Food Microbial Safety and Emerging Contaminants: Prevention and Control of Pathogens and Microplastics
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Quality and Safety".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026
Special Issue Editor
Interests: food microbiology; foodborne pathogens; food safety; food quality; survival of food borne pathogens in foods of animal origin; food technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Microbial safety throughout the food production chain continues to represent a major challenge for public health and global food system resilience. Although substantial progress has been made in analytical methodologies, risk characterization, and preventive control strategies, foodborne pathogens and emerging contaminants still exert considerable epidemiological and economic impacts worldwide. Among these, microplastics have recently gained attention as novel vectors capable of influencing food safety. Their presence in food not only introduces a new physical–chemical hazard but also provides surfaces for microbial adhesion, biofilm formation, and the potential transport of pathogenic or antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. This Special Issue aims to consolidate high-quality contributions focused on emerging hazards, innovative mitigation approaches, and integrated control strategies from farm to fork. Topics of interest include advances in rapid and high-throughput microbial detection, predictive microbiology and quantitative risk assessment, the role of microbiomes and plastisphere communities in food safety, innovative processing and preservation technologies, antimicrobial resistance dissemination in the food chain, and intervention strategies framed within a One Health perspective. By integrating multidisciplinary research and up-to-date critical reviews, this Special Issue seeks to deepen our understanding of microbial contamination dynamics—including the role of microplastics in shaping pathogen behavior—and to promote the development of sustainable, evidence-based measures for the prevention and control of foodborne risks. Contributions of original research, systematic reviews, and perspectives that broaden current knowledge and support science-based advancements in food microbial safety are warmly invited.
Dr. Nicoletta Cristiana Quaglia
Guest Editor
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
- food safety
- antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
- emerging hazards
- prevention and control strategies
- microbiome
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