DEPARTMENT OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
A TERM PAPER ON
THE RELEVANCE OF FOOD MICROBIOLOGY IN AN EMERGING ECONOMY
COURSE TITLE: PRINCIPLE
OF FOOD MICROBIOLOGY
COURSE CODE: FST
122
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Food microbiology
CHAPTER TWO
Functions of Food Microbiologist
Development of Early Food Microbiology
Current Status of Food Microbiology
Food Microbiology and Food Microbiologist
CHAPTER THREE
Relevance of Food Microbiology in an Emerging
Economy
Food Safety Regulations
Hazard Analysis critical control points
Predictive modeling of Microbial growth in food
Detection of Microorganism in Food and food
environment
Conclusion
Reference
CHAPTER TWO
FUNCTIONS OF
FOOD MICROBIOLOGISTS
The
involvement of invisible organisms in many diseases in humans was suspected as
early as the 13th century by Roger Bacon. In the 16th
century, Girolamo Fracastoro of Verona
suggested that many human diseases were transmitted from person to person by
small creatures. This was also indicated by Kircher in 1658.
In
1762, Von Plenciz of Vienna
suggested that different invisible organisms were responsible for different
diseases. Theodore Schwann (1837) and Ermann Helmoholtz (1843) proposed that
putrefaction and fermentation were connected with the presence of the organisms
derived from air. Finally, Pasteur, in 1875, showed that wine fermentation from
grapes and souring of wine were caused by microorganisms. He also proved that
spoilage of meat and milk was associated with the growth of microorganisms.
Later,
he showed the association of microorganisms with several diseases in humans,
cattle, and sheep, and he also developed vaccines against a few human and
animal diseases caused by microorganisms, including rabies. Robert Koch, in Germany
(in the 1880s and 1890s), isolated pure cultures of bacteria responsible for
anthrax, cholera, and tuberculosis. He also developed the famous Koch’s
postulates to associate a specific bacterium as a causative agent for a
specific disease. Along with his associates, he also developed techniques of
agar plating methods to isolate bacteria in pure cultures and to determine
microbial numbers in a sample, the Petri dish (by Petri in his laboratory),
staining methods for better microscopic observation of bacteria, and the use of
steam to sterilize materials to grow bacteria 1,5 with time, the importance of
microorganisms in human and animal diseases, soil fertility, plant diseases,
fermentation, food spoilage and food borne diseases, and other areas was
recognized, and microbiology was developed as a specific discipline.
Later,
it was divided into several sub disciplines, such as medical microbiology, soil
microbiology, plant pathology, and food microbiology.
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Of the target pathogen compared to that of the indigenous microbiota, which
may be present at levels as high as 108 CFU/g in raw products; (3) heterogeneity
of food matrices and food components interfering with growth or detection of
the target organism; and (4) inability to recover injured target organisms
using selective enrichment media.
One of the exciting developments in food
microbiology has been the availability and application of molecular analyses
that have allowed scientists to address microbial food safety questions beyond
merely determining whether particular pathogens are in a food. Such global
analyses are allowing scientists to ask deeper questions regarding food-borne
pathogens and are currently leading the way of ascertaining the genes,
proteins, networks, and cellular mechanisms that determine the persistence of
strains in foods and other environments, determine why certain strains are more
commonly isolated from foods, and determine why certain strains are more
pathogenic. Such molecular tools are also making it possible to more fully
determine the microflora present in foods along with pathogens, and to assess
the effect that the food microbiota has on the death, survival, and
pathogenicity of food borne pathogens. As the application of molecular analyses
improves our understanding of the responses of pathogens to foods and food
environments, we anticipate that the information will lead to the development
of more specific detection tests, will lead to the enhancement of current
interventions, and will lead to the development of new interventions.