Food Microbiology Protocols

Two of the recent books in the Methods in Molecular Biology series, Yeast Protocols and Pichia Protocols, have been narrowly focused on yeasts and, in the latter case, particular species of yeasts. Food Microbiology Pro- cols, of necessity, covers a very wide range of microorganisms. Our book treats four categories of microorganisms affecting foods: (1) Spoilage organisms; (2) pathogens; (3) microorganisms in fermented foods; and (4) microorganisms p- ducing metabolites that affect the flavor or nutritive value of foods. Detailed information is given on each of these categories. There are several chapters devoted to the microorganisms associated with fermented foods: these are of increasing importance in food microbiology, and include one bacteriophage that kills the lactic acid bacteria involved in the manufacture of different foods—cottage cheese, yogurt, sauerkraut, and many others. The other nine chapters give procedures for the maintenance of lactic acid bacteria, the isolation of plasmid and genomic DNA from species of Lac- bacillus, determination of the proteolytic activity of lactic acid bacteria, det- mination of bacteriocins, and other important topics.

Expert laboratorians present a wide ranging set of detailed techniques for investigating the nature, products, and extent of the microorganisms involved in the manufacture and spoilage of foodstuff. The methods cover pathogenic organisms that cause spoilage, microorganisms in fermented foods, and microorganisms producing metabolites that affect the flavor or nutritive value of foods. Included in the section dealing with fermented foods are procedures for the maintenance of lactic acid bacteria, the isolation of plasmid and genomic DNA from species Lactobacillus, and the determination of proteolytic activity of lactic acid bacteria. A substantial number of chapters are devoted to yeasts, their use in food and beverage production, and techniques for improving industrially important strains. Comprehensive and timely, Food Microbiology Protocols is a gold-standard collection of readily reproducible techniques essential for the study of the wide variety of microorganisms involved in food production, quality, storage, and preservation today.

This volume details well-established protocols and procedures being used by laboratories and the industry to study Predictive Microbiology in Foods. Chapters guide readers through methods to design and collect data to generate predictive models, the development of a predictive model, approaches the behavior mainly, and experiments in predictive microbiology. Written in the format of the Methods and Protocols in Food Science series, chapters list necessary materials and methods for readily reproducible protocols. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Predictive Food Microbiology aims to be a foundation for future studies and to be a source of inspiration for new investigations in the field.

Food plays an essential part in everyday life. Food should be tasty, healthy, sustainable and preferably not too expensive. But food should also be safe and with sufficient guarantees on maintaining good quality aspects until the end of shelf life. The various actors in the food supply chain have an interest in verifying the expected quality and safety by means of microbiological analyses of food. Measurement brings knowledge and microbiological guidelines help in the decision-making process for judging the acceptability of food or food production processes. The present handbook provides microbiological guidelines and current applicable EU legal criteria (status 1.1.2018) for a wide range of food categories (dairy, meat, seafoods, plant-based foods, bakery products, composite foods, shelf-stable food, water) and subcategories therein, based upon the type of food processing and intrinsic characteristics of the foods. This book can be consulted to provide quick answers on the expected microbiological contamination of foodstuff. It can help in interpretation of test results in assessing good (hygienic) practices in the production of food, determining the shelf life and ensuring food safety. The handbook also presents definitions of the wide variety of foodstuffs available and some reflections on, in particular, food safety issues or the on-going debate for some food items in assessing microbial quality. This book provides crucial information about food safety, for the use of students and professionals. EXTRACT "First we eat, then we do everything else" M.F.K. Fisher Food plays an important part in everyday life. But when being a food scientist or in the food business, food gets to be an even bigger part of your life. Our team at the Food Microbiology and Food Preservation research group (FMFP-UGent) at Ghent University during its academic tasks in education, research, scientific activities at committees, but also in interaction with many food companies and stakeholders in the food supply chain in projects or contract work, has built up considerable expertise on the microbiological analysis of a large variety of foodstuffs. Being situated in Ghent, and thus close to Brussels, the heart of Europe, we intrinsically have to understand and deal with legal EU criteria or action limits. The latter is the reason why this book is mainly oriented towards inclusion or making reference to EU legal microbiological criteria for foodstuffs as well. ABOUT THE AUTHORS The main author, Prof. Mieke Uyttendaele, leads, together with Prof. Frank Devlieghere, the Food Microbiology and Food Preservation Research Group (FMFP-UGent) at Ghent University, Belgium. Her teaching and research area covers aspects of microbiological analysis of foods, food safety and food hygiene. She has built over twenty years of experience by executing, initiating and coordinating various projects in this research discipline dealing with sampling and testing to collect baseline data on the microbial contamination of foods, looking into the virulence of food-borne pathogens, elaborating challenge testing to study the behavior of food-borne pathogens. All this information serves as an input for quality assurance and microbial risk assessment to support food safety decision-making and setting microbiological criteria. She was/is the promotor of more than 25 Ph.D students (including EU and non-EU citizens). Throughout her career, Prof. Uyttendaele has published more than 270 peer reviewed scientific papers, authored several book chapters and presented at numerous international Conferences/Workshops. Throughout the years she has also used her scientific expertise in interpretation of test results for analyses obtained in routine monitoring or analysis executed at the food service lab at FMFP-UGent.

The main approaches to the investigation of food microbiology in the laboratory are expertly presented in this, the third edition of the highly practical and well-established manual. The new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to take account of the latest legislation and technological advances in food microbiology, and offers a step-by-step guide to the practical microbiological examination of food in relation to public health problems. It provides ‘tried and tested’ standardized procedures for official control laboratories and those wishing to provide a competitive and reliable food examination service. The Editors are well respected, both nationally and internationally, with over 20 years of experience in the field of public health microbiology, and have been involved in the development of food testing methods and microbiological criteria. The Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) has provided microbiological advice and scientific expertise in the examination of food samples for more than half a century. The third edition of Practical Food Microbiology: Includes a rapid reference guide to key microbiological tests for specific foods Relates microbiological assessment to current legislation and sampling plans Includes the role of new approaches, such as chromogenic media and phage testing Discusses both the theory and methodology of food microbiology Covers new ISO, CEN and BSI standards for food examination Includes safety notes and hints in the methods