Topics

Molecular epidemiology, predictive microbiology, and Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) in the context of ONE HEALTH  ONEHEALTH: One Health calls for a holistic and systems-based approach that recognizes the interconnection between the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment. - Integrating environmental and genetic risk factors, recognized at the molecular level into epidemiological data could allow the development, the aetiology and avoidance of sickness through populations Risk-Based Process and Product Design: Model and validate vs cook and look. - Novel food preservation processes: Modelling for optimal design  The hurdle concept describes the interaction of factors that affect microbial behaviour in foods. While these effects may be additive in certain situations, in others, synergistic interactions result in a cumulative impact that is more significant than the sum of the individual constraints that were applied. Can this methodology assist food industry proprietors in conceptualising the potential obstacles they must surmount to guarantee the quality and safety of their products? Additionally, it is also known that model parameters should be reliable (precise and accurate), therefore they should be derived from experimental approaches that aim at the system excitation. Consequently, the information content with respect to parameter estimation should be maximal and such that the model structure validity is not violated. Optimal experimental design approaches as well as experiments obtained under dynamic industrial relevant environments need to be considered.