Tracing Pathogens in the Food Chain: (Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition)

Successful methods for the detection and investigation of outbreaks of foodborne disease are essential for ensuring consumer safety. Increased understanding of the transmission of pathogens in food chains will also assist efforts to safeguard public health. Tracing pathogens in the food chain reviews key aspects of the surveillance, analysis and spread of foodborne pathogens at different stages of industrial food production and processing. Part one provides an introduction to foodborne pathogen surveillance, outbreak investigation and control. Part two concentrates on subtyping of foodborne pathogens, with chapters on phenoytypic subtyping and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, as well as emerging methods. The vital topics of method validation and quality assurance are also covered. The focus in Part three is on particular techniques for the surveillance and study of pathogens, such as protein-based analysis, ribotyping and comparative genomics. Finally, Part four focuses on tracing pathogens in specific food chains, such as red meat and game, dairy, fish and shellfish. With its distinguished editors and international team of contributors, Tracing pathogens in the food chain is a standard reference for researchers, public health experts and food industry professionals concerned with the study and control of foodborne disease.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Foodborne pathogen surveillance and outbreak investigation: Surveillance for foodborne pathogens in humans; Systems for real-time, linked foodborne pathogen surveillance; Detection, investigation and control of outbreaks of foodborne disease; Attributing the burden of foodborne disease to specific sources of infection; Determining the economic costs and global burden of foodborne disease. Part 2 Subtyping of foodborne pathogens: Phenoytypic subtyping; Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and other commonly used molecular methods; Emerging bacterial subtyping methods; Development, validation and quality assurance of subtyping methods. Part 3 Molecular methods, genomics and other emerging approaches in the surveillance and study of foodborne pathogens: Sample preparation for detection by molecular biological methods; A comparison of molecular technologies and genomotyping for tracing and strain characterisation of Campylobacter isolates; Investigating foodborne pathogens using comparative genomics; Protein-based analysis and other new and emerging non-nucleic acid based methods; Virulotyping; Using ribotyping to trace foodborne aerobic sporeforming bacteria in the factory: A case study; Biotracing: A novel concept in food safety integrating microbiology knowledge, complex systems approaches and probabilistic modeling. Part 4 Tracing pathogens in particular food chains: Red meat and game production chains and the abattoir; Fish production chains; Poultry and egg production chains; Dairy production; Molluscan shellfish production chains; Fruit and vegetable production chains.

About the Author :
Stanley Brul is Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Amsterdam. Pina Fratamico is a Research Microbiologist at the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. Tom McMeekin is Emeritus Professor of Microbiology at the University of Tasmania.

Review :
"The book provides a detailed unique review of the application of the latest scientific methods and techniques available for tracing pathogens in the food chain. It provides a major contribution to the use of science to ensure the social necessity of safe food." --International Journal of Dairy Technology "This is an excellent book, authoritative and accessible." --Food Science and Technology