Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
The Broad Spectrum of Biological Sciences, Dr. Sevgi Maraklı,Dr. Merve Yılmazer, Editör, Gaziantep Üniversitesi Yayınları, Gaziantep, ss.211-231, 2024
Microbial contamination which leads to foodborne illnesses is one of the important public health concerns in the global food supply chain because of its escalating complexity. Bacteria are the primary organisms which may cause food spoilage, infections and poisoning in humans, mostly due to inadequate sanitation during the processing, handling and transformation stages of food. Traditional microbiological methods, such as culture-based and morphological techniques are still be used as foundational methods for pathogen detection. However, mostly these methods require labor-intensive processes and specific standards which are decided by governmental organizations like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO). There are also other alternative methods with varying levels of precision and efficiency such as staining, biochemical assays, and serological assays. Molecular diagnostics methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays and isothermal amplification methods provide more powerful pathogen identification with increased sensitivity. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) yield robust results for characterizing bacterial strains with high standards Additionally, after the establishment of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to the field, it redefines the outbreak investigations by its ability to deliver comprehensive pathogenic profiles. Lastly, Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) offers rapid, cost- effective bacterial identification by analyzing their peptide mass fingerprints. This chapter scrutinizes each method in the literature for food safety in terms of bacterial contamination according to their distinct advantages with the purpose of offering accurate, reliable, and global standardized food safety practices.