BACKGROUND Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Shigella flexneri are well-known food-borne pathogens causing severe food poisoning at low infectious doses. Bacteriophages have been approved for food applications by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and have been suggested as natural food preservatives to control specific food-borne pathogens. To develop a novel natural food preservative agains...

Clostridium sporogenes is a harmless spore-forming anaerobe that is widely distributed in soil/water and in the intestines of humans and animals. It is extensively used as a safe model to test the suitability of new preservative methods by the food industry and has potential to deliver therapeutic agents to tumors.

Entrohemorrhagic Escherichia coli is a human pathogen that causes hemorrhagic colitis due to its verotoxin. It is an agent with food poisoning importance; a significant number of cases subsequntly develop hemolitic uremic syndrome (HUS) which is probably the most common cause of renal failure in childeren and occasionally resulting in death. Inhibition of bacterial growth in food is the most im...

1. The COT was asked by the Food Standards Agency to review the results of a research project investigating the effect of two mixtures of certain artificial food colours together with the preservative sodium benzoate on behaviour in children. The study had been carried out by researchers at the University of Southampton and was funded by the Food Standards Agency. The research had been submitte...

Antimicrobial packaging is an important form of active packaging that can release antimicrobial substances for enhancing the quality and safety of food during extended storage. It is in response to consumers demand for preservative-free food as well as more natural, disposable, biodegradable, and recyclable food-packaging materials. The potential of a combination of allyl isothiocyanate and pot...

This paper gives an overview of the legal consequences of a new EU framework regulation on food contact materials which includes controls on active and intelligent packaging. Recent developments in active and intelligent packaging systems are described, two examples of which aim at achieving improvements in quality and safety of food products. The first one is an on-command preservative-releasi...

This paper looks at the theoretical development of a natural preservative system using a data base on medicinal plants as a source of reference. The legal aspects of this concept are considered. The traditional methods of preservation, many taken from the food industry are summarised. The use of alcohol, glycerine, sugar, salt, dessication, anhydrous systems and temperature are amongst examples...

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a member of the enterohemorrhagic group of pathogenic E. coli that has emerged as a foodborne pathogen of major public health concern. E. coli O157:H7 is highly tolerant of acidic pH and outbreaks attributed to this bacterium have been in many acidic foods which have pH level with similar to those of pickled products. Therefore, pickled vegetables, although acidic, m...