Significance of injured micro-organisms in food

Understand the biological basis of microbial injury, the types of processes that inflict injury on bacteria and how injury affects the hazard that microbial pathogens present in food.

Food and food ingredients often contain a range of micro-organisms - some of which are hazardous. These may be healthy, injured or dead. As injured pathogens have the potential to recover and may cause illness, it is important to understand the factors that can affect their survival. There is a wealth of literature on the subject of microbiological injury, repair and resuscitation, much of it describing the biochemical and molecular mechanisms involved in these processes. While taking this into account, this review also aims to consider the significance of the knowledge for personnel responsible for microbial food safety within food and allied companies.

The contents include:

• Introduction
• Sites of injury within the cell - from the cell wall to nucleic acid damage
• Modes of action of factors that inflict injury - from heat, chilling and freezing to effects of chemicals (e.g. preservatives, acids, disinfectants) to drying, irradiation, microwaves, light and high pressure
• Recovery and repair mechanisms
• Key aspects for the food industry
• References
• Appendices