Foodborne Pathogens in Complex Food Systems: Ecology, Surface Interactions, and Sustainable Control Strategies

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue aims to gather studies that explore how foodborne pathogens survive, adapt, and spread within food systems, spanning primary production to processing environments and consumer handling. Understanding microbial ecology in diverse food matrices and on food-contact surfaces including plastics, stainless steel, aluminum, composite materials, and packaging films helps clarify the conditions that promote attachment, persistence, and transfer. Research integrating predictive microbiology has advanced the capacity to simulate microbial responses to environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, nutrient availability, and surface chemistry. These quantitative models support refined risk assessments and contribute to the development of improved hygiene strategies, sanitary designs, and contamination control programs.

Investigations addressing interactions between pathogens and packaging materials continue to advance, with evidence showing that surface roughness, hydrophobicity, and microstructural features influence microbial adhesion and biofilm development. Studies examining transfer events between materials and foods during cutting, slicing, storage, and transport provide insights relevant to packaging design and preventive approaches. Advances in molecular methodologies such as whole-genome sequencing, metagenomics, and transcriptomics continue to refine surveillance capacity and strengthen the early detection of emerging hazards. When combined with traditional microbiology, these tools help clarify stress-response mechanisms, cross-contamination pathways, and the ecological dynamics of pathogens in processing environments.

This Special Issue encourages submissions related to sustainable and green-chemistry-based interventions, including ozone treatments, ohmic heating, natural antimicrobial systems, biosurfactant-coated surfaces, and low-impact sanitation methods. Emerging technologies for monitoring and decontamination, such as rapid biosensors, novel surface coatings, non-thermal processes, and modern environmental monitoring programs, are also welcomed. Original research articles, reviews, and short communications that integrate microbiology, material science, food technology, and sustainability are expected to provide valuable insights for building resilient food systems.

The Special Issue entitled "Foodborne Pathogens in Complex Food Systems: Ecology, Surface Interactions, and Sustainable Control Strategies" aims to present recent research on any aspect of Foodborne Pathogens. Some of its focal points include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Microbial ecology, survival, and stress adaptation of foodborne pathogens in foods and processing environments;
2. Predictive models and studies on pathogen interactions with packaging, metals, plastics, food-contact materials, and food matrices;
3. Emerging and sustainable technologies for decontamination and monitoring, including ozone treatments, ohmic heating, biosensing strategies, and green-chemistry-based interventions.

Reviews, original research, and communications will be welcome.

Dr. Wilson Jose Fernandes Lemos Junior
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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.

• foodborne pathogens
• microbial ecology
• predictive models
• packaging–pathogen interactions
• plastics
• metals
• food-contact surfaces
• ozone
• ohmic heating
• sustainable interventions
• biofilms
• food safety monitoring