Food safety culture and the control of microbial communities in food production environments

Food safety risks are controlled in agrifood settings by reducing the microbial burden in food ingredients and food production environments. Hygiene programmes involve an incremental implementation of chemical treatments (e.g., disinfectants) and engineering controls (e.g., elimination of susceptible harbourage sites). The strategies to disrupt the presence and transmission of microbial risks to foods are being refined by advanced microbiology and genomics that provide actionable evidence on the precise nature of local ecologies.