Category: Food Safety

What is Campylobacter and why does it matter? Campylobacter is a genus of bacteria that causes gastro‑intestinal infection in humans. The most common species involved in human disease are Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. Infection typically leads to diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever and, in severe cases, Guillain‑Barré syndrome. In the European Union, Campylobacter ranks as…

Why do extreme weather events matter for food safety? When a heatwave swarms a city or a flood inundates a rural valley, the immediate concern is often property damage, power outages, or human injury. A less obvious, but equally serious, consequence is the heightened risk of food‑borne illness. Food safety depends on controlling three factors:…

What makes Listeria a unique public‑health threat? Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram‑positive bacterium that can grow at refrigeration temperatures, survive high salt concentrations, and persist on processing surfaces for months. Unlike many food‑borne pathogens, it does not need high temperatures to multiply; a chilled pack of sliced ham can become a vehicle for infection if…

Salmonella remains one of the most important food-borne zoonotic threats in Europe. It is not the most frequently reported zoonosis in humans, but it continues to cause a large burden of illness and remains closely tied to poultry, eggs, food production, and public health surveillance. That makes it a practical issue rather than a narrow…