MICROBES IN FOOD-PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

There is an increasing understanding that the microbial quality of a c ertain food is the result of a chain of events. It is dear that the mi crobial safety of food can only be guaranteed when the overall process ing, including the production of raw materials, distribution and handl ing by the consumer are taken into consideration. Therefore, the micro biological quality assurance of foods is no: only a matter of control, but also of a careful design of the total process chain. Food industr y has now generally adapted quality assurance systems and is implement ing the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) concept. Rapid microbiological monitoring systems should be used in these cases. Ther e is a need for rapid and simple microbiological tests which can be ad apted to the technology and logistics of specific production processes . Traditional microbiological methods generally do not meet these high requirements. This paper discusses the tests, based on molecular biol ogical principles, to detect and identify microbes in food-processing chains. Tests based on DNA technology are discussed, including in vitr o DNA amplification like the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method an d identifications based on RFLP, RAPD and DNA fingerprinting analysis. PCR-based methodology can be used for the rapid detection of microbes in food manufacturing environments. In addition, DNA fingerprinting m ethods are suitable for investigating sources and routes of microbial contamination in the food cycle.