Preface to the Fifth Edition

We would like to apologise to readers for having felt compelled to produce a new edition of Food Microbiology within what seems to be a comparatively short time, but developments over the last 8 years have more than justified this.

In revising the text, we have kept to the fore our original objective of a book covering food microbiology in its full scope, but in an accessible and readable form. We have taken the opportunity to register important changes in the taxonomy of some foodborne organisms, developments in food processing and regulation and to update data on the incidence of foodborne disease – to show current trends, and to include details of recent outbreaks and the lessons they teach us. It was particularly important to highlight the major impact molecular techniques such as next-generation sequencing continue to have in our subject, as elsewhere. Metagenomics offers new insights into the functioning and impact of complex microbial ecosystems, in foods and in the gut, but whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has dramatically improved our ability to identify pathogens and strains of concern and to reveal hitherto hidden outbreaks (often international in spread) and their probable cause. In this, application of WGS promises to largely replace the host of different typing techniques currently used.

Producing a new edition has also given one of us (PJM) the opportunity to acknowledge his debt to Dr Mike Stratford, whose inspirational teaching engendered his lifelong interest in food microbiology and his brother, Nick’s, achievements in environmental microbiology.