 2025
Viewed by 882
Abstract
Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) is one of the most prevalent foodborne pathogens worldwide. Hexanal is a natural aldehyde derived from plants. In this study, the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of hexanal against V. parahaemolyticus were investigated. Hexanal inhibited V. parahaemolyticus growth [...] Read more.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus) is one of the most prevalent foodborne pathogens worldwide. Hexanal is a natural aldehyde derived from plants. In this study, the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of hexanal against V. parahaemolyticus were investigated. Hexanal inhibited V. parahaemolyticus growth with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.4 mg/mL. Hexanal (2 MIC and 4 MIC) increased the leakage of protein and lactic dehydrogenase, reduced intracellular ATP concentration, damaged membrane integrity, and induced abnormal V. parahaemolyticus morphology and ultrastructure. The results of colony enumeration suggested that hexanal exhibited bactericidal action against V. parahaemolyticus in different culture mediums and food systems (Spanish mackerel meat and shrimp paste). At 1/8 MIC and 1/4 MIC, hexanal inhibited biofilm formation of V. parahaemolyticus, as evidenced by crystal violet staining assay and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation. Moreover, hexanal reduced the levels of extracellular polysaccharide, extracellular protein, and cyclic di-guanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) in V. parahaemolyticus. The result of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) indicated that hexanal downregulated the expression of genes critical to V. parahaemolyticus biofilm development. This study provides a promising alternative for V. parahaemolyticus control and is conducive to promoting the application of hexanal in the food field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control and Intervention Strategies to Reduce Foodborne Microbial Pathogens in Food)
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Review

Jump to: Research

29 pages, 466 KiB  
Review
Emerging and Innovative Technologies for the Sanitization of Fresh Produce: Advances, Mechanisms, and Applications for Enhancing Food Safety and Quality
by Yuqiao Jin and Achyut Adhikari
Foods 2025, 14(11), 1924; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14111924 - 28 May 2025
Viewed by 537
Abstract
The consumption of fresh produce has significantly increased in recent years, contributing to improved diets through the provision of essential nutrients, vitamins, and fiber. However, there has been a rise in foodborne illness outbreaks linked to fruits and vegetables, often caused by pathogens [...] Read more.
The consumption of fresh produce has significantly increased in recent years, contributing to improved diets through the provision of essential nutrients, vitamins, and fiber. However, there has been a rise in foodborne illness outbreaks linked to fruits and vegetables, often caused by pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes. These outbreaks have led to severe health consequences, including illnesses, hospitalizations, and even deaths. Once produce is contaminated by foodborne pathogens, these pathogens are difficult to eliminate. Traditional decontamination methods, such as water washes and chlorine-based sanitizers, have been widely used to address these microbial concerns. However, these methods may not be effective against pathogens in crevices or biofilms on the surface of produce, and their effectiveness varies depending on the type of produce and pathogens. Moreover, the chemicals used may raise health and environmental concerns. As a result, novel technologies for pathogen inactivation are gaining attention. These include ozone, ultraviolet light, cold plasma, pulsed light, ultrasound, microbubbles, nanobubbles, electrolyzed water, high-pressure processing, chlorine dioxide gas, and among others. This paper reviews a range of emerging and innovative technologies for the sanitization of fresh produce. The mechanisms, advancements, and practical applications of these technologies are examined with a focus on enhancing food safety and preserving produce quality. These innovative methods provide new opportunities for both research and industry to develop practical, affordable, and safe solutions for maintaining produce safety and quality. Recent studies highlight the effectiveness of combining methods, showing that using multiple sanitization techniques can significantly improve pathogen inactivation on fresh produce. For example, more than 5 log reductions of Listeria innocua and E. coli on avocado, watermelon, and mushroom can be achieved with the combined application of pulsed light and malic acid in previous research. In this review, we recommend the application of combined sanitization methods, emphasizing that integrating multiple techniques can provide a more effective and comprehensive approach to pathogen inactivation. This combined-method strategy has become a promising and innovative trend in the ongoing efforts to improve produce safety and quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control and Intervention Strategies to Reduce Foodborne Microbial Pathogens in Food)
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