Food Preservation and Foodborne

Microbial Diseases
 Food Preservation and
Microbial Growth 
Microbial Growth and Food
Spoilage
 Staphylococcal Food
Poisoning
• Staphylococcal food poisoning results
from the ingestion of preformed
enterotoxin, a superantigen produced by
Staphylococcus aureus when growing in
foods. In many cases, S. aureus cannot
be cultured from the contaminated food.
Pathogenic Escherichia coli
• Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli can
cause serious food infections. Specific
measures, such as radiation of ground
beef, have been implemented to curb the
spread of these pathogens.
• Large-scale processing methods for
meats and meat products allow
contaminants from a small number of
individual carcasses to contaminate or
infect large numbers of products.
Other Foodborne Infectious
Diseases
• More than 200 different infectious
agents cause foodborne disease. Viruses
cause the vast majority of foodborne
illnesses. A number of bacteria,
protozoans, and prions also cause
foodborne illnesses.