Resistant and Emergent Pathogens in Food Products
The discovery of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, and their widespread application in human medicine since the middle of the twentieth century has saved millions of human lives. Additionally, their application in veterinary medicine and especially in food science has constituted an important way of controlling the dispersion of microbial pathogens. This has played a major role not only in the dramatic increase in average life expectancy in humans, but also in extending the “shelf life” of foods; however, antibiotic overuse and misuse, together with the microbial ability to share DNA by horizontal gene transfer, have resulted in the generation of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains that quickly spread throughout the world. As a result, the antibiotic of choice can be rendered totally ineffective both in human therapy and as a food additive. The focus of this chapter is a handful of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria that are developing antibiotic resistance and represent a major hazard in food preservation.