Food-borne bacterial pathogens encounter a number of stressors during food processing and preservation. More and more pathogens are able to adapt their physiological properties and/or genetic expression to survive these stressors and pose a risk to food safety and public health.

This book provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of common food processing-associated stressors (e.g., heat, cold, acid, osmosis, and oxidation) and deals with the molecular basis of the respective bacterial stress response mechanisms (e.g., viable but nonculturable state, biofilm formation, sporulation, and cross-protection response).
Additionally, various chapters cover the response mechanisms of foodborne pathogens to emerging nonthermal sterilisation technologies such as ultrasound, high-pressure processing, pulsed electric fields, ultraviolet light, irradiation and phytochemicals.
Through this book we also learn about future prospects for the efficient control of stressadaption in foodborne pathogens to ensure maximum consumer safety.

This book offers a valuable resource for researchers, graduate students, food process engineers and product developers in the fields of food science and microbiology.

Part I: Introduction

Chapter 1: The importance of understanding the stress response in foodborne pathogens along the food production chain
Part II: Response of foodborne pathogens to various food processing-related stressors
Chapter 2: Response of foodborne pathogens to thermal processing
Chapter 3: Response of foodborne pathogens to cold stress
Chapter 4: Response of foodborne pathogens to acid stress
Chapter 5: Response of foodborne pathogens to osmotic stress
Chapter 6: Response of foodborne pathogens to oxidative stress
Part III: Response of foodborne pathogens to emerging nonthermal technologies
Chapter 7: Response of food-borne pathogens to ultrasound
Chapter 8: Response of foodborne pathogens to high-pressure processing
Chapter 9: Response of foodborne pathogens to pulse electric fields
Chapter 10: Response of foodborne pathogens to cold plasma
Chapter 11: Response of foodborne pathogens to ultraviolet light
Chapter 12: Response of foodborne pathogensto irradiation
Chapter 13: Response of foodborne pathogens for phytochemicals
Part IV: Stress response mechanisms of foodborne pathogens
Chapter 14: Viable but nonculturable bacteria
Chapter 15: Persistence phenotype
Chapter 16: Biofilm formation of food-borne pathogens
Chapter 17: Bacterial Spores
Chapter 18: Sublethally injury adaptation
Chapter 19: Bacterial Programmed Cell Death
Chapter 20: Cross-protection response
Chapter 21: In situ analytical tools to resolve stress response mechanisms of foodborne pathogens
Part V: Concluding remarks and future prospect
Chapter 22: Control of the stress response of foodborne pathogens.