Biofilm through the Looking Glass: A Microbial Food Safety Perspective

Abstract

Food-processing facilities harbor a wide diversity of microorganisms that persist and interact in multispecies biofilms, which could provide an ecological niche for pathogens to better colonize and gain tolerance against sanitization. Biofilm formation by foodborne pathogens is a serious threat to food safety and public health. Biofilms are formed in an environment through synergistic interactions within the microbial community through mutual adaptive response to their long-term coexistence. Mixed-species biofilms are more tolerant to sanitizers than single-species biofilms or their planktonic equivalents. Hence, there is a need to explore how multispecies biofilms help in protecting the foodborne pathogen from common sanitizers and disseminate biofilm cells from hotspots and contaminate food products. This knowledge will help in designing microbial interventions to mitigate foodborne pathogens in the processing environment. As the global need for safe, high-quality, and nutritious food increases, it is vital to study foodborne pathogen behavior and engineer new interventions that safeguard food from contamination with pathogens. This review focuses on the potential food safety issues associated with biofilms in the food-processing environment.

Biofilm Formation and Prevention of Bacteria Isolated from Fish and Fish Stalls

“…In this respect, sanitation is an important rule in food and food contact surfaces (Laxmi and Sarita, 2018). Strategies for the control of biofilm formation in foods and on surfaces have been investigated by researchers (Galie et al, 2018;Bai et al, 2021;Dass and Wang, 2022). Depending on the structure of the biofilm, different methods can be used to prevent biofilms.…”

Exploring Possible Ways to Enhance the Potential and Use of Natural Products through Nanotechnology in the Battle against Biofilms of Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens

“…According to earlier reports, materials typically found in the food industry, such as Buna-N, Teflon seals, rubber seals, stainless steel, aluminum, and glasses, as well as food-processing units like heating exchangers, cooling towers, conveyor belts, wastewater pipes, etc., can harbor pathogenic microbes like Escherichia coli , Staphylococcus aureus , Listeria monocytogenes , Campylobacter jejuni , Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus , and Pseudomonas spp. in the form of biofilms ( Table 1 ) [ 6 , 14 ].…”

“…These facts prompted researchers worldwide to dive further into the knowledge of elements contributing to biofilm formation and resiliency to create better strategies to limit possible outbreaks and manage illnesses caused by foodborne pathogens. [ 14 , 15 ].…”

Prevalence, antibiotic resistance patterns, and biofilm formation ability of Enterobacterales recovered from food of animal origin in Egypt

“…Biofilm is another problematic food safety issue for food producers, with multiple causes, including bacteria as the primary contributor and profound consequences on food processing efficiency. Biofilm in food-related environments and equipment is composed of either homogeneous or heterogeneous microbial communities living in a self-secreted matrix of extracellular polymeric substances [ 13 , 14 ]. Bacterial biofilms play a crucial role in AMR because they are more resistant to antimicrobial agents than planktonic cells [ 15 ].…”