Advances in molecular biology based assays for the rapid detection of food microbial contaminants

Food quality and safety depend on maintaining standards throughout the food chain, from agricultural production and livestock, to processing, transport, and consumption. Conventional bacteriological methods, consisting of cultivating the appropriate media, followed by isolation, biochemical, and serological identification, cannot detect the sporadic or low contamination levels, while competing microbiota can mask the presence of food pathogens. Moreover, these methods are laborious and time consuming, requiring sometimes many days for identification and confirmation, while the measures to be taken in case of contamination are of fundamental importance in ensuring the safety of food, especially in case of products with low validity period, such as meat and dairy products. In recent years, biotechnological research and development have resulted in the design of rapid methods that reduce analysis time and provide greater sensitivity and specificity in detecting food microbial contaminants. The purpose of this chapter is to present the advantages and limits of different biochemical, immunological, chromatographic, and molecular methods applied in food quality control analysis, for screening, confirmation, or epidemiological purposes.