Microorganisms and Food Safety

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on various aspects of microorganisms in relation to food safety, along the food chain—in production, processing, preservation, storage, consumption of food raw materials and products. Microorganisms play an important role in many branches of food production and processing (i.e., wine, beer, bakery, dairy products, various fermented foods, etc.). On the other hand, the development of pathogenic microflora in foods is considered one of the main causes of food loss and waste nowadays and is an important part of food safety, leading to economic losses and posing serious health risks. Even though novel technologies, good hygienic practices, and effective traceability systems significantly contribute to the prevention of food outbreaks, food remains susceptible to microbial growth. This Special Issue aims to touch all these areas—from beneficial microorganisms and their health-promoting products in foods to pathogenic microbials involved in food spoilage and contamination; from traditional to very modern solutions of preventing and dealing with pathogenic microbials growth; and from known to recently discovered microorganism species. It also covers problems of foodborne diseases, outbreaks and associated symptoms related to microorganisms in foods. It looks into traditional and innovative methods and practices that could help to ensure long shelf-life and microbial safety of various traditional and novel foods, while sustaining their high quality and nutritional value. The main goal of this Special Issue is to report on state of the art, but also to identify research gaps that need further investigation to contribute to the production of nutritious and microbiologically safe foods.

We invite researchers to contribute original studies and review articles covering all of the abovementioned aspects.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Dominika Średnicka-Tober
Guest Editor

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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.

• food safety
• microbiome
• food pathogens
• pathogenic bacteria
• food loss
• beneficial microorganisms
• food spoilage