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EDITORIAL article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Food Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1518203
This article is part of the Research Topic Microbial Food Safety in Retail Stores and Restaurants View all 8 articles

Editorial: Microbial Food Safety in Retail Stores and Restaurants

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 University of Houston, Houston, United States
  • 2 Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Furthermore, under this Research Topic, several scientific research studies have presented the findings regarding the prevalence and antibiotic resistance profile of bacteria, such as Staphylococcus spp, Listeria spp, E. coli, Salmonella, Vibrio alginolyticus and contamination of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in crayfish at food services and retail settings. (https://shorturl.at/Epgi5; https://shorturl.at/X7EAd ; https://shorturl.at/X7EAd; https://shorturl.at/VCKwc; https://shorturl.at/E6zVy; https://shorturl.at/VCKwc). Additionally, an aflatoxin B1-degrading strain from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was presented as potential microbial contamination (mold) at food services operations (https://shorturl.at/45mWX). The primary aim of this research topic was to demonstrate how the microbial risk at retail and food service operations poses a public health concern and to increase knowledge about potential microbial contamination in these settings.The prevalence of microbial contamination in retail and food service operations is due to a lack of a food safety management system, resulting in poor personal hygiene and not following good manufacturing practices (Moritz, 2023). Insufficient training and food safety knowledge of food handlers and other staff members and poor attitudes toward the seriousness of food safety could lead to practices that increase the risk of food contamination (Johnson et al., 2004).Understanding the prevalence of microbes and antibiotic resistance is essential for adapting and promoting a food safety culture, implementing the best food safety practices, and ensuring adherence to personal hygiene standards in retail and food service establishments.Therefore, this research topic presents the serious issue of microbial contamination in retail stores and food service It highlights that pathogenic microorganisms could contaminate food products at any point in the supply chain or production process, posing a consequential food safety risk to public health due to potential foodborne illnesses.To conclude, good manufacturing practices (GMP), good personal hygiene, regular employee training, and food safety management are essential to prevent microbial contamination and mitigate foodborne illnesses at retail and food service establishments.

    Keywords: Food Services, Bacterial contamination, Public Health, Food Safety, GMP

    Received: 28 Oct 2024; Accepted: 31 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mohammad and Ahmad. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zahra H. Mohammad, University of Houston, Houston, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.