Global Food Safety: Microbial Interventions and Molecular Advancements

Foodborne microbial outbreaks are a serious food safety and public health concern worldwide. One of the most challenging issues in food safety is the identification and characterization of foodborne microbial communities, which is a core objective of research by food scientists and food microbiologists. This book reviews the molecular advances in food science related to the safety and quality of food along with recent diagnostic tools for the detection of emerging pathogens based on the food commodities. It presents a wide selection of methods for the identification and characterization of foodborne infectious agents.

The volume provides an overview of foodborne pathogens, diseases, and outbreaks and then proceeds to delve into techniques for characterizing foodborne pathogens using molecular approaches.

It reviews state-of-the-art methods for detecting and tracing foodborne pathogens using next-generation sequencing and whole-genome sequencing for controlling foodborne illnesses as well as the application of microorganisms in food production for preventing foodborne illnesses. The volume ends with a chapter that provides an overview of management systems and analytical tools for public health protection from foodborne illnesses.

Key features:

• Reviews the detection of foodborne pathogens using recently developed molecular technologies
• Provides deep insights into the fundamental and functional aspects of microbial interventions in food science
• Addresses current challenges for the management of food safety
• Includes updated studies on microbial safety for processed food items
• Discusses advanced management systems for foodborne pathogens

This book will be an important reference source for food scientists and food safety supervisors from production to processing and from transport to retail. This book will also be vital source for teachers, students, and researchers for exploring recent developments for food safety by employing advanced microbial and molecular methods.

Saher Islam, PhD, is a Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Biotechnology of Lahore College for Women University, Pakistan. She has edited five books, including Sequencing Technologies in Microbial Food Safety and Quality and Beneficial Microbes for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Management. She has visited USA, UK, Singapore, Germany, Italy and Russia for academic and scientific trainings, courses, and meetings. She is the recipient of a 2016 Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Travel Grant from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany. She has keen research interests in genetics, molecular biology, biotechnology, and bioinformatics and has ample hands-on experience in molecular marker analysis, whole genome sequencing, and RNA sequencing. Dr. Islam received her PhD in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. She was an IRSIP Scholar at Cornell University, New York, and Visiting Scholar at West Virginia State University, West Virginia in USA.

Devarajan Thangadurai, PhD

, is Associate Professor at Karnatak University, Dharwad, India and did his postdoctoral research at the University of Madeira, Portugal, University of Delhi, India, and the ICAR National Research Centre for Banana, India. He has authored and edited more than 25 books, including Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (3 vols.), Genes, Genomes and Genomics (2 vols.), Genomics and Proteomics, Biotechnology of Microorganisms, and Sequencing Technologies in Microbial Food Safety and Quality

with international scientific publishers in USA, UK, Canada, Switzerland, and India. He has travelled to many universities and institutes in Africa, Europe, and Asia for academic work, scientific meetings, and international collaborations. He is also reviewer for several journals, including Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, Food Science and Technology International, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Journal of Food Science, Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, and International Journal of Plant Production.

Jeyabalan Sangeetha, PhD

, is an Assistant Professor at Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod, India. She has authored a textbook, Molecular Mycology, and has edited books including Genomics and Proteomics, Industrial Biotechnology, Biotechnology of Microorganisms, and Sequencing Technologies in Microbial Food Safety and Quality. She has been trained in next-generation sequencing and data analysis at the Malaysia Genome Institute, Malaysia. She earned her BSc in Microbiology and PhD in Environmental Sciences from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India. She holds an MSc in Environmental Sciences from Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. She was a recipient of a Tamil Nadu Government Scholarship and the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship of the University Grants Commission, Government of India, for doctoral studies. She served as a Dr. D.S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellow and UGC Postdoctoral Fellow at Karnatak University, Dharwad, South India.

Natália Cruz-Martins, PhD

, has an academic and research background in dietetics, nutrition, natural product chemistry, biochemistry, drug discovery, phytochemistry, phytopharmacology, functional foods, and nutraceuticals. She has been increasingly focused on the use of naturally occurring bioactives for human health, not only from health promotion and disease prevention point of view but also treatment. She has worked as a university professor since 2017, was advisor of several MSc and PhD theses, and is a member of the evaluation panel of the College of Nutritionists (Porto, Portugal). She has participated in various research projects, received several grants and awards, and published more than 130 articles in peer-reviewed international journals (h-index: 25), several book chapters, and presented more than 40 communications in national and international conferences. She is a member of the Council for Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (CONEM, Norway), reviewer for more than 50 highly reputed international journals, invited reviewer for several book publishers, and editorial board member of several international journals.