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Investigations into Food Hygiene and Public Health: A Focus on Microbiological Contamination

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 9602

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Research and Internationalization, University of Messina, Via Consolato del Mare, 41, 98100 Messina, Italy
Interests: food microbiology; food safety; foodwaste valorization; fermentation process management; biofuel; biorefinery; value-added products
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of concern around food hygiene and safety, as well as around the incidence of food borne diseases due to the strict correlation with Public Health. In this respect, microbiological contamination limitation is a major challenge for prevention. Food contamination with microbial agents can occur at any stage of the food chain (from farm to fork). For this reason, good hygienic and manufacturing practices must be followed in the entire food chain in order to prevent microbial food contamination due to microbes which can cause high morbidity and mortality among consumers. Recent research has focused on the implementation of innovative technologies for enhancing the quality and safety of food without compromising its organoleptic and nutritional characteristics. Studies should be directed to the development of simple, less expensive, and rapid tests for monitoring and controlling microbial food contamination, as well as to the development of new food manufacturing processes.

This Special Issue will focus on innovations which include but are not limited to the implementation of new technologies for preventing and/or reducing food microbiological contamination in all the food chain steps, enhancing food safety and quality. Therefore, I would like to invite authors to submit original innovative research articles and review papers related to the potential topics of the “Investigations into Food Hygiene and Public Health: A Focus on Microbiological Contamination”. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following: food processing methods for enhancing food quality and safety, smart packaging for food contamination monitoring/control devices for improving the evaluation of microbial food contamination, monitoring of microbial contamination in the food chain, good microbe utilization for preventing pathogen contamination, biosensors and/or biomarkers useful for food contamination detection, new devices implemented for removing microbial food contamination, surveillance of foodborne diseases due to microbial contamination, and innovative methods for monitoring food microbial contamination in the production and transport chain.

Dr. Alessia Tropea
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • microbiological contamination
  • food contamination
  • innovative technologies
  • public health
  • foodborne diseases
  • food hygiene
  • food safety
  • good hygienic and manufacturing practices

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 281 KiB  
Editorial
Microbial Contamination and Public Health: An Overview
by Alessia Tropea
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(12), 7441; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127441 - 17 Jun 2022
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4585
Abstract
Food contamination with microbial agents can take place at any stage of the food chain, from farm to fork. For this reason, good hygienic and manufacturing practices must be followed along the entire food chain to prevent microbiological food contamination due to microbes [...] Read more.
Food contamination with microbial agents can take place at any stage of the food chain, from farm to fork. For this reason, good hygienic and manufacturing practices must be followed along the entire food chain to prevent microbiological food contamination due to microbes which can cause high incidence of morbidity and mortality among consumers. Recent research have been focused on the implementation of innovative technologies for enhancing the quality and safety of food without compromising its organoleptic and nutritional characteristics. Studies should be addressed to the development of simple, less expensive, and fast tests for monitoring and controlling microbial food contamination, as well as to the development of new food manufacturing processes. Full article

Research

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15 pages, 1218 KiB  
Article
Formation of Predictive-Based Models for Monitoring the Microbiological Quality of Beef Meat Processed for Fast-Food Restaurants
by Olja Šovljanski, Lato Pezo, Ana Tomić, Aleksandra Ranitović, Dragoljub Cvetković and Siniša Markov
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(24), 16727; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416727 - 13 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1692
Abstract
Consumption of raw or undercooked meat is responsible for 2.3 million foodborne illnesses yearly in Europe alone. The greater part of this illness is associated with beef meat, which is used in many traditional dishes across the world. Beneath the low microbiological quality [...] Read more.
Consumption of raw or undercooked meat is responsible for 2.3 million foodborne illnesses yearly in Europe alone. The greater part of this illness is associated with beef meat, which is used in many traditional dishes across the world. Beneath the low microbiological quality of beef lies (pathogenic) bacterial contamination during primary production as well as inadequate hygiene operations along the farm-to-fork chain. Therefore, this study seeks to understand the microbiological quality pathway of minced beef processed for fast-food restaurants over three years using an artificial neural network (ANN) system. This simultaneous approach provided adequate precision for the prediction of a microbiological profile of minced beef meat as one of the easily spoiled products with a short shelf life. For the first time, an ANN model was developed to predict the microbiological profile of beef minced meat in fast-food restaurants according to meat and storage temperatures, butcher identification, and working shift. Predictive challenges were identified and included standardized microbiological analyses that are recommended for freshly processed meat. The obtained predictive models (an overall r2 of 0.867 during the training cycle) can serve as a source of data and help for the scientific community and food safety authorities to identify specific monitoring and research needs. Full article
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Other

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9 pages, 991 KiB  
Brief Report
Preliminary Investigation on Hygienic-Sanitary Quality of Food Vending Machines
by Giuseppina Caggiano, Vincenzo Marcotrigiano, Marilena D’Ambrosio, Piersaverio Marzocca, Valentina Spagnuolo, Fabrizio Fasano, Giusy Diella, Anna Paola Leone, Marco Lopuzzo, Domenico Pio Sorrenti, Giovanni Trifone Sorrenti and Maria Teresa Montagna
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(8), 5557; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20085557 - 18 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2391
Abstract
The consumption of hot drinks dispensed from vending machines has become a common practice, both in workplaces and during free time. Every day, millions of bulk drinks are sold, but the quality of the products distributed may not always be guaranteed, as it [...] Read more.
The consumption of hot drinks dispensed from vending machines has become a common practice, both in workplaces and during free time. Every day, millions of bulk drinks are sold, but the quality of the products distributed may not always be guaranteed, as it is related to many factors such as the quality of the water, the raw materials used, and the effectiveness of the equipment’s cleaning system. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the hygienic-sanitary requirements of hot drinks and vending machine surfaces. The investigation highlighted the microbial contamination of both coffee and vending machine surfaces. Although the ”coffee break” is usually considered a moment of pleasure, apparently not subject to specific jurisdiction, the products dispensed can represent a health risk if the hygienic conditions are not fully respected. Therefore, official controls carried out by the Prevention Department represent a suitable way for evaluating and guaranteeing the hygienic-sanitary requirements, providing for corrective actions, when needed, to protect consumers. Full article
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