Search Results (572)

Bongkrekic acid (BKA) is a potent respiratory toxin produced by Pseudomonas cocovenenans. This toxin is commonly found in spoiled fermented rice- and wheat-based products, snow fungus, and black fungus and can cause severe foodborne illness. The development of a rapid onsite detection method can effectively prevent food poisoning incidents and ensure food safety. In this study, a highly specific anti-BKA monoclonal antibody was prepared, the reaction conditions were optimized, and an indirect competitive chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunoassay (ic-CLEIA) system was developed for high-throughput screening of BKA in food. The results showed that the ic-CLEIA had good linearity in the range of 7.3–106.6 pg/mL, a limit of detection of 4.7 pg/mL, a limit of quantification of 7.3 pg/mL, a half-maximal inhibition concentration of 28.2 pg/mL, a spike recovery of 86.6–94.1%, a coefficient of variation of less than 10%, and no cross-reactivity with structural analogs. There was no significant difference between the detection results obtained with ic-CLEIA and ultraperformance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the samples. This method provides reliable technical support for food safety monitoring, especially for grassroots laboratories and large-scale sample screening. Full article

Home food safety (HFS) is a major contributor to foodborne illness, often originating in domestic settings. Although population-based studies using surveys, questionnaires, and interviews are commonly used to assess consumers’ HFS-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP), methodological heterogeneity limits comparability across studies. This scoping review aimed to map studies assessing consumers’ HFS-related KAP in high-income countries, describe recurrent methodological and reporting features, and identify areas of variability. Following the Arksey and O’Malley framework and JBI guidance, the literature published between 2000 and 2023 was systematically searched across five scientific databases, as well as governmental and institutional sources for the grey literature. Data extraction and synthesis were guided by an expanded 15-feature framework refined from a previous rapid review. A total of 274 documents were included (247 scientific articles and 27 governmental and institutional reports). Across the included studies, several methodological features showed high consistency, including primary data collection (93%), predominantly cross-sectional designs (91%), the use of closed-ended instruments (71%), quantitative analytical approaches (78%), and voluntary, non-incentivised participation (68%), suggesting the presence of a common descriptive methodological core. At the same time, substantial variability was observed in sample size (62%), study aims (52%), analytical strategies (52%), modes of administration (51%), geographic coverage (47%), thematic scope (44%), and study period (54%). The coexistence of methodological convergence and context-dependent variability poses challenges in terms of evidence synthesis and comparability in HFS-related KAP research. The 15-feature framework developed in this review provides a structured, non-prescriptive tool to support transparent description and comparison of methodological and reporting practices. By pinpointing common approaches and areas of divergence, this review offers a foundation for guiding future HFS-related KAP research and supporting the development of more comparable and policy-relevant evidence. Full article

Foodborne diseases present a serious public health challenge, causing roughly 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths annually. A significant portion of this impact is felt in Asia, where traditional fermented and dry-salted seafood, such as katsuobushi, budu, and peda, are dietary staples. These products rely on diverse microbial communities that determine their final safety, flavor, texture, and shelf life. Historically, research has centered on lactic acid bacteria (LAB), yet the functional contributions of non-LAB halotolerant species, including genera like Tetragenococcus, Staphylococcus, and Bacillus, are functionally important in these high-salinity niches. This review evaluates the transition from basic taxonomic surveys to mechanistic multi-omics approaches, integrating genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to decode microbial functionality under selective environmental pressures. We discuss how genomic mining using platforms such as BAGEL4 and antiSMASH can uncover biosynthetic gene clusters and antimicrobial peptides, while CARD supports antimicrobial resistance monitoring. Transcriptomic analysis reveals microbial responses to osmotic stress, low water activity, and pH fluctuations, whereas proteomic profiling links gene expression to active enzymes, stress proteins, and functional biomarkers. Metabolomics captures the chemical outcomes of fermentation, including amino acids, volatile organic compounds, spoilage markers, and biogenic amines. By merging these high-dimensional datasets with artificial intelligence, researchers can move toward predictive modeling that distinguishes biological causation from simple correlation. This shift offers a strategy to improve the safety, consistency, and resilience of traditional high-salinity fermented seafood systems. Full article

Meat serves as a prime medium for the growth of foodborne pathogens due to its rich protein content and high water activity, contributing significantly to the global burden of foodborne illnesses. This review synthesizes current advances in meat-borne bacterial pathogen detection with particular emphasis on emerging artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled applications. Major pathogens of concern, including Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, Clostridium, and Staphylococcus aureus, are examined in relation to their relevance across the meat supply chain. Recent progress in biosensors (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats), CRISPR-based assays, isothermal amplification, and metagenomics is evaluated alongside the growing role of AI in automating signal interpretation, enhancing image-based diagnostics, and supporting early contamination prediction. AI-based systems have proved 96.4–104% recovery and 100% bacterial capture ability. Embedding AI methods in a wet lab demands technical and logical modeling, as well as learning and calibration decorum. Nonetheless, AI readiness and full-scale application for meat-borne pathogens surveillance are on the way. Furthermore, additional focus is aligned on meat-borne bacterial pathogen genomic databases, i.e., (NCBI Pathogen Detection, EnteroBase, VFDB, ComBase, and GenBank), which serve as critical training resources for AI models for outbreak tracking, virulence profiling, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) prediction. By integrating molecular methods, genomic surveillance, and AI-driven analytics, this review presents a framework for strengthening meat safety systems. This will improve early detection capabilities and support data-driven public health interventions in the future. Full article

Foodborne bacterial contamination creates significant public health and economic challenges. In the United States, the CDC estimates that foodborne illness causes approximately 48 million illnesses and 3000 deaths annually. Rapid screening is important because conventional confirmation methods are time- and labor-intensive. Microscopy-based analysis of early bacterial microcolonies can enable detection within hours rather than days, yet manual inspection is slow, subjective, and impractical at scale. Although deep learning object detectors such as YOLO offer a promising solution, the impact of architectural design choices on microscopy-based bacterial detection has not been systematically characterized under controlled conditions. In this work, we conducted a controlled architectural evaluation of YOLOv8 for detecting bacterial microcolonies in high-resolution microscopy images. We replaced the CSP-Darknet backbone with EfficientNetV2 variants and evaluated three feature fusion designs: no neck, the original PAN-FPN neck, and a NAS-FPN-inspired neck. All experiments were performed under identical conditions on a two-class dataset of Salmonella and E. coli. Our results show that EfficientNetV2 architectures consistently outperform the YOLOv8x baseline, which achieved 0.891 precision, 0.867 recall, and 0.898 mAP@50. The best overall performance was obtained with EfficientNetV2-S and the original YOLOv8 neck, reaching 0.976 precision, 0.968 recall, and 0.987 mAP@50, with comparable performance of 0.986 mAP@50 achieved by EfficientNetV2-S + NAS-FPN. The highest precision was obtained with EfficientNetV2-L + NAS-FPN, reaching 0.978. These findings demonstrate that effective bacterial detection depends on the interaction between backbone capacity and feature fusion design rather than backbone scaling alone. Full article

Foodborne pathogens of Enterobacteriaceae are becoming an increasing global concern, with multidrug-resistant strains posing significant risks to food safety and public health, especially in high-risk products like dairy. This research focused on isolating, biologically characterizing, and genomically profiling new bacteriophages that target key Enterobacteriaceae members as potential biocontrol agents. Eight phages were isolated from wastewater using four bacterial hosts and analyzed through transmission electron microscopy, one-step growth analysis, adsorption kinetics, host range evaluation, whole-genome sequencing, comparative genomics, phylogenetic analysis, proteomic profiling, and virion assembly pathway characterization. All eight isolates exhibited icosahedral heads with contractile tails typical of Myoviridae morphology, demonstrated broad-spectrum lytic activity against 21 bacterial strains (infectivity: 47.6–95.2%), showed high adsorption efficiencies (84.75–99.98%), and had burst sizes ranging from 11 to 166 particles per cell. Genome sizes varied from 103 to 170 kb with coding densities between 92–96%. Importantly, none contained antimicrobial resistance genes, virulence factors, or lysogeny-associated elements, confirming their strictly lytic lifestyles and favorable biosafety profiles. Phylogenetic and comparative analyses indicated mosaic genomic structures influenced by horizontal gene transfer rather than host phylogeny. These findings provide a robust biological and genomic basis for evaluating these phages as potentially safe and effective alternatives to antibiotics in controlling foodborne Enterobacteriaceae, pending further in situ validation. Full article

Salmonella is a major cause of foodborne illness worldwide, posing significant risks to public health and food safety. This study investigated the prevalence, serovar distribution, genotypic characteristics, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles of Salmonella. A total of 2515 food samples were collected from retail markets, supermarkets, and food processing facilities, and 13,670 stool samples were obtained from sentinel hospitals across 14 cities in Liaoning. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to compare genetic features among serovars, followed by Dunn’s post hoc test for pairwise comparisons. A total of 314 Salmonella strains were identified, with raw poultry showing the highest detection rate (28.88%) among food sources and children aged 0–6 years (3.47%) the highest among the clinical age groups. Among food samples, S. Enteritidis was the most prevalent serovar (42.6%), and it was also the most common in clinical samples (35.8%); in contrast, S. 4,[5],12:i:- was dominant in pediatric clinical cases. According to AMR analysis, 90.13% of strains were resistant to at least one antibiotic and 67.83% were multidrug-resistant (MDR), with the highest resistance to ampicillin (68.47%). Analysis revealed that S. 4,[5],12:i:- harbored the ASSuT resistance module (blaTEM-1B, aph(3″)-Ib/aph(6)-Id, sul2, tet(B)). Extensive MDR phenotypes were observed in S. Indiana and S. Kentucky, associated with abundant insertion sequences (IS) and resistance genes (ARGs), including clinically critical determinants (blaNDM-9, mcr-1.1, rmtB). The highest mean virulence factor (VF) count (111.17) was observed in S. Enteritidis, contributing to its epidemiological success. Conversely, S. Indiana and S. Kentucky, predominantly food-associated serovars, exhibited reduced virulence but served as critical AMR reservoirs. These findings highlight the epidemiological characteristics and AMR risks of Salmonella in food and clinical settings, providing critical data for food safety and clinical antimicrobial stewardship. Full article

Background: The emergence of alternative methods of obtaining groceries since the COVID-19 pandemic has raised new concerns regarding food safety. In this study, we sought to evaluate these concerns by evaluating how the procurement method of ground beef impacts the microbial load in the beef, as this has not been thoroughly studied. Methods: Specifically, we compared beef samples obtained from in-store shopping, grocery delivery, and meal kit delivery services to determine if these new, more convenient methods of grocery shopping impact the total microbial load or Escherichia coli present in the beef. We homogenized a total of 65 beef samples and plated dilutions on trypticase soy agar, MacConkey agar, and CHROMagar. Results: We found that in-store samples had the highest microbial load with an average of 5.06 log CFU/g, while grocery delivery samples resulted in an average of 4.76 log CFU/g and meal kit samples had an average of 4.23 log CFU/g when plated on TSA. This represents a 6.7-fold change between in-store samples and meal kit samples. These differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.1, ANOVA). When plated on MacConkey agar, in-store samples had a bacterial count at 3.0 log CFU/g, while grocery delivery samples had 2.99 log CFU/g and meal kit delivered samples had 3.05 log CFU/g. Suspected E. coli O157 colonies were detected using CHROMagar plates, as these plates function to change the coloration of positive E. coli O157 colonies to pink. Suspected E. coli O157 colonies were observed in three in-store samples, two grocery delivery samples, and one meal kit sample. After confirmatory agglutination testing, one meal kit sample was confirmed as E. coli O157. Conclusions: While trends suggest possible lower microbial contamination in delivery methods versus in-store shopping procurement, no statistical significance between methods was found. These findings indicate no significant changes in microbial loads in delivered ground beef, and the high variance suggests that all procurement methods still pose some level of risk. Full article

Salmonella remains a leading cause of foodborne illness worldwide, with non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) responsible for an estimated 93.8 million infections and substantial global morbidity and mortality. This review synthesizes current evidence on the epidemiology, molecular pathogenesis, and prevention of both typhoidal and nontyphoidal Salmonella, with emphasis on emerging challenges in disease control. We highlight key virulence mechanisms, including Salmonella pathogenicity islands and Type III secretion systems, that mediate host cell invasion, intracellular survival, and immune modulation, alongside differences in host adaptation, reservoirs, and clinical outcomes between major serotypes. Epidemiological synthesis demonstrates marked geographic variability in disease burden, driven by underreporting, limited diagnostic capacity, and social determinants of health, with particularly high mortality from invasive NTS (iNTS) disease in sub-Saharan Africa. This review further identifies major challenges, including the global rise of multidrug-resistant Salmonella lineages, the emergence of high-risk serotypes such as monophasic S. Typhimurium and S. Infantis, and the increasing complexity of transmission across the farm-to-fork continuum. While advances in whole genome sequencing and integrated surveillance platforms (e.g., PulseNet and GenomeTrakr) have improved outbreak detection and source attribution, gaps in cross-sector coordination persist. Collectively, the evidence underscores the need for integrated One Health approaches that link human, animal, and environmental systems, alongside strengthened surveillance, targeted prevention strategies, and antimicrobial stewardship. Advances in vaccination, including licensed typhoidal vaccines such as Ty21a and Vi polysaccharide, and conjugate vaccines, as well as emerging live attenuated and glycoconjugate candidates targeting NTS, represent promising strategies for reducing the global burden of Salmonella infections. Future efforts should focus on improving global surveillance harmonization, addressing environmental and climate-related drivers of transmission, and advancing vaccine development and implementation. Full article

Foodborne pathogens cause hundreds of millions of illnesses annually, underscoring the urgent need for advanced antimicrobial food packaging materials. The objective of this study was to develop a crosslinked cyclodextrin metal–organic framework, loaded with gold nanoparticles (CL-AuNPs@CD-MOF) and integrated into a PLA-Zein composite film with humidity-responsive antimicrobial release, as a sustainable and high-performance packaging solution to address the critical limitations of conventional materials in controlling microbial contamination during food storage. Therefore, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were synthesized via a green approach using CD-MOFs as stabilizers and p-coumaric acid as a natural reducing agent, then crosslinked with diphenyl carbonate (DPC) to produce CL-AuNPs@CD-MOF. Crosslinking conditions were optimized to a CD-MOF:DPC ratio of 1:1, 1080 min reaction time, and 80 °C, preserving the cubic morphology and crystalline structure while transforming burst release into sustained antimicrobial activity against E. coli and S. aureus over 7 days. Then, the incorporation of CL-AuNPs@CD-MOF into PLA-Zein films yielded a composite packaging material with favorable mechanical and barrier properties, including a water vapor transmission rate of 539.44 g/m²·24 h and an oxygen permeability of 235.90 cm³/m²·24 h·0.1 MPa. Progressive elimination of E. coli, S. aureus, and L. monocytogenes over 7 days was confirmed, with antimicrobial efficacy originating exclusively from the CL-AuNPs@CD-MOF component. Application on Agaricus bisporus over 12 days of refrigerated storage demonstrated superior preservation performance: mushrooms inoculated with L. monocytogenes and packaged with CL-AuNPs@CD-MOF/PLA-Zein exhibited a weight loss of only 6.20 ± 2.06%, compared to 17.74 ± 3.15% for PLA-Zein and 41.50 ± 3.01% for PE controls. Color stability was equally improved, with lightness values of 71.46 ± 1.47 retained under CL-AuNPs@CD-MOF/PLA-Zein packaging, versus 58.37 ± 0.86 for PLA-Zein and 23.34 ± 2.34 for PE. Mushrooms inoculated with E. coli and S. aureus followed consistent trends. These results establish CL-AuNPs@CD-MOF/PLA-Zein as a promising multifunctional antimicrobial packaging platform for sustainable food preservation. Full article

Foodborne diseases remain a major public health challenge. Among them, salmonellosis is one of the most frequently reported illnesses, associated with clusters and outbreaks and with considerable morbidity, potentially severe in vulnerable populations. Children are more susceptible due to biological, behavioral, and dietary factors. This study aimed to summarize and describe national surveillance data from the Mandatory Notification System, combined with serotyping data, on reported salmonellosis cases in Greece during the period 2005–2024, with a focus on children aged 0–14 years. During the study period, a total of 7340 salmonellosis cases were reported among children aged 0–14 years. Notification rates declined gradually until 2021, followed by an increase through 2024. The mean annual notification rate was 23.0 cases per 100,000 population, with the highest incidence observed among children aged 0–4 years. A clear seasonal pattern was observed, with a peak during summer months, alongside notable geographical variation. The most frequently identified serovars were Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium. These findings indicate that salmonellosis remains a public health concern in the pediatric population, highlighting the need for enhanced surveillance, improved food hygiene practices, and targeted prevention strategies to reduce disease burden. Full article

Rates of foodborne infectious disease are increasing globally. The One Health zoonoses report shows increasing cases of shigatoxigenic Escherichia coli, campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis and listeriosis in the last 5 years. The ESKAPE pathogens are the top priority due to their alarming rate of resistance to broad-spectrum beta-lactams, carbapenems, glycopeptides, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides and biocide solutions. Research assessing alternative biocontrol options highlight the advantages of bacteriophages in the control of resistant bacterial species. Phage formulations including ListShield^TM and SalmoFresh^TM have gained FDA approval for food production. As biocontrol agents, however, phages are limited by their specificity in a multispecies environment, the presence of environmental variables and bacterial resistance mechanisms. Genetic modification and the use of phage cocktails aim to overcome such limitations. Future research is warranted in a harmonised approach supported by a defined legal framework to establish best formulation and exposure protocols. This review discusses phages as biocontrol agents in the control of high-risk pathobionts associated with foodborne illness. Pathobionts associated with bovine livestock are discussed due to the morbidity and incidence of disease associated with such pathogens. Full article

Foodborne illness remains a persistent public health issue, yet domestic food safety practices are shaped by individual knowledge, social expectations, and gendered norms. This study examines how gender norms and expectations shape Australian consumers’ safe food-handling knowledge, perceptions, and practices. Guided by a social constructionist epistemology and feminist framework, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 participants aged 18–24 years recruited from a university research participation pool. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes were identified: “I know what I am doing”, optimism bias and false confidence, “Men’s casualness versus women’s strictness”, gendered safe food handling practices and expectations, and “Careful about others, relaxed for myself”, food safety as a social performance. Participants often expressed false confidence in their practices, reflecting optimism bias and reduced perceived susceptibility to foodborne illness. Women tended to portray vigilance and responsibility, while men described more relaxed approaches, reflecting gendered socialisation. Food safety also emerged as performative, with heightened care displayed when cooking for others. These findings highlight that domestic food safety is socially embedded and both reflects and reproduces gender norms. Addressing these dynamics through socially informed, context-sensitive interventions may improve public health outcomes. Full article

Vibrio alginolyticus is a foodborne pathogen commonly found in seafood and freshwater products, causing human illness through the consumption of tainted seafood. Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) take effect on the stability and translation of their target mRNAs by base-pairing, thereby quickly altering bacterial physiology and pathogenicity at the post-transcriptional level. This work constructed a label-free in-frame deletion mutant and a complement strain of micX, a cell-density-associated sRNA in V. alginolyticus. The ΔmicX mutant exhibited reduced growth and a reduction in the synthesis of exopolysaccharides, biofilm, and alkaline serine protease. A TMT-based quantitative proteomic analysis comparing ΔmicX with the wild-type strain identified 900 differentially expressed proteins, comprising 376 that were upregulated and 524 that were downregulated. The upregulated proteins are primarily associated with porin activity, transmembrane signaling receptor function, and the two-component system. The downregulated proteins are mainly engaged in processes including biofilm formation, cellular communication, and transmembrane transport activity. Of note, the expression levels of proteins involved in the type VI secretion system, exopolysaccharide synthesis, mannose-sensitive hemagglutinin type IV pili (MSHA), and biofilm formation were significantly reduced in the absence of micX. Furthermore, the expression levels of proteins associated with quorum sensing (particularly LuxR and AphA) changed significantly in the ΔmicX vs. WT comparison. These findings strengthened comprehension of the novel sRNA regulatory network and established a theoretical foundation for additional investigations into the virulence of V. alginolyticus. Full article

Listeria monocytogenes (LM) is a major foodborne pathogen causing illnesses ranging from gastroenteritis to severe systemic infections. The key virulence factors include bacterial motility, hemolysin and lecithinase production, and invasion of host tissues. This study investigated the anti-virulence effects of cannabidiol (CBD), the main non-psychoactive compound in Cannabis sativa, against LM. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC, 2289 μM; 719.8 µg/mL) and sub-inhibitory concentration (SIC, 11.92 μM; 3.75 µg/mL) of CBD were determined for LM strains Scott A and ATCC 19115. Cultures were treated with SIC, 6× SIC, 1/4× MIC, and MIC to assess effects on motility, hemolysin and lecithinase production, and adhesion and invasion of human intestinal (Caco-2) and brain endothelial (HBMEC) cells, alongside virulence gene expression by RT-qPCR. Cannabidiol’s efficacy was also determined using a Galleria mellonella larval infection model at SIC and 6× SIC. Cannabidiol at 6× SIC significantly reduced motility, toxin production, and host cell adhesion and invasion (p < 0.05). RT-qPCR revealed downregulation of key virulence genes, including prfA, hly, plcA, plcB, iap, motA, motB, actA, inlA, and inlB. In vivo, CBD enhanced larval survival in a dose-dependent manner and cytotoxicity was observed at concentrations above 33.75 µg/mL. These results indicate that CBD, at non-bactericidal levels, effectively suppresses multiple virulence mechanisms in LM, highlighting its potential as a novel anti-virulence agent for food safety and therapeutic applications. Full article