Cutting-Edge Technologies for Preventing Microbial Contamination in the Food Industry
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 April 2026) | Viewed by 1443
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food-borne pathogens; shelf life; essential oils; biofilm; food preservation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: biopreservation; dairy; food analysis; food microbiology and technology; food preservation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: food science; food safety; natural compounds; listeria monocytogenes; biofilm control; antimicrobial resistance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Microbial contamination poses a significant threat to the food industry because of its potential impact on the global economy and public health. Therefore, cutting-edge technologies have been developed to improve food quality and safety while reducing the impact on food properties. Non-thermal processing methods like cold plasma, ozonization, pulsed electric fields, and high-pressure processing are among the most promising to reduce microbial contamination with a minimal impact on nutritional and sensory properties. In response to modern consumers’ demands for clean-label foods, natural compounds have also gained attention for their capacity to control microbial contamination. For example, antimicrobial packaging, which contains bioactive compounds and nanomaterials, can actively prevent microbial growth, thus extending food shelf life and containing bacterial contamination throughout processing and distribution. Another innovative technology is bacteriophage-based biocontrol, which targets specific food-borne pathogens without affecting the food microbiota. Finally, smart surfaces and coatings with antimicrobial properties, such as silver nanoparticle-based materials or enzyme- or bioactive compound-based strategies to eradicate biofilms, have been explored to reduce microbial adhesion in food processing environments. Integrating innovative technologies is expected to revolutionize food safety management by reducing the use of traditional chemical preservatives, ensuring compliance with increasingly stringent regulations, and meeting consumers’ demands. The future of microbial contamination prevention will involve continuously developing and integrating these technologies to ensure a safe and sustainable food supply chain.
Prof. Dr. Antonello Paparella
Dr. Annalisa Serio
Dr. Francesca Maggio
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- cutting-edge technologies
- innovative strategies
- antimicrobials
- microbial contamination
- food preservation
- extended shelf life
- spoilage organisms
- food-borne pathogens
- inhibition
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