Food and Microbes—the One Health Approach
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Quality and Safety".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 January 2026 | Viewed by 18
Special Issue Editors
Interests: One Health; food safety; astrobiology; food microbiology; food technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
“One Health” recognizes the interdependence between human, animal, and environmental health. It is a foundational concept for the food sector these days. Understanding and integrating this paradigm is critical for ensuring food safety, security, and sustainability in an increasingly complex and globalized world, where human societies face challenges related to climate change, societal conflicts, human and animal population dynamics, among others, requiring a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to food systems. Central to this understanding is the recognition of human food systems themselves as dynamic reservoirs for microbial pathogens, including zoonotic agents, and critically, for genetic determinants of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The food chain, from primary production to final consumption, represents a complex ecosystem where pathogens, as well as their genetic determinants of virulence and antimicrobial resistance, can persist, proliferate, and be transmitted.
Ultimately, the One Health approach provides a holistic framework for preventing foodborne illnesses, mitigating emerging threats, and fostering resilient food systems by comprehensively addressing their role as reservoirs. For food scientists, it signifies a shift from compartmentalized thinking to interdisciplinary collaboration with public health officials, veterinarians, environmental scientists, and agricultural specialists. In this perspective, embracing One Health is not merely best practice; it is essential for safeguarding public health and ensuring a sustainable future for global food security.
Therefore, we think that this is the right time to bring your individual works together into a Special Issue on this hot topic, to promote awareness and disseminate knowledge, leading to a better understanding of how the food sector can contribute to the One Health approach, what challenges it faces in this framework, and what its responsibilities are. We welcome submissions that address one or several of these aspects, either as review or research papers.
Dr. Maria de Lurdes Dapkevicius
Dr. Carlos Pinto
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
- One Health
- food systems
- foodborne pathogens
- virulence factors
- antimicrobial resistance
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
