Biofilm formation on contact surfaces contributes to persistence of foodborne pathogens all along the food and feed chain. The specific physiological features of bacterial cells embedded in biofilms contribute to their high tolerance to environmental stresses, including the action of antimicrobial compounds. As membrane lipid adaptation is a vital facet of bacterial response when cells are subm...

R egardless of where they get their information from, Americans are very likely to learn almost instantly when­ ever there is an outbreak of bacterial patho­ gens—Salmonella, Listeria, or the “bad” Escherichia coli—from contaminated food products. This is a huge achievement and a great benefit for public health: The earlier this information reaches consumers, the less people will be affected an...

Pathogens resistant to multiple antibiotics are rapidly emerging, entailing important consequences for human health. This study investigated if the broad-host-range multiresistance plasmid pB10, isolated from a wastewater treatment plant, harbouring amoxicillin, streptomycin, sulfonamide, and tetracycline resistance genes, was transferable to the foodborne pathogens Salmonella spp. or E. coli O...

Salmonella and pathogenic Escherichia coli are known to be the major bacterial agents responsible for human foodborne infections attributable to meat. A review of the specialized literature was carried out to identify the risk factors for bovine meat contamination by these pathogens from the cattle farm to meat consumption. Animal stress during transport to the slaughterhouse and the duration o...

Microbiological safety assessment in food samples is often a cumbersome and time consuming task that has to be done in a regular basis in most food manufacturing facilities. Standard microbiological techniques for evaluating critical levels of bacteria take several days to yield results, thus the food products have to be withheld in the processing factories until the safety inspection is conclu...

Bacterial isolates derived from food or raw food materials of animal origin were screened for potential antagonistic activity against foodborne pathogenic Listeria monocytogenes. Using the agar spot method, ten out of the 94 tested bacteria showed antilisterial activity. All of the antagonistic isolates identified by sequence analysis as strains of the genus Pseudomonas were able to inhibit the...