The outbreak of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli in Germany last year and recent reports about the emergence of Salmonella Kentucky as a “new superbug” have re-focused public attention on food-borne diseases. Salmonellosis is an important cause of food-borne disease with significant economic burden to the population and healthcare systems. In the last century, microbiologists have identified...

Rapid detection of food-borne pathogens is essential to public health and the food industry. Although the conventional culture method is highly sensitive, it takes at least a few days to detect food-borne pathogens. Even though polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can detect food-borne pathogens in a few hours, it is more expensive and unsatisfactorily sensitive relative to the culture method. We ha...

Egg white lysozyme was demonstrated to have antibacterial activity against organisms of concern in food safety, including Listeria monocytogenes and certain strains of Clostridium botulinum. We also found that the food spoilage thermophile Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum was highly susceptible to lysozyme and confirmed that the spoilage organisms Bacillus stearothermophilus and Clostridium ty...

These lactic acid bacteria and probiotic microorganisms in fermented foods have been used for many years for health reasons and are now an attractive alternative for treating of intestinal disorders and seem to influence the immune system via stimulating protective immune cells. Through genetic engineering, it is possible to strengthen the effect of existing probiotic [8] strains and create com...

The aim of the present investigation was to assess and compare the antimicrobial activities of the lemon (Citrus sinensis) peel extract and lemon oil against common food borne pathogens and to study their potential as food bio-preservatives. The antagonistic activity of lemon peel extract and lemon oil was studied against common food borne pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus ep...

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 interactio...