Emerging Microbial Concerns in Food Safety and New Control Measures

Food-borne diseases are a widespread and growing public health and economic problem. Recent modifications in food production and processing practices and ever-changing food habits of the consumer are important factors for the incidence of food-borne infections. Many recognized pathogens are of great concern today and new challenges have appeared in the recent years as the role of the interaction between pathogens during infection. Despite chill chains, chemical preservatives, and a better understanding of microorganisms, food-borne diseases (FBD) represent an important health problem for developed and developing countries. It has been estimated that about 30% of people in industrialized countries suffer from a food-borne disease each year (about 76 million cases of illness, 325,000 hospitalization cases, and as many as 5000 deaths in the United States annually [1]) and 25% of all foods produced globally are lost due to microbial spoilage. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centers for Disease Control (ECDC), analyzing the information on the occurrence of zoonosis and FBD in 2010 submitted by 27 European Union Member States, reported a total of 5,262 food-borne outbreaks, causing 43,473 human cases, 4,695 hospitalization cases, and 25 deaths. Most of the reported outbreaks were caused by Salmonella, Campylobacter, bacterial toxins, and viruses. In particular, the scientific report of EFSA and ECDS 2012 [2] shows the decreasing trend in case numbers of a " classic " pathogen as Salmonella continues, whereas for other etiological agents of FBD a slight or no decrease (Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter, resp.) or an increase (verotoxigenic Escherichia coli) in human cases has been observed. Another common cause of FBD worldwide is Staphylococcus aureus, responsible of an estimated 241,000 illnesses per year only in the United States [3]. In this special issue you will find an in-depth analysis on the importance of Staphylococcal food-borne disease. Recent findings of high prevalence of S. aureus including MRSA in raw retail meat impose a potential hazard to consumers, both as classic FBD and as a potential source of colonization of food handlers. An emerging problem that involves this field is therefore the increase of multidrug resistance in pathogenic, opportunistic, and spoilage bacteria, which can reach humans through the food chain. In recent years, for example, a new strain of S. aureus, livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA), has been recognized as a novel pathogen that has become a rapidly emerging cause of human infections [4]. As demonstrated by scientific …