Foodborne Bacterial Toxins

Foodborne bacterial toxins such as the ones produced by Staphylococcus, Bacillus, and Clostridium, represent a major threat to consumer health and lead to considerable economic losses. According to EFSA, bacterial toxins cause over 8,000 reported cases of illness per year in the EU alone. Recently, several newly described bacterial toxins and various bacterial species so far not considered foodborne pathogens were implicated in foodborne outbreaks. Amongst others, the role of newly-described staphylococcal enterotoxins in Staphylococcal Food Poisoning has been controversially discussed. In addition, Bacillus thuringiensis and Clostridium difficile have been implicated as potential causative organisms in outbreak investigations. However, data is limited due to underreporting and a shortage of suitable detection methods with adequate sensitivity and high throughput screening possibilities. The aim of the Special Issue is to present novel findings in the field of foodborne bacterial toxins and to present readers with an overview of the state of the art in the field. We therefore welcome both original articles and review articles.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

● Outbreak investigations, in particular those providing new insights with regard to newly described toxins or species not typically regarded as foodborne pathogens
● Toxin formation under conditions encountered during food production
● Identification of characteristics that allow for risk-based screening (e.g. identification of unique genomic characteristics of high-level toxin producers)
● Novel strategies minimizing bacterial toxin formation in the food matrix
● Potential targets for therapeutic interventions
● Novel strategies for toxin detection
● Quantitative microbial risk assessment of toxin formation during food processing and storage