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Microbial Adulterants in Food: Challenges to Overcome

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Engineering Aspects of Food Quality and Safety

Part of the book series: Food Engineering Series ((FSES))

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Abstract

Foodborne diseases owing to pathogens in food are a global health problem accounting for the death of 2.2 million people per year. Further, the appearance of new and resistant pathogens has complicated the efforts of food regulatory agencies to ensure the delivery of safe food products to the general public. Thus, the major challenge faced by the food processing industry is to look for innovative strategies for microbial decontamination of food that will enable the safe delivery of food products with high shelf life and quality. Conventionally, thermal and chemical approaches formed the mainstay of food decontamination. However, thermal treatment cannot be universally applied, as in the case of fruits rich in heat labile antioxidants. Similarly, chemical strategies for microbial decontamination are less preferred owing to toxicity and undesirable residues. In this scenario, the food processing industry is resorting to new innovative techniques such as electrolyzed water, high pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, etc. The present chapter endorses the causes, routes, and mechanisms of microbial food spoilage and foodborne infections, novel technologies for controlling foodborne pathogens, and the need to monitor food contamination and its effect on the economy. This will assist food manufacturers, food processing professionals, and the broader population to become more aware of foodborne diseases and clearly understand the recent advances in food processing technologies.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi, for research funding of the Indo-EU collaborative project “Strategic Planning for Water Resources and Implementation of Novel Biotechnical Treatment solutions and Good Practices (SPRING)” (Sanction No. BT/IN/EU-WR/60/S.P./2018).

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Author notes

  1. Authors Bhaskar Das, Bhaskar Kalita, Risha Hazarika, and Sanjukta Patra have equally contributed to this chapter.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Bhaskar Das & Sanjukta Patra

  2. School of Agro and Rural Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Bhaskar Kalita & Risha Hazarika

Authors
  1. Bhaskar Das
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  2. Bhaskar Kalita
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanjukta Patra .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Food Engineering Department, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru, Karnataka, India

    H. Umesh Hebbar

  2. School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Richa Sharma

  3. String Bio Private Limited, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    Ram Saran Chaurasiya

  4. NanoBio Research Lab School of Nano Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

    Shivendu Ranjan

  5. Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Tirupathi, Tirupati, India

    K.S.M.S. Raghavarao

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Das, B., Kalita, B., Hazarika, R., Patra, S. (2023). Microbial Adulterants in Food: Challenges to Overcome. In: Hebbar, H.U., Sharma, R., Chaurasiya, R.S., Ranjan, S., Raghavarao, K. (eds) Engineering Aspects of Food Quality and Safety. Food Engineering Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30683-9_3

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